Act II starting now people.
By the way, here's a question: have you all been in check with your studies?
No?
Then tremble, because here comes Professor Raine!
Act II: Sleeping Guardians
Chapter 10
In a Desolated Site
The wind blew, carrying the scorching sands of the Triet Desert. In the middle of that desolated land stood the Oasis of the Desert, the city of Triet. However, walking to that city had become a nearly impossible task since the desert started to expand and its heat rise. Emil and the others caught a glimpse of it right at the foot of the Ossa Pass.
There were banks of sand near the road that went up the mountain. That worried Ratatosk and the Centurions to no end, since it meant that even if they achieved to purge the chaos energy from Aselia, it would take centuries for the desert to go back to its original size.
The group took two days travelling the desert, making frequent stops to refill their canteens whenever Aqua detected there was water under the soil. Ventus summoned his biggest monster birds to provide shadow to the group and fresh air, so the heat wouldn't reduce their stamina even further.
"Ugh, man… I'm completely beat," Sheena started to complain at the afternoon of the second day. "I know deserts are supposed to be hot, but this is insane."
"I know what you mean. My clothes are clinging to my body…" Marta said, as tired as Sheena.
"My, my, you humans are so inconvenient sometimes," Tenebrae commented.
"What do you want? Not everybody here is a spirit that isn't capable of feeling the heat or the cold," Sheena protested.
"I am not a spirit, just so you know. We Centurions are…"
"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Just… shut up. It's already hard to put up with this heat and if I have to hear you lecturing, I rather get sun burnt."
"My thoughts exactly," Aqua spoke. "Honestly, you're as insensible as you're obnoxious, Tenebonehead. Can't you see we girls are a bit more sensitive than you guys?"
" 'Girls'? Since when are you a girl?" Tenebrae asked.
At that moment, Aqua's shoulders started to tremble in pure anger. For the first time since the two got together, Tenebrae looked fearful of his brethren. Ratatosk took control of Emil's body and commented:
"Great, he's done it again."
"Done what?" Lloyd asked. Ventus, who was perched on his reincarnated lord's shoulder and was using his wing as a parasol to shield his lord from the burning sunrays, was the one to answer.
"Tenebrae sometimes insists on reminding us we do not have genders. However, some of us like to think we do have, just like some Summon Spirits. Aqua is particularly sensitive about it."
"What do you mean we don't have gender, V-wing?" Lumen, who was close to the two boys, hearing to their talk, asked. "If I'm not a boy then… does that mean I'm a girl?" the Centurion of light took some time to think until he inquired his wiser brethren again, seeming a little disturbed by the idea.
"Not really. Actually…"
"Of course you're a boy. What? Do you think I didn't thought of that when I made you all?" Ratatosk interrupted.
"Oh. Whew. That's a relief. I was starting to think I would start to have the… period thing," Lumen seemed to shudder at the thought.
"As you can see, it's easier to some of us to cope with the idea. And considering Aqua's mood swings, I would say she does act like a girl most of the time," Ratatosk said to Lloyd.
"YOU INSENSITIVE PIECE OF CRAP!" came Aqua's angry voice. The others turned and saw her mauling Tenebrae with a rock she picked up, which was three times the size of her body.
"Don't you think you should help him?" Lloyd asked to Ratatosk.
"Are you kidding, Lloyd?" Sheena asked. "This is going to be one of the rare moments we don't have to hear Tene-idiot's jabs," the violet haired woman smiled at the thought of not having to hear the Centurion of darkness' comments for the rest of that travel. She then turned to Lloyd once she noticed something. "By the way, how come you're not bothered with the heat, Lloyd? Even Ratatosk is sweating."
Lloyd looked to the Summon Spirit and saw there were indeed droplets of sweat running down his forehead. Ratatosk looked to the side, mumbling something about "fragile human bodies." The red clad swordsman didn't feel it was too hot, so much he was even using his trademark red jacket.
Ever since he was a kid, Lloyd never had problems with high temperatures. Even in the peak of summer days he would feel like the climate was moderate. He remembered playing with candles when he was little, passing his hand near the flame, for the simple amusement of doing so. He even heard his mother talking to his father that it was surprising he never burnt himself. Kratos often liked to playfully attribute it to the fact that Lloyd had his genes, which resulted in a discussing between Lloyd's parents about qualities he took after each family.
Lloyd turned to his crush and shrugged. Sheena sighed and decided to drop the subject. It was so hot she didn't even have the will to further pursue it…
- / - / - / -
At the night of their second day of travel, the group could finally see the walls of Triet, however, they had to camp outside town to recover their strength. Lloyd didn't complain about the heat during the day, but he shivered like crazy during the night.
The rest of the group couldn't understand that, since they welcomed the freezing climate after their scorching walk during the day. Once Sheena had part of her energy and humor back thanks to the drop in the temperature, she even joked that maybe she should sleep close to Lloyd to keep the dual swordsman warm. That made the group remember the episode in Palmacosta Inn's, making most of them blush.
On the morning of the third day, they finally entered the city. Marta was very eager to finally get a good bed in the Inn and take a shower to get rid of all the sweat.
"Really, sweat and beauty doesn't mix. How can I keep Emil interested in me if I'm smelly?" the brunette spoke to herself and Sheena while the two walked at the back of the group.
"I know what you mean. Man, now I know how a waterfall feels," Sheena commented.
"Well, at least you have nice figure, so Lloyd might even prefer you like this," Marta pointed out with a tint of jealously in her voice.
Sheena then looked to her dark-blue jacket and the white shirt that were clinging to her body, giving away even more the curves of her body. She then turned to Marta and spoke:
"Uh, I think it's more likely Lloyd will back away in shyness if he notices me like this. He's one of those rare types."
"Well, Emil is too," Marta replied, her tone assuming a sweet connotation.
"Yeah, whatever. Anyway…" Marta shot a grumpy look to Sheena at having the older woman interrupting her like that. "You shouldn't keep bugging yourself over something like your figure. Mother always said: beauty is a matter of how you want people to see you. There were some workers on Asuka's that were… uh… just like you…" Sheena said, pointing to Marta's flat chest. The younger girl narrowed her eyes at her friend. "Hey, don't look at me like that! Just so you know, each one of them took mother's advice and three days later, they had a line of suitors at their disposal."
"Really?" Marta asked, dropping her grumpy look and replacing it with a surprised one.
"Do I look like someone that joke about things like this? Believe me, what you don't have on body you can replace in the 'cute factor'."
"Wow. Thanks Sheena!"
As the girls went on their discussion, the group finally passed the gates of the city. They ceased their talk once they noticed something strange with the city: there was nobody around. No sellers in the shops, no kids running around the plaza, no dogs in the streets, nothing. The only sound in the city was the wind and the creak of the Inn's suspended sign being blown.
"What the…?" Lloyd let out. "This looks like…"
"A ghost city?" Tenebrae offered.
"Yeah. What happened to everybody?"
Ventus took flight to survey the area as Lumen, Tenebrae and Aqua ran along the streets to try and find someone. Lloyd and the others kept walking together in the case there was some demon or monster hiding inside one of the buildings.
The four then arrived at the oasis at the back of the city. What they saw made their jaws drop. The oasis had completely dried up. There was just a rugged crater where it once stood. Emil voiced everybody's doubt:
"Could this be the effect of the increase in the heat?"
"But even so, for it to dry up an oasis like this," Marta spoke.
"Well, there have been cases of lakes and rivers drying up even in tropical regions," Sheena pointed out.
"I don't like this. It's just… disturbing to think about it," Emil spoke, shaking his head.
"Let's go back to the city. Maybe Tenebrae and the others found something," the others nodded to Lloyd and rushed back to the city.
The group then entered the Inn, where the temperature was a bit fresher and waited for the Centurions to come back. The girls went to the kitchen to see if they could find something edible, but there was nothing. The Centurions then returned and Ventus reported:
"There's no sign of human life for kilometers."
"We didn't find anybody around too, boss," Lumen said.
"But, there was an obelisk standing at the plaza. Shouldn't Cruxis protect this city?" Marta spoke, reminding them they had seen the mark of the heavenly organization's blessing.
