Chapter 33

Distant Feelings We finally made it to the Kaitzur military port. Now we just have to head for Akzeriuth. I want to meet Master Van soon. We'll have to cross the Deo Pass to get to Akzeriuth. If we don't catch up with him there, I probably won't be able to meet him until we reach Akzeriuth...

Raine sighed with relief when she stepped from the dock into Kaitzur Port. Finally! No more ships. For now.

Visually the Kaitzur port didn't change much, but something felt different about it. Somehow it didn't seem quite so… somber. Or maybe she felt better about it because she was getting off of a ship instead of onto one. No, it wasn't that. Back then, she had looked up at the fonstones wondering what they were and how come she didn't remember them as a child. Now that she knew why, they had taken on a separate meaning, a different kind of beauty to them. This was the place where she and Guy had that conversation that one night that felt forever ago. She stared at his back as he walked through town with the others, and she wondered if he remembered that night, too.

Then, a Malkuth soldier approached the group ahead of her, his attention fixed on Anise. As he got closer to them, he glanced to Ion and then back to Anise. "You there, the Fon Master Guardian. That's you right?"

"Huh? Yeah, that's me." She paused, curious. Everyone else gathered, too. Even Raine.

The soldier nodded and stopped just in front of her. "A package arrived for you a couple of days ago." He gestured back towards HQ. "Please hang on while I go pick it up from the headquarters mail room."

"Okay, thank you!" Anise gave her sweet girl tone as the soldier walked off. Raine watched him go. A package? From whom? She wondered. Did many people know the Fon Master and his guardian would be headed this way? Something about this felt strange.

"Jeez, like we can afford to waste more time."

"Relax, Luke," Guy said. "He won't be long." And sure enough, the soldier had simply picked up the package and brought it back. It was small, more like an envelope stuffed with a really long letter, and Raine wondered what it was. But given that it was Anise's business, she didn't ask. It surprised her, then when Anise opened the package right away and pulled out a purple ribbon with a note. She unfolded the note and read it.

"Oh…" Her face fell. "Oh, no." Curious as much as anyone else, Mieu leapt from Luke's shoulder to hover near her. Anise scrunched the letter in her fist.

"Did something happen, Anise?" Ion asked.

"Apparently Papa won a trip to Grand Chokmah for a tour of the waterfalls."

"Oh, that sounds fun!" Natalia said. "I wonder how you enter a contest like that?"

"Are the waterfalls so special?" Mieu asked.

"I've heard they're quite a sight," Guy replied.

"Why wouldn't you be happy about that, Anise?" Tear asked. "It sounds like a good prize."

"I doubt they won anything," Anise admitted in a low voice. She held up the ribbon to examine it, though her disappointment gripped her face.

"I'm not aware of any contests that give out a prize like that," Jade answered Tear. "It very well could've been a scam."

"I hope not," Raine said. That would've been awful.

"No, I'm sure it is," Anise said, glumly. She folded up the letter and stuffed it into her pocket. "Papa and Mama aren't too good at recognizing scams. But in honor of winning their prize, they were apparently given a ribbon and wanted me to have it. They said they got it at a steep discount."

"Well, if they were stupid enough to fall for it," Luke said. Anise scowled at him.

"Luke!"

"How rude!"

But despite Tear and Natalia's protests, Anise put up the ribbon in her hair, offered the brightest smile she could, and skipped ahead, though her skips betrayed the forced emotion that Raine caught in Anise's smile. Ignoring that, she followed as Luke and Ion started after Anise. Mieu followed them, hurrying to land on Luke's shoulder again.

"Whatever. Let's just go find Van."

The others, however, didn't move. Raine was lost in her own thoughts and didn't notice she wasn't tailing the party anymore. A steep discount? For a prize? It sure started to sound like a scam. Raine hadn't heard of that happening before, but she supposed some people could fall for that. She'd certainly met people before who were gullible enough.

Colette, for one.

Even as she passed up Ion, she noticed his solemn expression, too. Of course, he was the Fon Master, Anise's charge. He wouldn't be too happy to hear about her parents being scammed. "Are you close with Anise's parents?"

"Pamela and Oliver stay at the Daath Cathedral, so I see them quite a bit." Ion smiled, leaving traces of the same undertones Anise wore. "I'm sure it'll be fine." And he started walking, leaving the others behind. Raine stopped and stared at his back.

"Why do I keep having this feeling that I'm missing something?"

