Well, I managed to update on time despite being halfway across the country. It is a good thing that I write ahead of time. Anyway, thank you all for the reviews, hits, favorites, and alerts. Your feedback really encourage me to keep writing and update on time.

Now, onward to the chapter.


Chapter 7: Lonely Road


Raine frowned as she watched Colette's mood steadily decline throughout the morning. She had acted so cheerful and strong leaving the village, but Raine knew it was an act. Gradually, Colette began to show her real feelings. What she was expecting to see was fear, not guilt and regret.

"You know you can tell me what happened," Raine said, deciding to take the direct approach. "It's not good to carry your feelings alone since they will only slow you down."

Colette looked up at her teacher, seeing through the calculated coldness. "Professor, I lied to Lloyd back at his house yesterday."

"I see, so that's why he wasn't there to say goodbye to you," Raine concluded.

She figured Colette had done as much. She was too quiet on their way back to the village last night and refused to look any of them in the eye. She also didn't seemed surprise that Lloyd wasn't at the village this morning. In fact, Colette acted more relieved. Raine could guess why she had lied.

"Lloyd asked you to come on the journey," Raine stated.

Colette nodded. "Yeah, and I didn't have the heart to say no at the moment."

"You did the right thing," Kratos suddenly spoke up, but he never turned around to face them. He was currently leading the small group. "Lloyd would had followed us and put himself in great danger. He's simply not built for this kind of journey."

Raine briefly got the feeling that the statement had several meanings behind it. "True, although Lloyd will be upset by your deceit."

Colette looked down at her feet. "I know. Maybe Lloyd will forgive me someday."

The rest of the morning was quiet and mostly uneventful save for a few monster attacks. The monsters that they did run into were easily dealt with, however. Kratos did most of the work before Colette could mount a real offense. Raine was there for support just in case one of them managed to land a lucky hit. Even someone as skilled as Kratos could be caught off-guard.

As they kept moving south the weather gradually became warming. It soon felt like late summer by the time they broke for lunch.

"It's gotten so hot out here," Colette said as she took her sandwich.

"It's to be expected," Kratos said. "We are nearing the desert and it is the territory of the summon spirit, Efreet. Things will only get hotter as we get closer to the Seal of Fire."

Raine nodded as she took out her map. "We should head towards Triet first to stock up and rest."

"We should have enough supplies from the village to last us," Kratos said. "Although, I must agree. We won't reach Triet until this time tomorrow and we don't know the exact location of the ruins. It would be unwise to wonder a desert."

Colette nibbled on her sandwich. "We're camping out today?"

"We have little choice," Raine said. "We passed the only House of Salvation hours ago. From here, the only safe hold will be Triet."

"Wow, I never camp out before!" Colette exclaimed excitedly. "The closer I've ever been is when me and Lloyd would sleep..." Her eyes became downcast at the thought of Lloyd.

"It's best not to linger on your past actions," Kratos said as he unwrapped his own sandwich. "What's done is done." Before he bit into his sandwich, he noticed something strange about it. "Who made the sandwiches?"

Raine's face lit up. "I wanted to experiment with mixing different flavors and spices with the meat. It is a mix of cheese, peppers, and jelly."

"Jelly?" Kratos repeated slowly. Although his face was controlled, there was a tinge of disbelief in his voice.

"I wanted to give a sweet and spicy taste that I have been working on for the last couple of days," Raine concluded.

"It's really not that bad," Colette added cheerfully, although she looked to be almost in pain. That wasn't a good sign.

Kratos closed his eyes briefly before answering. "I'll try it." He took a nice bit of the sandwich and began to slowly chew it. "Well, it's...flavorful and...has a remarkable texture," he muttered. "I'll never eaten anything like this before."

This was the first time he had really eating anything in years. Since the lost of his family he hardly bothered to act human anymore. He had actually forgotten what food tasted like. However, he could hardly go on this journey without eating and not raise suspicion. So, he had to suck it up, for better and for worst.

Raine watched Kratos chew carefully. Although Kratos didn't outright slam her cooking like Genis or Lloyd she knew she had failed when his face started to turn a green with a tint of purple.

She sighed in defeat. "I messed up again."