"I hardly think they would have control over something like the temperature, unless a demon is controlling it," Ventus said.
"What do you think of it, Ratatosk?" Sheena asked to the Summon Spirit, who took control of Emil's body once he was called.
"I don't know. The only ones that would have control over the climate in the desert are one of my Centurions and Efreet, but since none of them are around, it's probably the chaos energy further corroding the Equilibrium."
"Guys, I found something," Lloyd called them from behind the Inn's counter. The group approached as Lloyd put what seemed to be the register of the Inn's guests in the counter. "There are some annotations in the other pages that sounds like somebody was recording what happened."
Emil and the others gathered around Lloyd as the young man read aloud one of the entries in the Inn's checkbook, which dated from 1 year ago:
23 of September,
Today one of the elderly fainted in the middle of the plaza. We took him in and called a doctor. Turns out he had a severe case of sunstroke.
Lately, the desert has been hotter than usual. We heard from travelers that it seems the borders are expanding towards the Ossa Mountains and Iselia's plains. This was the first sign…
30 of September,
We haven't seen any travelers coming by lately. The supply caravans won't come either. We thought it was because of the rumor of monsters in the desert getting more aggressive lately. But they surely would know that our city, being protected by Cruxis, would be a safe haven for them.
Two more people collapse in the plaza, this time two adults. They seemed to be severely dehydrated and had a sunstroke case very similar to the old man, who still hasn't recovered.
7 of October,
The old man we were tending to passed away and three more people collapse near the oasis. This time children. The researchers that live in town also stated that the oasis is two meters below its normal level.
We've decided to send a messenger to Iselia and communicate the Cruxis Church about it. Surely our protectors will do something about this.
10 of October,
Five more people passed out on the city. Food is starting to miss and the oasis is three meters below its level.
There has been no word of our messenger.
Sheena and the others looked to themselves while Lloyd read on. So Triet was faithful to Cruxis to the point of waiting for it to give them the word on how to deal with a situation that was clearly getting worse as time passed.
Lloyd continued reading, his tone now a little somber:
15 of October,
One quarter of the city is bed driven with severe cases of sunstroke. We are rationing food and water is starting to miss.
Still no word of our messenger.
We decided to send another to see what happened to him and why our pleas haven't reached Cruxis yet.
19 of October,
The Oasis is already half of its normal level. Some say it will dry soon. Half of the patients have already died and still more cases of sunstroke are appearing.
Why isn't Cruxis doing anything to stop this?
21 of October,
Have we been at fault to the Faith's teachings? Have we not obeyed Cruxis' words dutifully? All these questions and more hangs in my mind now as our people are starving.
We can't stay in the city anymore, but we can't abandon it or else we don't know if Cruxis will protect us along the road. There are rumors that demons are going around the desert lately.
We don't know how long we can hold…
Marta was covering her mouth with a horrified expression on her face. Emil seemed to be nervous in his place as Sheena had a stone look on her features at hearing all of that. Lloyd continued:
23 of October,
Half of the city is already dead. We made graves for them at the back of the Oasis, which now looks a puddle compared to what it used to be.
Some left the town. Surely either the desert or the demons killed them before they could even get out of the region.
Our protectors left us…
I don't know for how long I will stay alive either…
Soon, water will be completely gone and the rest of us will either die from starvation or try and leave the city just to die in the desert…
We must have sinned against the Faith for Cruxis to…
"Gah. I can't read it anymore!" Lloyd said, closing the checkbook and turning his face to the other side, seeming disgusted.
"So this was how Triet met its end," Ventus said in a cryptic tone.
"I can't believe they didn't leave even when they saw the oasis was drying," Emil spoke, looking down and feeling sorry for all of the city's populace.
The party stayed silent for one minute in respect of the decease civilians of Triet. Lloyd was the one to break the silence, his tone one of indignation:
"I just don't understand how come they were blaming themselves for what was happening. They didn't have any control over it, so… why?"
"People need to have faith in something, otherwise their spirits and will crumble in the face of so many hardships," Tenebrae spoke. "These people's faith in Cruxis was what sustained them and since Cruxis said no word about what was happening, it is only natural for them to think they have done something to upset their protectors."
"Yeah, but… that doesn't mean they have to ask Cruxis permission to save their own lives."
"Oh, and do you think they would hear to these words?" Tenebrae replied.
Lloyd stayed quiet at that and lowered his head. He knew many people placed their own lives on the line when it came to Cruxis, even sacrificing themselves if the angels so commanded and blame themselves or others in case something bad happened to their city or community.
That was one of the reasons Lloyd didn't like them. They talked about atonement, but many times asked for people to put their lives on the line and made the same people they protected think that the hardships they were facing was their fault. Surely, it was true in a way, but to put them even more down instead of convince them to make up for their mistakes… to treat their lives like they were expandable… it was just not right. It couldn't be.
"Strange…" Emil heard Ratatosk speak in his mind. The blonde asked mentally what that was. "These Cruxis guys… there's something off about them."
What do you mean? Emil inquired.
"I can't say for sure, but of one think I'm certain: they knew this was going to happen to Triet."
What? Then why didn't they warn the people beforehand?
"C'mon, are you that stupid?" Ratatosk asked, making Emil show a confused look, but it soon was replaced by one of horror. The Summon Spirit couldn't mean that… "That's right, moron. Cruxis wanted the city to die."
"That can't be true!" Emil spoke aloud, making all of his companions turn to him. The boy however paid no attention to it.
"Huh, that's exactly why it's impossible to reason with you, humans. What does it take for you to see what's right in your face?" Ratatosk then weakened the link, meaning that was his final word.
"Emil, what was that?" Marta asked, worried that Emil and Ratatosk could be arguing again.
"I-it's nothing," Emil rushed to say, turning to the brunette girl.
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah."
Marta dismissed the subject, but Sheena kept looking to Emil with a serious expression, which the boy caught. He knew she had seen through his lie. Tenebrae then called the group's focus back at what they would do from that point on.
"I think we should leave, since there's nothing in the city, and get going as soon as we can," Lloyd suggested. "We can't run out of supplies before we reach the border of the desert, so it would be better we spare some and don't waste time here," the others nodded to him.
"Um… could we take this with us?" Marta asked, referring to the checkbook that contained the annotations about the city's demise. "I think people should know of what happened here."
"That would be a wise decision," Ventus encouraged the girl. "The more informed people are, the more conscious they will become of what state the world is in."
"If that is so, then let's get going," Sheena said. "Man, I just wish I could have that bath."
"Oh, if that is the case, you can use one of my monsters as water source," Aqua offered.
"I… thanks but… I don't want to cause trouble," Sheena said, trying to disguise the fact she wasn't very inclined on taking a shower with water coming from a monster's mouth.
"Oh c'mon. Water from aquatic monsters is actually a very pure one, since they filter it naturally," Aqua insisted.
"I think I'll take that offer," Marta said. The girl then turned to the boys. "And you all, no peeking ok?"
"I-I wouldn't do that, Marta," Emil spoke up.
"Oh Emil, I know you won't. I trust you," the brunette fighter spoke in a sweet tone, which reverted to a slightly dry one, once she turned to the others. "I was talking to Lloyd and the others."
"Hey! What do you take me for, some kind of pervert?" Lloyd protested.
"Yeah. Our buddy double-L is a decent guy," Lumen said in defense for Lloyd. The group looked to the Centurion. "He didn't even stare at Sheena since she has her clothes clinging to her body."
"She what?" Lloyd asked, looking to Sheena more attentively.
It was then he noticed he could see much more details about Sheena's figure than before. Lloyd's face got the tone of his jacket as he stuttered a little, before looking to the side, clearly embarrassed.
Sheena, Marta, Tenebrae, Aqua and Ventus all looked to the young man with the same thought in mind:
Is he really that oblivious?
- / - / - / -
After some hours of traveling, the group finally reached the Triet Ruins. Sheena and Marta decided they would fix themselves after searching the ruins and take the core. Lloyd couldn't look anywhere near Sheena without his eyes wandering to her curves and, as a result, his face taking the color of a tomato.