Guy laughed as he caught up to her. "Don't worry, Raine. I'm sure Ion's just wondering what he can do about the scammers." Somehow, she doubted that, and let him know with a skeptic roll of her eyes. He still smiled at her, picking up on just how little she meant it.

After a few meters, Anise glanced back at them. "Are you guys coming or not?"

"Oh, yes!" Natalia started up with Jade and Tear. Evidently, they were in their own conversation.

"Yeah, right behind you," Guy said. Raine followed him.

The path forked. To the north, the path led straight to the border town, Kaitzur. To the east, the mountain range with Deo Pass. While everyone else took the right fork, Raine stopped and stared to the north. Saint Binah was over that way, not that she could actually see it from here. There were too many trees and mountains in the way. But that's where the Rheaird was. Maybe. Did they still have it? What would they do with it? Briefly, she thought about going to get it, but she had no way of actually moving it even if she found out it was still there. Could she trust that Elder McGovern and Glenn would hold onto it? What else could they do with it? Anise noticed Raine hadn't moved and she turned, waiting.

As much as Raine wanted to find the Rheaird and somehow haul it to Sheridan, what lay ahead was an entire city full of suffering people. Jade was right, having another healer on hand would be better for them. Raine continued walking along the path. By now everyone else was far enough ahead that Anise was obviously waiting for her to catch up.

When she was close enough, Anise sidled up to Raine who immediately became suspicious. The young girl wasn't usually interested in talking with her.

"Thinking about going back to Saint Binah? That's where you crashed, right?"

Hmm… seemed harmless enough of a question. "No, I can't go back just yet. I meant it when I said I wanted to help the people of Akzeriuth." Still, why was the girl suddenly being nosy? And when Anise began eyeing the northern path, Raine couldn't help but look too.

"Yeah… So, how about after that? Going back to it then?"

Why would she want to know that? Something was on the girl's mind. What was it? Was she curious about the Rheaird? Raine's history? No, she was asking about her motives, her plan. But why? Unsure, Raine didn't know what to say and settled on mirroring Anise's light-hearted demeanor as she asked, "Why would that matter to you?"

"I'm supposed to bring Ion back to Daath when this is all over, but he does have this habit of chasing after concerns that, since he's a Fon Master, shouldn't matter to him. They're better left to his subordinates."

Wait, so Ion was concerned about Raine's welfare? Raine checked on the others ahead of them. Ion hadn't noticed that Anise wasn't with him. Either that or he wasn't at all concerned about it. Did he even notice? That made his concern for Raine a little more alarming. As a high-ranking member of the Order, if he was concerned for her, that meant she had something to be worried about. Did he know she wasn't in the Score? How did he feel about that? Did he know the consequences of it?

Anise continued, "After all, he got away from me in Engeve and I found out it was because he wanted to confirm if the Cheagles had been stealing food. See what I mean?"

"Oh, yes, Guy told me about that." Perhaps Anise was speaking the truth. Raine decided she could tell the truth, too. "I don't have any way of hauling the Rheaird anywhere. I want to go to Sheridan and see if they have a way to come get it. Then I can fix it up."

"Not planning on sticking with us anymore huh?" She shifted her eyes. "Less of a problem for me," she muttered. Of course. Ion should focus on matters of the Order, not the matters of some anomaly of the Score. Raine had a bad feeling about that. Anise smiled brightly and skipped ahead of Raine, her new ribbon bouncing in her hair and Tokunaga still clinging to her back. What in the world was all this about? She then stopped a few feet out front of Raine and pointed at Guy. "So, if you want to fix up the Rheaird, Guy would know a thing or two about that." Sure, he would, but she hadn't bothered to ask yet.

And why not? They had plenty of time while they walked…. Still… why did Anise care?! Oh, forget that! Raine hurried to catch up to him again. Quite a feat considering how far behind she and Anise had fallen.

"Hey, Guy!" At his name, Guy turned around. Natalia and Ion both turned to listen, too.

"You fell that far back?"

Raine panted as she finally got close to them. "Yes, well… I figure now… is as good a time as any."

"What's up?"

They started walking again before Raine answered him. "I think it's a good idea to try getting the Rheaird fixed." That caught everyone else's attention. Well, except Luke's. He just plodded on like always. Mieu, though perched on Luke's shoulder, turned around to listen, too. Jade and Tear stopped to let the rest of the group catch up to them. "You think Class M could help me with that?"