Kratos couldn't take it anymore. The minute he shallow he felt his stomach begin to burn. This was not going to end well unless he did something. "Ugh, First Aid!" The released of the healing spell smooth his stomach.

He glanced at Colette to see if she needed some aid. He hardly needed her getting sick. She appeared, however, to be unaffected by the near lethal food.

"Don't worry, Professor," Colette said cheerily. "I'm certain you'll get better as we continue our journey."

"I think I'll do the cooking for now on," Kratos muttered. He was going to envy the Chosen once she had broken that first seal.


Noishe whined softly as he attempted to lift the mood of the broken group. His efforts had proven unsuccessful as Lloyd refused to lift his head. He instead allowed Noishe to guide him along the dirt path. Even the normally energetic Genis was completely lost in thought.

Lloyd couldn't believe that he had been so foolish and selfish. Because of him, dozens of people were dead. Lives that didn't needed to be lost if he only stood a way from the Ranch.

Marble may had also been saved. She could have lived long enough for Colette to complete her journey and once again banished the Desians. Now, she would never see a world freed of their rule. She died trying to protect them. No, he had murdered her.

Lloyd shivered as he thought about how he had brutally sliced her arm off. How the blood freely flowed from the wound and burnt the ground. He also couldn't banish that inhuman scream that would remain with him for the rest of his life. What made it even more unreal was that he had heard those screams before. Marble's screams were similar to the cries in his nightmares. What could it all mean?

Dammit, how were the Desians able to turn Marble into such a monster anyway? That couldn't be natural. Did the Desians have some kind of special power that could twist and alter a person into creatures that could so easily murder the people they love? He would never forgive them, not a single one of them. Forget regenerating the world. He would personal bring down any Desian on sight.

"Are you okay, Lloyd?" Genis asked gently. He could feel Lloyd's mana raging like a storm. He could actually feel its heat pulsing against his skin like the fires that destroyed Iselia.

Lloyd nodded. "I'm fine. I...I just have a lot on my mind."

"It wasn't your fault," Genis said. "I hold equal blame in this too."

"But I should had known better," Lloyd said as his voice filled with remorse. "It...I'm suppose to protect you. Raine wanted me to look after you and I go and get you banish. Those people, they didn't deserve to die in such a manner. They took me in and welcomed me into their village, despite our differences, and I betrayed them like this."

Genis wasn't sure what to say. Lloyd must be going through so many emotions at the moment. He found out less than twelve hours ago that his mother was hunted down and murdered by the Desians. Now, they had burned his home and were chasing him like an fugitive. Genis was also hurt by the villagers' rejection, but he could only imagine how Lloyd felt. He knew these people since he was a child.

Lloyd had every right to hate the Desians. He also hated them for their actions, but he couldn't help but wondered if Lloyd hatred for the Desians filtered into his perception of half-elves. In his short life, he had seen so many humans who despised his race because of the Desians' actions. To them, Desians were half-elves and half-elves were Desians.

He wanted to tell Lloyd the truth about himself. To finally be rid of all secrets between them. Lloyd was not like other humans. He had never seen Lloyd show contempt or anger towards the half-elf race. It could have streamed from him being raised by a dwarf.

Now, however, given current events he wasn't sure if he should tell Lloyd. If he did, would Lloyd see him or the face of the Desians? He didn't want to lose Lloyd as a friend. Next to Colette, he was the only human he had ever really trusted. With them, he felt like he had finally found a home. For those reasons, he couldn't tell Lloyd the truth. Maybe once the Desians were gone and the wounds had healed a little, he would find the courage to tell Lloyd and Colette the truth.

"Genis," Lloyd suddenly spoke up.

Genis snapped to attention. "What is it Lloyd?"

"Why do the Desians exist?" Lloyd asked, causing Genis' heart to beat faster. "If it weren't for them, everybody would be able to live happy lives."

Genis looked down. "I wondered," he muttered. "Would everyone really be able to live happily?"

It sounded so easy. The Desians were banished and the world would be at peace, although history painted a different picture. Even during flourishing times, there was still unrest in the world. Most of it was based on the discrimination of half-elves. The book of Martel preached against this kind of hatred and many half-elves worshipped the Goddess, but the humans still despised them. He often wondered if the Desians exist before discrimination or after.

"What do you mean?" Lloyd asked, knocking him out of his musing.