As the group was approaching, they noticed there was a figure standing near the entrance to the ruins. The group stopped, surprised at seeing somebody in middle of such a desolated place. They approached without making sound, for the case the figure was actually a demon in disguise. They heard the figure speak in a woman's voice:
"It's not these either…" the woman then sighed. "Seems my search is still having a long ways to go…" she seemed to lower her head. "Oh well," she suddenly turned her head up and her tone changed to one of excitement. "Since I'm here, I might as well study these. OH MY! This is a Polycarbonate door! Absolutely fascinating!" the woman then knelled, seeming to touch something in the ground.
Emil and others immediately dropped their stances, big sweat drops falling behind their heads at seeing the stranger's mood around those ruins. It was like watching a child in a room with tons of her favorite candy. The group looked between themselves.
"What just…" Marta let out.
"This seems kinda familiar. Guess she's one of those kinds of researchers," Sheena commented.
"What do you mean?" Emil asked to the older woman.
"Well, there were these researcher guys who once have lunch in Asuka's. They practically went crazy when they asked what was the most ancient site in the city and I answered it was the stone dais. It was quite disturbing."
"Anyway, how shall we proceed? These ruins might house a Centurion's altar," Tenebrae pointed out after concealing his entire form.
It was then the strange woman stopped, sensing the presence of somebody around and turned to the group, who looked to her once they noticed they had been spotted.
The woman at their front had aqua-blue eyes and silver, short hair. She used a brown, adventurer hat to protect her eyes from the sun, a light, orange coat, white shirt and shoes and black shorts. The group noticed she was wielding a staff as she looked to them with an inquisitive and devious look.
"Oh my. And who all of you might be?" the woman asked them, even looking to where the Centurions were and making it clear she could see them.
"Give me your name and I'll give you mine," Lloyd replied.
"That sounded kinda arrogant," Marta pointed out.
"Really? I thought it sounded cool."
"I think it does, double-L," Lumen spoke.
"Can you stop calling me that? It sounds like I'm in some short of gang."
"Anyway…" Sheena spoke, loud enough to interrupt their talk. "who are you and what are you doing out here? I'm certain you didn't come from Triet, since we found out the entire city is abandoned."
The woman got down of the stone stand and looked from one member of the group to the other, like she was deciding if they were a threat or not. It was then Sheena noticed something about that woman's aura.
"You have elven blood in you," the woman said the statement that Sheena was about to voice.
"Hum… yeah I do. And you're a half-elf, right?" Sheena asked back.
"Yes. My name is Raine Sage. Professor Raine Sage."
"Professor? From where?" Ventus asked, revealing himself just like the other Centurions.
"From Sybak."
"But wasn't the city destroyed long ago?" Marta asked.
"Yes. It was destroyed thirty years ago by the actual leader of the Desian Grand Cardinals, Pronyma," Raine explained in a cool voice tone.
"Thirty years? Wow. Guess you really are a half-elf," Emil said.
"Well, since I introduced myself, could you make up to your word and introduce yourselves?" Raine said, looking to Lloyd.
The red clad young man got a little startled at being under the serious gaze of the female half-elf, even more that she clang to his line like that. He resumed his pose and introduced himself and the others, giving Emil's alias instead of his name just in case.
"And who the beings accompanying you might be?" Raine asked, her tone edging between her normal, cool one and an excited one. Tenebrae walked forward and introduced himself.
"I am Centurion Tenebrae. Pleased to meet… he-hey, what are you doing?" Tenebrae exclaimed when Raine, faster than anyone could see, touched Tenebrae's midsection and started to pass her hand over it.
"Amazing! Such smooth fur. This feeling... is it mana? Oh my!" Raine said with some kind of glint in her eyes as she resumed what the others could just suppose was some kind of examination method. "A spirit? No. Feels more like a monster. Oh, you must be a shape-shifter!" Raine concluded, getting up.
The entire group stayed silent at that for what seemed two minutes, not daring to utter a word in the face of what they had seen. Ventus was the one to speak, trying to dispel the awkward atmosphere that made itself present:
"You truly must be an experienced researcher to guess so much about Tenebrae with one touch."
"Thank you," Raine said with a smile. "Can I touch you all as well?" the woman added.
Marta had her hand over her mouth, tying not to get in a giggling fit over the faces the Centurions were making. Lloyd, however, was laughing outright at the face Tenebrae made while he was being examined. Sheena seemed almost disturbed, while Emil could only stare. All of the remaining Centurions backed away.
Ventus had a fearful expression on his avian face for the first time since the party had awakened him. Aqua was floating away, a look of fear in her face as she said:
"Get away of me!"
"Boss, she's scaring me," Lumen whined, going to hide behind Emil.
"Boss?" Raine inquired, dropping her excited demeanor and looking intensively to Emil.
"That's it. First thing I will do when I get my powers back will be to erase Lumen from the face of Aselia," Ratatosk spoke through his link with Emil's soul.
"I thought you looked strange. Your aura isn't like anything I've seen before,' Raine said, regarding Aster.
"Hey! Don't talk to Aster like that!" Marta spoke up, already getting protective. "You're also very suspicious. What are you doing out here?"
"Hey, calm down, Marta," Lloyd said. "I don't think Raine means any harm."
"You're just saying that because you were checking her out," Marta said in an almost acid tone.
"W-what?" Lloyd gasped.
"Don't think I didn't see it. I saw the way you looked to Raine. What kind of boyfriend for Sheena you are?"
"I-I-I wasn't checking her out! I-I was just…"
Raine had a mild surprised look in her face, but she put her hand in front of her chin and tried to disguise the fact she was somewhat pleased to find somebody who thought she was attractive. Emil and the Centurions could just look at the squabbling friends. Sheena had a sweatdrop running behind her head at the scene. She sighed and turned to Raine, speaking:
"So, how about a deal? We don't ask why you're here and you don't ask about our group either. How does that sound?"
"Fair enough to me," Raine said. She decided that, since Sheena seemed to be the oldest in the group, not counting the "fascinating" beings with them, she could trust on the violet haired woman's word.
As Marta and Lloyd continued their talk, Emil decided to talk with Raine:
"Um. Ma'am…" the shy boy started.
"Call me Raine, please," Raine said, giving a slight smile to Emil, who blushed.
"Uh… um… Raine, we kinda need to do something here, so… um… could you…?"
As Emil tried to speak, Marta stopped her argue with Lloyd, recognizing that voice tone. She then looked to her crush and her face started to twist in what seemed to be pure jealously. She could clearly see Emil was fidgeting as he tried to talk to Raine.
Obviously, he's enchanted by her looks. What's wrong with these guys? Do they have to drool every time they see a pretty face? Marta thought.
"And what exactly are you going to do here? Is it going to damage the ruins?" Raine asked, her tone getting slightly alternated from her normal, cool one to one more devious.
"Hum… well…"
"Because I can't allow that to happen. These ruins are just too important."
The group forgot their previous talks and all looked to Raine. She seemed somewhat hallucinated with the idea that whatever they were going to do could damage the Triet Ruins. Sheena was the first to recover and spoke:
"Chill out, Raine. They are just ruins."
Upon hearing that, Raine's head suddenly seemed to jolt up and she turned to Sheena in a blink of an eye with a very angry expression in her face and voice tone. The researcher asked:
"What did you just say?"
"They're just stones. Surely, whatever you were doing here wasn't that important that you had to risk your life over some old site."
"Some. old. site?" Raine repeated that like it was an insult. "Do you have any idea of the historical importance of these ruins? The knowledge of the past that could be lost if they were to vanish?"
"What's in the past, is in the past. That's what I think," Sheena said, not seeming phased at all. Lloyd and the others could just look from one woman to the other as they continued that discussion.
"Oh, of course. For somebody like you, I'm sure it isn't very valuable, is it now?" Raine asked, using a sharp tone and mildly narrowing her eyes at that.
"What was that supposed to mean?" Sheena inquired, now getting exasperated.