Guy laughed. "Of course they can! It's theirs, isn't it?"

Raine shook her head. Might as well tell him the truth about that now. She can dance around the whole truth. "No, it's not."

"Are you sure?" Jade asked, suspicion already forming behind the fishing. Interested, even Mieu flew over for more information. She nodded. "Then who built it?"

"I'm not sure whose technology it is," Raine said. See? Lying wasn't so hard. "But if flying machines are really that new to modern researchers, they're much older than I thought they were." A good way to twist the truth, she figured. After all, Jade was pretty sharp, too, and she was sure Guy had said something about excavating hover drives, hadn't he?

"Like from the Dawn Age?" Tear asked. "That's…" but she went silent. She and Ion fell into thought.

"Wow!" Mieu chirped. "I didn't know the Rheaird was that old."

"Possibly," Raine replied, reached a hand out to the little cheagle. Mieu closed his eyes and leaned into her pets. Oh, he was really soft! Moreso than Noishe was. "But I couldn't speculate."

Guy nodded. "They must be. The Albiore research relies on the hover drive and those are from the Dawn Age technology." So there was meaning behind Guy's comment. Then his eyes widened as his face lit up. "Oh man! To think you actually flew something so old! And it still worked? Where did they find it, I wonder?" Raine was taken aback. Is this what she looked like in ruin mode? Oh Martel, save her! But she couldn't help but smile. His energy was exciting.

"Why are you asking me these questions?" Raine joked and brushed Mieu to settle on her shoulder. He happily complied. "You know more about that stuff than I do."

"Man, Class M must be dying to have it back." Did even hear her? And what was he talking about? Didn't she say it wasn't theirs?

Oh, that's right. He thinks she stole it from them. She shook her head. "I wonder if they'd be able to take it back to Sheridan for repairs?"

"I think that would depend on how many pieces it's in, but it might be better to have them come to the Rheaird to repair it."

"It's a two-person aircraft. Do you think the Albiore would be bigger?"

"Never mind, this is just two crazy lovebirds spazzing about technology," Anise muttered as she carried on. She wasn't the only one. Tear sighed and obviously quit listening, but Raine didn't care either way who wanted to overhear. Guy was being super helpful. Just like Raine, he seemed to ignore Anise's comment. Or he hadn't heard it. Ion, however, looked amused.

"Yes, they're very strange," Natalia whispered and continued walking.

"The Albiore, I've heard, sounds like a passenger vessel," Guy held his chin as he thought about it, "so it could be big enough, but it might require the Rheaird to be in smaller pieces. I can't really speculate without the specs or having seen either one, though. It also depends on if it has a cargo bay, too."

Was that true? "I suppose they could disassemble it and reassemble it in Sheridan…." But she couldn't remember how crashed the Rheaird had been. The last she remembered before waking up in Saint Binah was that she prayed she missed the river as she fell. Raine couldn't remember the actual crash. It was recognizable as a flying machine, though, so it couldn't have been too terribly destroyed. Maybe it would be worth going to Saint Binah after helping the people of Akzeriuth. They might be able to help her haul it to Sheridan if they're successful at this peace mission.

"So you're wanting to repair it?" Guy asked, the big boyish grin bright upon his face.

"I hope they can, yes."

His expression turned to genuine confusion. "Why? I thought you hated technology." Jade turned just enough to look over his shoulder. For some reason, that tidbit was interesting to him, too. Still, Raine didn't care. There was no harm in them knowing about that since Jade couldn't possibly guess what it was she hated about it.

"I rely very much on the Rheaird. I must have it fixed up."

"Interesting…." Jade's smirk returned and the feeling it gave her wasn't helpful.

"What's interesting?"

"I thought your goal was to find Genis, but instead you're look into technology you don't even like."

Damn it! Raine clutched her staff tighter. "Yes, it is…" But how would she get around that? No, wait. She was too emotional. The truth was sufficient here. "It'll be much easier to find him if the Rheaird is repaired."

"That would be a bit gutsy," Jade said, "asking the people you stole it from to help you fix it up," he paused, "just so you can steal it again." Uh oh. She'd forgotten about that.

"What can I say?" Raine asked. "They might be angry or they might be forgiving. Either way, I need it fixed."

"Why not use the Albiore?" Guy asked. "It's a flying machine, too."

Huh, well… that was true…. "The Rheaird is sufficient for me and my brother. If the Albiore is as big as it sounds, I won't need something like that. Besides, unlike the Rheaird, the Albiore does belong to them."