"Sorry," Genis said quickly. "Yeah, Desians are the cause of everything that's wrong."

Lloyd gave Genis a funny look. "We duh, of course!"

Genis gave Lloyd a strained smile. "Yeah, of course."

Noishe looked between the two boys and whined loudly.

Genis gently patted the dog. "You seemed to know better than anyone."

They kept walking well into the afternoon. Since they were not expecting to leave the village the way they did, they were severely under supplied. They only had leftovers of Genis' cookies and some sandwiches to act as a meal. Not to mention they were generally exhausted from today's events.

Even so, they held off any monster that felt bold enough to attack them. They were not too much stronger than the ones Lloyd's usually fought in the forest. Genis was also there to give support with his spells, although he was dead tired halfway through the walk. Lloyd had Genis ride Noishe the rest of the way. Thankfully, Noishe didn't usually flee from monsters if he was in the open field.

"We may have to camp outside for the night," Lloyd said worriedly.

Genis leaned against Noishe's fur, savoring its softness. "But we have no sleeping bags. Plus, it's dangerous to sleep in the open."

Lloyd reached into his bag and took out the map that Dirk had given him. "Well, we should be approaching something called the House of Salvation."

Genis sighed. "Thank the Goddess."

"What is a House of Salvation anyway?" Lloyd asked.

"Don't you know anything?" Genis asked, getting back some of his old humor. "The House of Salvation is a safe house run by the Church. It has been blessed by the prays from the Goddess to protect it from monster attacks. They are dozens of them across the world."

"Really?" Lloyd said in awe. "That's handy. So, we don't have to sleep in the dirt."

"Pretty much," Genis said.

Lloyd folded the map up, or at least attempted to. "Hopefully, we'll reached it before dark. The worst kind of monsters will be out by dusk and I don't want to handle them." He finally gave up on folding the map corrected and just crumbled it into his bag.

It was close to sun down by the time they reached the House of Salvation. Both Lloyd and Genis had to keep themselves from cheering as they entered the sacred ground. The house was actually a large two-story building that was constructed similarly to the Church in Iselia. They were several people walking around the grounds. They were a mix of travelers and priests.

"Man, that took forever," Lloyd whined.

"Stop complaining," Genis said as he jumped off of Noishe.

"Easy for you to say. You rode Noise almost the entire way here," Lloyd countered.

"But I'm the fragile elf," Genis said in a sweet voice. "You're supposed to be the tough swordsman."

"Titta på det brat eller så kommer du att sova i ord," Lloyd muttered.

Genis puffed his cheeks. "I hate when you start talking dwarven."

Lloyd stuck his tongue at him. "Then learn dwarven."

"I would, but Raine said I should learn the other main languages first," Genis said with some heat. "Dwarven is not a common language and hardly anyone speaks it besides dwarves."

"Well, you learn a dead language that no one even speaks anymore," Lloyd stated.

Genis sighed. "It's elven, Lloyd. It's the oldest language in the world besides angelic. It isn't dead either since many elves still speak it."

Lloyd titled his head. "That strange since I never hear you or Raine actually speak elven."

Genis suddenly began to blush. "Well, I left the village when I was still young so I didn't get the chance to learn elven from the elves. I just learned how to read it."

Lloyd finally shrugged. "Whatever."

Genis rolled his eyes at Lloyd's lack of attention skill. "Anyway, where do we go from here?" he asked. "I don't think we're going to find Colette by just endlessly walking around."

Lloyd frowned in thought. Genis had a good point. If they didn't hurry, they would never catch up with the others. "I guess we can only ask people here if she pass through."

They walked around the grounds and talked to everyone they saw. Most of the travelers, however, were just arriving themselves and didn't see the Chosen's group. They were about to lose hope when they finally found a lead.

"You're looking for the Chosen?" a young priest asked. "Are you on a Pilgrimage?"

"What's a Pilgrimage?" Lloyd asked.

The priest gave Lloyd a troubled looked.

"Yes we are," Genis quickly jumped in. He gave Lloyd a dark glare of annoyance before continuing. "We want to pay our respect to the Chosen."

The priest looked between the two boys. "Aren't you a little young to be traveling by yourselves?"

"We can handle ourselves," Lloyd assured.