The two grow ups continued with their argument. Ventus sighed and Lumen back off a little more, obviously scared of the Professor. Emil, Lloyd and Marta couldn't take their eyes off the squabbling women. Tenebrae then decided to speak up so just the three humans could hear him:
"I think we should take this chance while Lady Sheena is so kindly distracting Professor Raine for us and break the spirit seal in the ruins."
Aster and the others nodded to the Centurion of darkness and walked to the entrance of the ruins without being noticed by Raine, who was still arguing with Sheena about the historical importance of the ruins. The three went up the stairs and saw a blue, stone slab covering an underground entrance. Aster dusted some of the sand in the slab and revealed a symbol on it.
The blonde got up and let Ratatosk took over and undo the seal. At that moment, Raine sensed a slight disturbance at the currents of energy around and turned. She found its source as being Aster and felt his aura was slightly agitated, like he was charging a spell.
But how can he do that if he's a human? Raine thought. There was definitely something off about that group of travelers.
The symbol on the stone slab shone and it slid to reveal the entrance to the ruins. Ratatosk grinned at seeing how easy it had been. He was about to turn to the others and order them to proceed when he came face to face with Raine, who was standing right behind him. The reincarnated Lord of the Monster jumped behind, slightly scared. If she acted that way around his Centurions, he didn't even want to know what she would do when she discovered what he was.
"Hell! Don't scare me like that woman!" Ratatosk didn't achieve to hold back the retort. Raine looked more intensively to him. Ratatosk immediately realized he should have given the control back to Emil.
"Very interesting. Not just your pose, voice tone and eye color changed, but also your entire personality," Raine commented more to herself than to the others.
"H-hey! What did I say about talking to my Aster like that?" Marta said, trying to sound angrier than worried, so she could distract Raine. However, it didn't work and the expression of the half-elven woman remained analytical.
"Oh, don't worry. I promised I wouldn't question about your group further as long as you did the same about me," Raine simply spoke. "But, since you opened the entrance to the inner ruins, shall we proceed?"
Without waiting for an answer, Raine walked down the entrance to the ruins, leaving the group behind. Silence befell them for some seconds, until Lumen decided to turn to Tenebrae and say:
"Hey, Professor Water copied you, Tene-man," the group turned to Lumen at that, repeating the nickname he just gave Raine. "Yeah. You know, her name kinda reminds me of rain and rain has water. Get it?"
As Lloyd and the others tried to absorb the infamous joke from Lumen, Tenebrae commented to the cheetah-like Centurion:
"Did you ever think about leaving your Centurion career and try one as a comedian, Lumen?"
"Oh, I wouldn't dream of that. You guys would all be very sad if I left," Lumen said.
"No, go on. We will survive, don't worry," Aqua said.
It was then the group heard a scream that sounded a lot like Raine, coming from inside the ruins. They quickly dismissed the previous subject and ran to inside the ruins, drawing their weapons in the process and getting ready to fight. Lloyd was the first to arrive and looked around as he asked:
"Raine, are you alright?"
"MARVELOUS!"
The group stopped at their places at hearing that and looked to where the scream had come from. They saw Raine there, her eyes widened like they were about to jump out of their orbs and a big grin plastered over her face. She looked pretty much like a child on a sugar rush while looking to a line of columns that decorated the entrance hallway.
"Look at these carvings! This style is definitely elven, but there are some different details in it. What could it be?" Raine mused.
Lloyd and the others were about to say something about she making false alarms and startling them, but Emil beat the group to it. What he spoke, however, wasn't anything they expected the blond swordsman to talk:
"Really? Let me take a look," Emil then walked to where Raine was and looked to the column. "Oh, I recognize it. It's dwarven art."
"Really? How can you be so sure?" Raine asked him.
"Just look at the outlines and the design at the base. It's slightly more crude than the rest to be elven, since the elves always believed everything should be represented smoothly while the dwarves prefer things closer to their natural state," Emil spoke in his didactic tone.
Lloyd and Sheena had their mouths hanging open at seeing Emil and Raine interacting like research colleagues. Raine then asked Emil for his opinion in some interpretation she had about a part of the ruins or another. It seemed like the two were now off to their own, little world. Marta sighed at the scene, speaking:
"And there he goes again with his Aster Mode."
"'Aster Mode'?" Sheena asked the brunette girl.
"Oh, it's just how Lady Marta likes to call Lord Emil when he acts like that," Tenebrae answered. "She seems to attribute it mainly to the fact that Emil had gained some popularity between some researchers while using his alias. She also likes to say that when Lord Ratatosk's soul manifests on Lord Emil he is in his Ratatosk Mode."
"Ratatosk Mode? Aster Mode?" Lloyd asked, seeming confused. The dual swordsman then looked up, like he had thought on something important. "Hey, if that's the case, then Raine is now in her 'Ruin Mode'."
Sheena and Marta looked to Lloyd. The older woman then spoke:
"I really don't think that's…"
"Hey, I got it! Ruin Mode!" Lumen suddenly said, turning to Lloyd. "You're a genius double-L."
"Uh… thanks…" Lloyd said, eying Lumen when the Centurion used the nickname he recently gave to the young man.
"Ok… anyway," Sheena said, eying Lumen and turning to the others. "What are we going to do about Raine? It might be dangerous if she insists on coming along."
"YOU'RE A GENIUS ASTER!" Raine's scream attracted the attention of the group, yet again. When they looked where the half-elven woman was, they saw she was hugging Emil like he was some kind of plushy. "Just imagine all the things we could discover together! Oh, the knowledge that would be in our reach with our combined minds!"
Aqua looked from the excited archeologist to Marta, who now had her right eye twitching. The brunette girl seemed to be using all of her willpower not to go there and snatch Emil away from Raine. The Centurion of water could see what kind of danger could be associated with Raine coming with them to the innermost parts of the ruins. Lloyd commented:
"Is it just me or does she seem really excited about the idea of studying more ruins?"
"Sexually excited, I would say," Sheena inputted.
"Well, then how do you suggest we convince Professor Raine to stay behind, Lady Sheena, since it seems she and Lord Emil are already finding they have much in common," Ventus pointed.
Marta seemed to be ready to fume at that remark from the Centurion of wind. In her mind, she was losing Emil faster than Ratatosk lost all manners when pissed off. Sheena could feel the dangerous vibe emanating from the Emil's childhood friend and decided they had to act fast before Marta decided to murder Raine.
"I think one of us could try and talk with her. But Emil seems to already be busy…" Sheena spoke. Aster was now analyzing the markings at the ceiling, with a still excited Raine nodding to what he said. "So we will need somebody else."
The group thought at that and soon they looked to Lloyd, who was still in a thoughtful pose. Upon feeling the eyes of his companions were on him, Lloyd looked back to them, asking why they were looking at him. It took a whole minute for the dual swordsman to catch the meaning of their stares. His expression immediately went to one of worry as he shook his head and backed away one step, saying:
"Oh no. No, no, no."
"C'mon Lloyd. Make use of your good looks for once," Sheena said.
"W-what? Sheena! You can't possibly be agreeing with… what about…?"
"Ah, I know there's no danger for me. Besides, I can tell Raine isn't exactly interested."
"How can you tell that?" Marta asked.
"Trust me. I've seen enough on Asuka's to know these things."
"Then why do you think if I speak to her that she will listen?" Lloyd asked.
"Because no woman in her right mind can resist listening to the voice of a good-looking guy that knows how to talk with her."
Though Lloyd felt flattered by the compliment (which made his face blush a scarlet tone), he still had his doubts about it. Talking to Sheena about his feelings for her was already hard. Now, trying to sound suave to a completely strange woman was an entirely different thing.
"C'mon Lloyd. What's the problem? Scared you might not be up to it?" Aqua teased.
The reaction was almost instantaneous as Lloyd looked to her, asking what she meant with that. Tenebrae and Ventus caught on Aqua's strategy and decided to play along:
"Well, it seems we clearly choose an incapable person. Better we reconsider, my ladies," Tenebrae said, turning to Marta and Sheena.
"H-HEY! I can do it, just so you know!" Lloyd answered, letting his manly pride get the best of him.