The priest looked unconvinced. "Well, if you are that devoted, I heard she was heading towards the Seal of Fire."

Genis nodded his head. That was what Remiel told Colette to do before she left. He had allowed himself to forget.

"Thank you, sir," Genis said as both Lloyd and him walked a way from the man.

"The Seal of Fire," Lloyd muttered. "Where's that at?"

Genis gave a loud sighed. "Really, we study this all last month. Do you pay any attention in class?"

"Only for the important stuff," Lloyd said.

Genis stared at Lloyd in disbelief for a couple of seconds. By the Goddess, Lloyd could be such a moron. "The Seal of Fire must be referring to the ruins west of Triet. The ruins, long ago, used to be part of Triet until a great disasters happened."

"So, you think the seal is there?" Lloyd asked, ignoring all the unneeded detail.

"It's the only place I can think of," Genis said.

"I guess it doesn't hurt to look," Lloyd said. There was a hint of excitement in his voice "So, we're going to the ruins tomorrow."

"Lloyd, we won't live long enough to reach the ruins," Genis pointed out. "We have no water and no supplies. We can't even feed ourselves. Our best bet is to head to Triet first."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Lloyd said in a low tone. "I just want to find Colette."

Genis' face softened. "Me too."

There was a long uncomfortable silence.

"So, do they serve dinner here?" Lloyd asked, breaking the silence.

Genis chuckled. It felt good to laugh again. "Yeah, they served three meal a day here."

Lloyd's eyes lit up. "Then we better hurry before everything is eating." He ran ahead into the house and Genis smiled as he followed behind him.

The dinner was small, with only chicken soup and bread to fill their stomachs. It was better than nothing and did give them something to ease their hungry pains. Plus, it was free, which was their favorite price.

The rooms were also free and they had an opening. Lloyd and Genis, however, had to share a room since they were together and the house wanted to keep as many rooms as empty as possible.

Lloyd removed his jacket and looked over the damaged it had suffered. It was not too bad considering, but he needed to mend up the holes. From what he could see, the steel woven was thankfully undamaged.

He reached into his pack and removed a box that held all his sewing supplies. With a needle in hand, he began to fix the tears.

"I didn't know you could sow," Genis said as he got down to his boxers and undershirt.

"Well, I kind of have to," Lloyd stated. "I can be hard on my clothes and dad doesn't have the time to always repair them."

Genis looked over the jacket. "Is that chain mill?"

Lloyd nodded. "Yeah, it's woven in-between the cloth that makes the jacket. Dad is a master of this, which is why it's so strong."

"But isn't that kind of over doing it?" Genis asked. "I mean, did you really need all that protections until now?"

"I wondered the same thing too. I mean, even my boots are highly durable and were design for mountain hiking. Dad even joked once that I could walk on magma in these." Lloyd chuckled. "But dad said that you never know when life might turn, so you have to be ready to defend yourself. Considering what happened, I guess he was right."

Genis nodded. "Yeah, Raine feels the same way. That's why she makes me wear magic resisted clothing despite the village being relatively peaceful. I guess you can't take too many chances with a Ranch nearby."

Lloyd stopped in mid sew. "Yeah."

He finished the repairs within an hour and the jacket looked good as new. He put it on to make sure that it wouldn't tear when he wore it tomorrow. Lloyd's attention was turned a way when the sound of metal hitting the floor reached his ears. He looked down to see a key crest lying on the floor

Lloyd slowly picked it up and stared at it.

"What is it, Lloyd?" Genis asked. He was sitting on the bed reading one of the books that was in the room.

Lloyd turned to face him. "Genis, do you still have Marble's exsphere?"

Genis' eyes widened as he reached into his pocket. He removed the red crystal and stared at it. "Yeah, I couldn't just leave it there. It...it just didn't feel right."

There was a short silence. "Why don't you use that exsphere?"

"Use it!" Genis exclaimed in surprise.

"That's Marble's memento," Lloyd said as he looked at his own exsphere. "Just like mines is a memento from mom."

Genis looked at the exsphere one last time before he made up his mind. "Yeah, I want to be strong so no more people have to die."

Lloyd walked up to the younger boy. "Where do you want to put it?"

Genis thought about for a moment. "Put it on my hand," he said as he held up his left hand.