"Really? You seemed quite afraid. Surely, if even Lord Emil, with his shy demeanor is capable of…" Ventus teased, giving it the final stroke.
"I'm going! You wait here!" Lloyd said, stomping away of the group. As soon as the red clad swordsman was out of hearing range, the Centurions and the girls started to giggle.
Lloyd then thought on how he would talk to Raine. He decided just to be natural and show that he was worried she could get hurt. When the young man was close to the silver haired woman, he called her attention. Raine then seemed to revert from her Ruin Mode, back to her normal demeanor at seeing Lloyd wanted to talk with her.
"Excuse me, Miss Raine," Lloyd started, thinking that showing some manners could help around Raine. Good think his father always insisted for him to pay attention to those things.
"Professor Raine would be better, dear. Or simply Raine," Raine said, though she appeared to be pleased at being called with such cordiality.
"Me and the others… we think that it would be better if you stayed here or outside the ruins. Um… not that we want you to leave, just…" Lloyd stumbled a little on his words, trying to find a way to sound the polite. "I'm worried that there might be some monster here. You could get hurt if we got into a battle."
Raine put her hand over her chin again, in a thoughtful pose. The girls behind Lloyd seemed impressed that he was getting to convince Raine. Sheena seemed to be proud of the dual swordsman. However, Raine then spoke again, her voice a little sweeter than the usual:
"If that's the case, I think I can trust you to keep me safe, since you're so worried with my well-being."
"W-what?" Lloyd let out.
"You're not going to let any harm come in my way, are you Lloyd?" Raine spoke still in her sweet tone and put a hand on Lloyd's cheek.
The skin where Raine touched started to get terribly hot and Lloyd's face gained a scarlet tone at having his plan spectacularly backfiring at him and the sweet voice the older woman was using on him. Lloyd came to discover, while travelling with Emil and Marta in Asgard, that he had a thing for older women.
In Lloyd's opinion, older women were the kind that could always be relied on and they held an air of maturity and understanding of the things. He particularly liked the ones that didn't force people to be something they weren't and the ones that worked hard to get what they wanted instead of waiting for others to do things for them. Raine clearly fit that category and that made Lloyd see her as attractive and since he never had much experience with the opposite sex, he was unable to resist her charm.
"U-uh… I-I-I-I…" Lloyd stuttered, unable to form a coherent sentence.
"I'll take that as a yes. Thanks Lloyd," Raine said, giving him another smile and going deeper into the ruins.
Lloyd stayed frozen on his spot, mouth closed an eyes widened comically. Sheena and the others just observed how Raine easily took control of the situation and turned Lloyd's charm against him. The guardian user then spoke:
"Man, she's good. That's not going to be easy."
Lumen and the other Centurions suddenly perked their heads up. Marta noticed that and asked what it was. Ventus was the one to answer:
"I sense monsters nearby."
The group then heard a gurgled sound coming from the end of the corridor they were in. They looked past Raine, who had her staff in hand and saw some kind of one-eyed, red, humanoid monster. One of his arms was shaped in the form of a shield and the other held a sword that seemed to be made of flames. The monster didn't have a neck; therefore his only, yellow eye seemed to be attached to his main body.
"That's a Fire Warrior," Lumen said.
The fire warrior seemed to gurgle again and raised his shield arm. A ball of flames formed at the point of his clawed fingers and illuminated the adjacent corridors with a red light. Soon more monsters' howls could be heard.
"He gave the signal!" Tenebrae spoke. "Everybody, prepare for battle!"
Emil was immediately possessed by Ratatosk, who drew his blade. Marta, Sheena and Lloyd took out their weapons, as Raine backed away until she was behind Emil. The blonde then ordered Aqua to summon some monsters and the Centurion of water nodded, summoning a Tortoise and two siren-like monsters.
From behind the Fire Warrior and the sides came two more Fire Warriors, three birds which seemed to be made of pure flames and five spheres which seemed to be made of animated, red rock. The group then charged at battle as the Fire Warrior gave signal for the guardians of the ruins to advance.
Lloyd and Ratatosk met the front of the Fire Guardians and clashed their swords against the shields of the monsters. Marta and Sheena concentrated on taking out the flyers, which flew above Lloyd and Emil, letting flames fall on the two swordsmen, who had some minor burns on their arms and head. The tortoise served as a tanker against the remaining Fire Warrior while the sirens were clashing against the magical Fire Elements using water spells.
Upon seeing Lloyd receiving a nasty, burning cut from the sword of a Fire Warrior, which tried to proceed and shoot several fire projectiles on the swordsman, Raine quickly charged a spell and casted a barrier around Lloyd, which deflected all of the magical projectiles. The silver haired woman proceed to a cast a First Aid spell, which instantly closed the cut Lloyd had received and healed his earlier burns.
Lloyd looked to his healed wounds and to Raine, who was already charging a Sharpness spell to aid Ratatosk. The red clad swordsman thought:
So, she's a healer.
"Raining Delude!" Ratatosk proclaimed, jumping and avoiding the swipe of a Fire Warrior's sword. The Lord of the Monsters then charged a stream of water on his blade and threw it at the feet of the monster, making a column of water rise, which covered the entire monster, releasing steam and putting out its sword. "Die! Phoenix Rush!" the Summon Spirit approached the Fire Warrior, jumped and spun his blade, drawing two moons in the air and releasing blades of wind in the process, slashing and killing the monster.
"Watch out!" he heard Marta said.
Ratatosk turned in time to see a Flame Lance and several fire balls coming to his direction. He was hit by the magic attacks before he could put up his defenses, having part of his clothes charred and his skin burnt.
Aqua then sent the Tortoise after the Fire Elements that attacked her lord. The turtle monster trampled them and the sirens finished the Elements off with Spread spells. Marta and Sheena eliminated two Fire Birds and Lloyd was taking care of the third. One Fire Warrior tried to go after Raine, but the half-elf dodged its attacks and charged a magic spell.
"Photon!" a sphere made of pure light appeared on the monster, releasing several explosions of light until the sphere itself exploded. The light burned the monster's aura and energy, killing it instantly. Lloyd and Sheena saw that and had their mouths hanging open. So Raine wasn't just healer, but also a light mage and a powerful one at that.
Ratatosk eliminated the last Fire Warrior and turned at the group, seeing they had already took out all of the monsters. The Summon Spirit then shrugged with his sword laying on his shoulder, saying:
"Huh, that was pretty pathetic. Efreet needs to put a better security."
Marta and the others were about to reunited with Ratatosk when suddenly a Fire Warrior landed behind the Lord of the Monsters. Marta only had time to warn Ratatosk before he turned and got bashed by the shield of the monster. The sword of the reincarnated spirit flew out of his hand, clattering on the floor as he fell on his back. The Fire Warrior then prepared to finish his opponent off.
It was then Raine's voice echoed in the hallway, chanting a new spell:
"Oh Eriantrus, sred en dhis…" that was all Lloyd and the others could decipher as Raine continued to chant in a strange language. Ratatosk even looked away of the monster as his other Centurions appeared, all thinking the same as their lord:
This is… a demonic chant.
"Neran Liard!" Raine proclaimed.
A spectral, runic circle appeared over the head of the monster, which seemed to have gotten temporary paralyzed when it felt the energies Raine was reuniting. Even Sheena felt a shiver on her spine when she heard Raine chanting. From the runic circle came several, green-poison arrows of the size of swords, which rained upon the Fire Warrior, piercing his skin like it was paper. Then a great, green-poison sword fell from the rune, releasing waves of energy once it hit the ground and the Fire Warrior, cleaving it in two and incinerating the parts with the waves of energy.
Lloyd and the others now showed afraid expressions. They never saw a spell like that. Spells normally didn't have such a physical effect on their targets. They generally either attacked his energy and mana, or crippled them. For a spell to kill like that, it was necessary a great amount of spiritual energy and for the caster to possess a certain level of power.
The Centurions then rushed to stand between Lloyd, Sheena and Marta and Raine, as Ratatosk quickly got up and snatched his blade, going to the side of the three and pointing it to Raine, speaking in a demanding tone:
"Woman, who are you? How did you know a spell like that?"
"R-Ratatosk, what…?" Marta asked, forgetting to keep the identity of the Summon Spirit in secret in her shock.
"That was chaos magic. Are you a chaos user? Answer me!"
Lloyd and his friends could just look from Ratatosk to Raine, who now had what seemed to be a sad look on her face as her eyes didn't show any emotion. The half-elven woman spoke in an emotionless tone:
"Yes. I know how to manipulate chaos and use it… just like the demons do."
Lloyd and the others gasped at hearing that. But Raine… she couldn't be a Desian or a demon. If so, she wouldn't have saved Emil. However, Ratatosk didn't seem to be paying any heed to that as he said, his voice dripping with anger:
"So you're the same as those who gave themselves to the demons."
"No, I'm not. Contrary to what it may seem, I do not sympathize with the…" Raine tried to say, just to be interrupted.
"Shut up! People like you make me sick! You just use anything in your reach to get what you want, don't you? Even if it means to cause havoc to this world through the use of chaos, which is an element that should be kept untouched," Ratatosk then swung his sword, preparing to strike Raine. "You're going to regret to ever have come across this knowledge!"
Ratatosk then ran to Raine, who could just look at the crimson-eyed boy intending on taking her life. Marta screamed for Ratatosk to stop. The sound of metal colliding with something that wasn't flesh came. Lloyd and Marta were surprised at seeing Sheena near Raine; seal in hand and blocking Ratatosk's blade.
"What?" the Summon Spirit exclaimed, surprised.
"You certainly have some anger issues to attack before even getting to hear the other side," Sheena said with a serious look on her features.
"Get out of the way!" Ratatosk roared to Sheena, jumping back.
"No."
Marta begged for Ratatosk to stop, tears starting to come to her eyes. However, the violent spirit seemed deaf to everything but his anger. The Centurions only looked at the scene with stone expressions. Ratatosk then grabbed his blade with an inverse grip, energy starting to slowly gather on it.
"If you're not going to move, then you may as well…" before the crimson-eyed entity could complete the sentence, a blade was put on his throat, making him stop to charge his attack. "What the…?"
Marta and the Centurions gasped as they saw Lloyd with a hard expression and serious look on his eyes, his blade at Ratatosk's neck. The young man then spoke, his tone a steel one:
"You might be my friend, but I'm not letting you hurt Sheena or anybody innocent for that matter."
"You fool. Don't you realize that woman is…?"
"That's enough!" Raine's voice echoed in the ruined corridor.
All talks stopped as the silver haired woman walked passing Sheena, who could just look at older woman. Raine then stopped near Ratatosk and Lloyd, who seemed surprised at seeing her approaching the spirit when he gave clear signs he intended to kill her.
Raine then asked for Lloyd to hand his sword to her. The red clad swordsman was quite worried about that, but did it notwithstanding. To everybody's surprise, Raine opened her other hand and slid the blade's edge on her palm, her face twisting slightly in pain. Blood started to drip from the wound as Raine held her bleeding hand up, on Ratatosk's eye level.
"Before you decide, see my blood and judge if I am one of those who gave themselves to their desire for power or not," Raine said, her voice unwavering, even though she just wounded herself. "I'm sure it's pretty easy for a being like you to read the blood of one."
"What? Wait… does that mean?" Marta asked. Lloyd and Sheena gave a step back. Could Raine have guessed what Ratatosk exactly was?
"I've noticed there was something very different in Aster's aura and when he showed this 'other self', I just had to make an assumption. Of course, I wouldn't question you about it, since it makes part of our agreement," Raine said, looking to Marta. The half-elf then turned to Ratatosk again. "So, have you analyzed my blood?"
Ratatosk stayed silent, his blade lowered ever since Lloyd had handed his weapon to Raine. The violent spirit then sheathed his sword without muttering a single word, and gave the control back to Emil.
"I'll take that as an approbation gesture," Raine said, casting First Aid on her hand, healing the wound entirely.
"I'm… sorry for treating you like that, Miss Raine," Emil said as the others approached.
"Don't be. It's only natural that you all got worried upon the fact I'm a chaos user. In fact, I didn't even expect for you to defend me at all," Raine meant Lloyd and Sheena.
"You helped us back there and I can see you're not a bad person," Lloyd said.
"Same here. Though you're quite suspicious, I can tell you're not up to some kind of evil," Sheena reinforced.
Raine thanked them. The Centurions then approached her and also apologized for making assumptions about her character judged on her knowledge of how to use chaos. Raine forgave them and showed she had no hard feelings by asking if she could "study" them a little more. Ratatosk servants backed away at that.
"Just a minute," Marta said. "What was that you did with your hand? Why did you cut yourself?"
"Oh. That is called a 'blood test'," Raine answered.
"'Blood test'? " Lloyd asked.
"The blood of one person is a natural magical conductor, capable of absorbing the kind of power he uses the most and, together with it, the feelings he had while using that power, such has fear, hatred, greed or simply the urge to protect someone. Special beings are able to 'read' the power attached to someone's blood and, through it, see if the person has ill intentions or not. I thought that since you're friend houses some kind of being that clearly isn't anything near the mortal sphere, it could be somewhat versed on this ability," Raine lectured.
"You are incredibly well-informed about these things," Ventus commented. "I wonder where you learned about such things."
"That is a personal matter."
"Then how about explain to us how you know how to use chaos magic?" Tenebrae suggested in an inquiring tone.
"Oh, that. I simply made some experimentations myself once I found the theory behind it."
The Centurions and even Sheena got a devious look at that. The voluptuous woman then asked:
"Get serious. I was taught about magic and I know things aren't that easy even if you have the theory."
"Oh, but I am serious. If you doubt me, maybe another demonstration might…"
"I think that's enough for today," Marta said, putting her hand on her forehead. "Let's just… go on and grab that core before more trouble comes our way."
"Core?" Raine inquired.
"Um… I…" Marta let out, seeing she had spoken too much.
Sheena covered her face with her palm while the Tenebrae did the same with his tail and Ventus shook his head, sighing. Aqua turned to Emil and asked her reincarnated lord:
"No offense, Lord Emil, but are any of you able to keep our quest in secret?"
"I kinda ask myself the same thing sometimes," Ratatosk said, but Emil didn't transmit the thought.
"How about we tell her about it then?" Lloyd suggested. "I mean, since we already left it loose anyways."
Ventus decided that would be a good idea and flew to Raine's front, staying floating in the air and explaining her about their journey. Though there were times the group could swear they saw that glint Raine had in her eyes when she was in her "Ruin Mode", the female half-elf seemed to have used all of her willpower not to interrupted Ratatosk's servant as he explained their purpose in those ruins.
When Ventus ended, Raine had her hand over her chin, pondering about everything she heard so far. Lloyd and the others couldn't tell if she was thinking if all of that could be true or not. The silver haired woman finally spoke, getting out of her reflective pose:
"Very intriguing, I must say. The Summon Spirit of the Kharlan Tree…"
"That would be me," Ratatosk said, taking control of Emil's body.
"Might I ask what exactly you will do once you recover your powers?" Raine inquired.
"What do you think? I'll kick Nebilim and those demons back to Neflheim and retake my domain in the Ginnungagap," Ratatosk spoke in a tone of somebody who explained the most obvious thing in the world.
"And what do you plan to do about the humans and us? After all, aren't we the races who… how might I phrase it? Killed your tree?"
Ratatosk seemed to have shuddered at his place. The Centurions looked worried at that. Raine had touched Ratatosk's most painful scar. Sheena and the others stayed silent at that, just looking to the Lord of the Monsters. They always thought Ratatosk would drive the demons away of Aselia, after all, that would be his duty as a Summon Spirit, but they hadn't stop to think about what he would do next.
The crimson-eyed spirit had a small drop running in forehead as he tried to come up with something. Raine stayed quiet, though she noticed how the spirit seemed nervous. Ratatosk then let out an "hmph" sound and spoke:
"I'll figure that out along the way. For now we have to concentrate on what's the most important thing to do at the moment, which is to gather my Centurions for me to recover my powers. If that doesn't sound good enough for you, then you can stay behind studying your precious ruins."