Lloyd pressed the key crest firmly against Genis' hand and took the exsphere from him. Carefully, he placed the exsphere on the skin.

Genis immediately felt power rushed through him. It felt warm and soft, like a nice spring day. It reminded him of Marble. It was almost like she was standing besides him. How was that possible?

"That should do it," Lloyd said as he made sure everything was fine.

"I never felt anything like it," Genis muttered.

"Yeah, I thought the same thing too when I put mines on," Lloyd said. "You're get use to it."

Genis pulled his hand up to his chest. "Thank you, Lloyd."

"We better get some rest," Lloyd advised. "We have a long day tomorrow."

Genis nodded as he closed his book.


Colette stared into the fire as Kratos left to take watch. Raine had offered to relieve him during the night, but Kratos insisted he could handle it. Raine was worried about him being too tire to fight, but didn't bothered to stop him. He was a mercenary and knew his body better than anyone. She still couldn't help but to worry, however.

"Colette, you seemed distracted," Raine noted as she prepared her sleeping bag. "Is there something wrong?"

Colette bit her lip as she looked up to her teacher. "Professor, how much do you know about the Journey of Regeneration?"

Raine raised an eyebrow. "Only what they teach within the Church and what is written in the old texts."

Colette stared back in the direction of her home. "Do...do you know what happens after the journey ends? When I become an angel?"

"No, no one knows except the priests," Raine said. "I asked for the documents many times since the last part about the Tower of Salvation is always edited out, but they wouldn't let anyone see it. Not even certain high members of the Church."

"It's a secret that few are allowed to know," Colette said quietly.

Raine looked carefully at Colette. "Is it because it would be rejected if the people knew what your fate truly held?"

Colette nodded.

"Colette, what happens when you reach the Tower of Salvation?" Raine asked.

Colette glanced at Kratos, making sure he couldn't hear them. "When the Chosen reaches the tower, they must give up their human existence in this world. When I become an angel, I will die."

Raine attempted to keep a straight face, but she was visibly pale and had a troubled look. She then sighed softly. "I...I suspected as much."

"You knew?" Colette asked in surprise.

"I figured what happens at the Tower of Salvation was hidden because most people wouldn't want to lose the Chosen. It also explains why no Chosen has ever return once they became an angel," Raine stated.

Colette gave a sad smile. "I've know as long as I could remember that I was going to die at the end of this journey. That my death would bring happiness and a renew hope to the world."

"Colette...I can never begin to understand your burden," Raine said slowly.

"I will lose myself at every seal, but I won't be scare," Colette said firmly. "I have to be strong or else more people will suffer and die. This is what I was born to do."

Raine said nothing for a moment. "I am honored that you felt comfortable enough to tell me. I will keep you secret till the end."

"Thanks, Professor," Colette said with a small smile.

Kratos had listened to the entire conversation and bowed his head in shame. This was the world they had created. A world where someone would willingly die for a false goddess. A madness that would never end until a spoiled child got his way.

However, he no longer had the heart to stop it. He was part of it and shall remain so until his existence ended. He had lost everything fighting against the system of the worlds. Whether the worlds lived or died really meant nothing to him. It was all in the hands of fate now.


Not much happened, but I do think that a chapter was needed between Lloyd's banishment and them walking to Triet. There is a lot to reflect on for all the characters so I hope you do not mind the slower pace.

KF2104, I may of pushed the 'what is acid' line, but Lloyd can be pretty dense about somethings that seems obvious to us. Lloyd is not stupid, but he does have stupid moments, plus that particular moment was meant to be a bit of humor in a very dramatic chapter. The mayor is a jackass, but I did try to make him somewhat sympathetic. As I have gotten older, I can understand the mayor's line of thinking and do believe that he was right in someways. That doesn't stop him from being a dick, however, and how distance he was from the suffering that the people from the Ranch was going through.

Kiomori, thank you for wishing me well. I am having a great time so far. Lloyd and Genis actually do help the people from the village in the game, if the player chose to do the extra stuff. Most novelizations, however, chose to skip over a lot of little stuff to get to the main meat of the story faster. I do not mind this, but I want my story to capture as much as the little detail that I can possibly do. Which is why this story is going to be ungodly long.

With that done, until next time.