"Oh no, I think I'll go along with you all. There's a chance I'll meet a certain ruin that I'm looking for if you all are going to travel through the world, collecting these cores of yours," Raine said, her tone always cool and decisive.
"Are you serious?" Sheena asked.
"Didn't I already prove I know how to take care of myself in a battle? Besides, your current healer is too young to know how to cure the most severe wounds, or about healing herbs and the different kinds of venom that exists, both from this world and demonic," the half-elven woman said, regarding Marta.
"I-I'm still on training! I will eventually learn it," Marta spoke. Her tone showed she clearly didn't want Raine to tag along.
"But she's right Marta," Emil said, taking the control of his body back. "Raine seems to be very skilled. Maybe you could learn something from her and…"
"Are you siding with her?" Marta asked, walking up to Emil in a blink of eyes and staying on the tip of her shoes. Her angry look made the blonde gulp.
"N-no. I'm just saying that this is the most logical thing to…"
"So, if you want her to come so much, then you can as well stay with her if that's what you really want!" Marta yelled at him.
The brunette fighter then stomped away. Emil tried to call her and went after the girl. Raine seemed amused and Sheena and Lloyd looked to the sides, deciding it would be wiser to stay out of that.
"Is that a common occurrence in this group?" Raine asked to Tenebrae, who was at her side.
"More than you can imagine," the dog-like Centurion commented.
"This is indeed going to be an interesting journey," Raine mused.
Lloyd, Sheena, Aqua, Lumen and Raine followed Marta and Emil deeper into the ruins…
- / - / - / -
Lloyd didn't know why, but ever since he entered the ruins something had been nagging him in the back of his mind, like there was something about those ruins to which he felt connected somehow. Still, the red clad swordsman didn't want to worry his friends and their new travel companion.
Sheena looked to her crush and noticed he had a thoughtful expression on his face. She tried to talk to him and asked what was worrying the dual swordsman, but Lloyd just kept saying:
"It's nothing to worry about."
The group eventually passed a great hall, which had lava on its bottom and found some kind of teleporter (they almost had to drag Raine away from the device, which she insisted on staying for some minutes to find out how it worked). They arrived in what seemed to be a new section of the ruins.
The room in which they were now seemed relatively new and better sculpted compared to the rest of the Triet Ruins. At the back of the room there was a narrow passage and a large altar. Ratatosk then spoke:
"This is Efreet's altar. Behind it is Ignis' altar, according to my memories."
"Efreet, the Summon Spirit of fire?" Raine asked.
"Do you know any other?" Ratatosk shot back in his usual harsh tone.
Lloyd walked ahead to the group and his eyes fixated on the altar. There was something… familiar about it, like he had been here before. He just couldn't remember…
"Lloyd, what are you doing?" Sheena's voice took the young man out of his thoughts and made him turn to her. "What's up anyway? And don't come telling me it's nothing, because it clearly isn't."
The entire group looked to the dual swordsman now, even Raine stopped gazing around the room at sensing there was something off with the red clad swordsman. Seeing there was no use in hiding it now, Lloyd sighed and spoke:
"It's just… I've been feeling strange ever since I entered these ruins. It's like I know the place, because I've already been here, but…"
"You have no memory of ever being in a place like this," Marta completed Lloyd's phrase. The young man nodded. The group now looked to the brunette fighter. "I felt the same thing when we were below the stone dais in Asgard."
"Well, Ignis' name also came to my head when we entered here."
Raine and Ventus got in a thoughtful pose at that while Sheena could just look from Marta to Lloyd. Could there be some reason why those two were heaving those sensations near the altars of the Centurions? Ventus then spoke, his wing reverting from its "hand mode" back to its normal state and regarding Lloyd and Marta:
"That is certainly the most curious… I've never heard of such cases, even when it came to half-elves."
"Still, that's not something we can pursue further, since neither Lloyd nor Marta seems to know the reason for these feelings themselves," Raine proposed.
"Then, shall we proceed?" Tenebrae inquired.
"I think that would be the most appropriated thing to do for now."
The group then settled at continuing their way through the ruins. After passing the spirit altar and the narrow passage behind it, they arrived in another room, as big as the one that had the teleporter to the spirit altar and with molten rock bubbling at its bottom as well.
After fighting their way through some stray monsters, which Ratatosk soon bound to him again, the group walked through a large bridge and arrived at another altar. On its top, was another spectral, flower-shaped vase with a drop-shaped core floating above it.
Before anybody else could move, Raine ran to the front of the altar with such speed the group could swore she had turned into an orange blur. As the half-elven researcher moaned in admiration, Lloyd and Marta noticed she was in her "Ruin Mode" once more.
"So this is Ignis' core. Such a wonderful relic!"
As Raine went on praising the core, the group sweat dropped and the Centurions looked between themselves. Sheena turned to them and spoke so just Lloyd and the other humans could hear:
"I wonder if she's really going to do that at every core she sees."
"Considering how… enthusiastic she is at the moment, it is possible," Tenebrae pointed out.
"It's kind of weird, don't you think?" Marta asked the others.
"Creepy, I would say," Aqua pointed.
"Well, it is strange, but…" Emil started.
"I'm not strange, weird, or creepy! I'm a researcher!" Raine screamed from her place in the altar. Emil and the others who spoke flinched. That woman sure had a good ear. "Now, can we take it?" Raine asked, her enthusiasm soon coming back at full force.
"Actually no. The Centurion's cores that are in a dormant state don't have control over their powers, letting it flow and attract nearby monsters. Humans can even go insane if they hold a core for too long, since they don't have any magical defense against it," Emil said, getting into his own "Aster Mode" and approaching the altar. "We came here to hatch the core."
"So, you mean it's going to take a corporeal form like the other Centurions?"
"Possibly."
Emil then passed Raine, who just observed he walking up the stairs to the altar and approach the floating core. The silver haired woman observed everything, not even blinking. The rest of the group approached to watch the hatching ritual.
With a pulse of his aura, Emil gave the control to Ratatosk and the Summon Spirit chanted the spell raising his hands to the core. The core started to release rays of red light as the grooves opened and revealed the ruby-red sphere inside it. The magma below started to get agitated and fire columns rose from the molten rock and the fires around the altar, all converging to the core, which absorbed the flames.
With a red flash, the core then transformed and in its place now stood what looked like a woman with pointed ears and tan skin. She was Emil's height, her hair was made of dancing flames and instead of hands and feet she had red, dragon claws. Parts of her shoulder and belly seemed to change between red scales and skin and (Lloyd had to look to the side when he saw it) she used just a short, black dress which barely reached her knees and with big slits to the sides and a simple black bra to cover her fair-sized breasts.
Raine had her eyes wide in wonderment and her hands extended to the impressive entity, like she wanted to take Ignis in her arms. Marta and Sheena wondered how come Ratatosk had made a Centurion so close to a human appearance since all the others resembled animals and monsters. Didn't the violent Spirit despise humans?
Ignis then stretched her arms up and yawned, showing two fang-like canines. She then opened her eyes and the group saw they were golden with vertical pupils. The Centurion of fire then looked to Emil, who still had Ratatosk controlling his body and greeted him with smile, saying:
"Hello my lord. You won't believe the dream I had. There were those demons, a guy who commanded them. He even took you down. Strange, isn't it?"
The group, save Ratatosk and the Centurions, looked between themselves with raised eyebrows. Ratatosk sighed, while Ventus flew forward, perching himself in the shoulder of their reincarnated lord and speaking to the newly awakened Centurion:
"Um, Ignis… that wasn't a dream."
"Really?" Ignis asked with a surprised expression on her face, which soon turned horrified as she put her dragon-hands on her mouth, exclaiming. "But… then that means…"
"Yup. Boss got his back handed to himself," Lumen said, also coming forward and lowering his head at the sad memory. Ratatosk didn't even bother to tell the Centurion to shut up. "But now that Hotflame-nis is back, boss, can recover his powers and pay back that mustard," Lumen said, his goofy smile returning in a blink of eyes.
"Ok… first: 'Hotflame-nis'? What the hell kind of nickname is that?" Sheena asked. "And second: didn't you mean 'bastard' instead of 'mustard'?"
"Why would I say that?" Lumen asked innocently.
"Actually, Lumen can't swear to save himself. Lord Ratatosk made sure of that," Tenebrae explained.
"You're kidding, right?" Marta asked with a giggle in her voice. "Ratatosk? Worried about people swearing?"
"Hey, what do you think I am? Some kind of dirty-mouthed, human sailor?" Ratatosk protested, coming to them at hearing that, Ignis floating behind him, her fiery hair fluttering in the air.
"Oh, sorry," Marta said, though she couldn't help, but giggle. "But that's actually kinda cute, cause Emil too can't swear even if he wanted to. I think that's a very nice trait to a boy."
Ratatosk seemed to widen his eyes a little at that, but soon looked to the side so it would seem he paid any mind to it. Aqua then took on to answer Sheena's first question:
"About Lumen's nickname for her; he already called her Flame-nis, obviously because she's the one of us who controls fire. As for the 'hot' part, I'm not certain where he picked that."
"Actually, he picked it when he heard Lord Ratatosk saying that," Tenebrae pointed out.
The entire group turned to the ancient Summon Spirit of the Kharlan Tree who started to sweat at having that piece of information revealed. So much he shouted at Tenebrae to keep his mouth shut. Marta had her eyes widen when she realized what Tenebrae just said meant.
WHAT? Now I have to compete against one of Ratatosk's Centurion too? Man, things are getting way out of control. the petite girl thought, distraught. She then looked from Ignis to Raine, feeling her hopes shrink. How was she going to compete against two gorgeous women? Marta then shook her head, remembering what Sheena once said to her. I can't give up! I refuse to give up Emil!
As the brunette strengthened her resolve, the group continued to look at Ratatosk, who now just mumbled something about "idiots" and tried to hide his blush, thought it wasn't possible at the moment. Lumen then pressed the subject on, not noticing how it was being embarrassing for his Lord:
"You know, that reminds me of that story about when boss was creating Ignis and making her appearance to give her as a present to…"
"Aqua!" Ratatosk called.
The Centurion of water nodded and pointed to Lumen, calling up a Leech, which jumped into Lumen's mouth, effectively blocking it with its body and leaving to Centurion with wide eyes as he could only mumble. Ratatosk sighed in relief. He didn't need them knowing about that. Raine was taking notes on all of that on what seemed to be some short of book, looking from the gagged Lumen to Aqua. Ignis suddenly spoke, a cheerful smile coming to her draconic-features:
"Wow. I'm sure that must be quite a story."
The Centurions and Ratatosk looked to her. Ventus then spoke:
"Ignis, you know of this tale. We told you when you first gained your sense of self-awareness."
"Oh… really? Then that shouldn't have been so interesting, since I can't remember any of it," Ignis thought aloud, putting one claw in her chin. She then looked to Raine and approached the half-elf. "What are you writing in it?" she pointed to the book.
"Just some notes. Mind if I examine you a little?"
"Of course not. I'm always glad to help," Ignis said with the most sincere of the smiles.
"As you all can see, Ignis can be quite… ditzy sometimes," Ratatosk spoke, looking while his Centurion let Raine touch the spots where her body alternated between scale and skin. "Not to mention that she has the attention span and memory of a squirrel for some things. Ventus, tell her the situation while we get out."
Ventus bowed his head to his lord and the group started to turn to go back, not wanting to waste any more time than necessary in the furnace that was the altar. Raine thanked Ignis for the cooperation, closing her book and following the group.
It was then the Centurion of fire looked to Lloyd and arched one red eyebrow. Floating to the dual swordsman, she stayed at his side, leaning her head close Lloyd. The swordsman felt that and turned to her, his cheeks started to burn as he realized Ignis seemed to be checking him out.
"Uh… y-yes?" Lloyd asked. Ignis approached a little more and Lloyd had to use all of his self-control not to let his eyes wander to her lower parts.
"Did we meet each other before? You seem so familiar," Ignis asked in an innocent tone that could easily rival Lumen's one.
"N-n-no. I-I don't think so," Lloyd said, looking to Sheena and Marta. Thankfully the two were so concentrated in getting out of the heat that they didn't even bother looking behind.
"Oh, really? Ok then. I hope we can be friends, just like you are my master's friend," Ignis said, showing her cheerful smile and putting her hand on Lloyd's cheek.
"Y-y-yeah. M-me too," Lloyd struggled to say.
Ignis smiled again and floated away. Lloyd sighed and took a look at her back, silently cursing his hormones and thanking the heavens Sheena wasn't as possessive as Marta or he would have dropped dead when his eyes disobeyed him and looked to Ignis' cleavage…
To those curious as to what was the first part of the enchant Raine spoke, the translation is "Oh Great Father, source of all...". The name of the spell is also in demonic, it means "Chaos Lance". There will be more of the demonic language as the fic progress.
And, guess what? We have a skit!
This is one is between Sheena, Lloyd, Lumen, Tenebrae, Ventus and Ratatosk
Ratatosk's Crush
Lloyd: So Lumen, you said there was some kind of story for Ignis to have that appearance right?
Lumen: Oh, yeah, there is. It's also very funny.
Sheena: Really? Then tell us.
Tenebrae: Lumen, you know you shouldn't spread Lord Ratatosk's secrets like…
Ventus: Originally, Ignis was meant to be a present of confession from our Lord to his… how do you youngsters put it? Crush.
Tenebrae: Ventus…
Sheena & Lloyd: Crush?
Lumen: Yeah. Boss' first girl; Luna.
Sheena: You mean the Summon Spirit of light?
Ventus: The very same. Lord Ratatosk always had a soft spot for her and she always knew how to appease our lord's temper.
Sheena: Appease? I thought there was no person able to do something like that.
Lumen: Oh, but she could. I remember boss always blushed when she was around.
Lloyd: Then how come Lumen is the Centurion of light?
Tenebrae: Very simple.
Sheena: Decided to give in, Tenebrae?
Tenebrae: Well, it's not like my protests will make you stop. Anyway, Luna's "brother", Aska, was always very protective of her and saw our lord as some short of "bad example".
Sheena: Hu, can't even wonder why.
Lumen: Yeah, I know. That's completely crazy. Boss is the best person in the whole word!
Lloyd: I can't tell if he's blind or just really likes Ratatosk…
Sheena: Then, what happened with them?
Ventus: When Lord Ratatosk was about to present Ignis to Luna, Aska found out and the two had a severe discussion, which culminated in a fight that destroyed an entire floor of the Mana Tower. Luna heard the commotion and put an end to it.
Lumen: I remember boss saying something about how scary she could be when she was angry.
Tenebrae: After that, our Lord got so embarrassed that he didn't have the courage to present Luna with Ignis, so he decided to simply reshape her as the Centurion of fire and make Lumen the Centurion of light instead.
Sheena: So, that's why Ratatosk made Lumen unable to swear.
Ventus: Precisely.
Ratatosk: Hey. I heard you speaking my name. What are you all talking… ? Uh… why are you looking at me with these faces?
Sheena: Hehe, so, Ratatosk… did you really have a crush on one of your Summon Spirit companions?
Ratatosk: W-WHAT? What the hell are you talking about?
Lloyd: Hey, look, he's even blushing! Was Luna really that special to you?
Sheena: Scratch that. What did she look like? I could never guess what your tastes are.
Ratatosk: LUMEN! TENEBRAE! VENTUS!
Ventus: Hum… what was it Aqua? I'm coming.
Tenebrae: Oh. I remembered I had an, uh… something to discuss with Ignis.
Lumen: Lumen! What is it Marta? I'm coming!
Ratatosk: YOU THREE ARE DEAD!
- / - / -
WARNING: Ratatosk is pissed! Please all personel and audience evacuate the building immediately, unless you want to take an Ain Shop Aur on your face. See you all next chapter, when he have calmed down.