Guy's brow knitted as he looked away. Something about this didn't make sense to him, she could tell. But it was Jade who asked the question. "Why now? It didn't seem like much of a priority before when last we chatted in Chesedonia. What changed?"

"Anyway, thanks for the information. It's helpful." Raine hurried to catch up to Tear and walked just behind her. She scratched Mieu behind the tufts just to feel how soft his fur can be. Disappointed, Guy deflated. He rather enjoyed himself, now that he found someone to talk technology with.

"That woman, honestly," Anise grumbled from behind Raine. Something was definitely up with her. Raine just couldn't decide what it was.

It took a while for Presea to calm down. She cried, whimpered, huddled in a corner close to the bed, apologized profusely, and then went quiet. Then, she stood out of the blue and took the dirty sheets from the other bed to wrap her father's body. Just like Colette, she still had her massive strength, that said, her movements were less accurate than normal.

Her whole body was trembling as she tried to drag the corpse out of the room.

After a bit of nudging from Genis, Zelos, and Lloyd helped carry it outside. Sheena mentioned going to look for flowers to put in the grave. Genis then found some wood to use as a marker and heard Lloyd ask Regal and Zelos to look for some stone so he could carve a plaque. Presea stood dazed. If it wasn't for the cascade of tears, anyone would have mistaken her going back to a lifeless doll.

With everything assembled, Genis, Sheena, and Zelos got to digging the hole. Presea joined them, still refusing to speak. Regal couldn't do much with his hands shackled, so he watched Lloyd work on the plaque.

After a bit of reluctance, Regal asked Presea, "What would you like it to say? You can dictate to Lloyd if you want."

The young girl looked back with empty eyes before doing as he suggested.

Genis wanted to say something, comfort her in any way, but knew it was better to finish the grave first so Presea could mourn in peace. It was the least he and everyone else could do for her.

It was all the Pope and Rodyle's doing. Presea's suffering was caused by the ambitions of horrible humans and a member of an organization that didn't care how many were sacrificed for their goals. Such a young girl had lost everything because she wanted to help her sick father.

They're unforgivable, those humans… Rodyle….

His spite towards the humans was nothing new. The more time he spent on Tethe'alla, the more it exposed the true colors of its people. The Pope, someone who was supposed to uphold the standards of the Church of Martel to the highest degree than anyone else, was this vile monster capable of hurting kids….

And then, Rodyle… he deserved no sympathy either. If he had done this to Presea, how many more had he tricked in the past to suffer the same fate? How many died without being able to do anything but wait?

Whatever reason they had, Genis didn't care, he just wanted a chance to…

Stop that thought before you act recklessly. He really missed Raine if his consciousness was starting to sound like her. Regardless, Genis wasn't like her, he wore his heart on his sleeve.

He hated whoever, human, elf, angel, or half-elf, dared hurt his friends. If anything happened to Raine and he found who was responsible, Genis would make sure they paid for their crimes, because no one should ever be allowed to hurt his family.

Sieg Combatir.

A loving husband to Miranda. A doting father to Presea and Alicia. A hardworking man who never did anything but his best during life and sickness.

The epitaph of Presea's father was short and heartbreaking. She had refused to include a date since she couldn't even remember the day he breathed his last and thought it was possible he perished, all alone, during the time she was kept at Sybak.

"I can only pray he'll forgive me someday for being a terrible daughter." Presea mentioned during her prayer.

After the party finished the pseudo-funeral, reality dawned on them, they couldn't turn their back on her. Regardless, it was better to try to find her somewhere safe to stay. Presea was still young and, if she wished to, didn't need to keep risking her life by staying with them.

"Presea, do you have an older sister?" What an odd question from Regal. The epitaph did mention another daughter, but why would he ask that? Genis added it to the list of mysteries about Regal.

Presea shook her head. "No."

"Do you have any other family?" Lloyd asked.

"I have a younger sister. She left to go into service for a noble and that was the last I saw of her. And my mommy died when I was a child."

As grim as the thought was, Presea and Genis now had something in common; the two were pretty much orphans with both parents gone and a missing sister.

"When you were a child? You're still a child now," Zelos quipped.

"Oh…" Presea kept her cool to the unnecessary observation, though her brows slightly furrowed, "…yes, of course. That's right."

Genis ignored that for the moment. Although Presea's younger sister was technically accounted for, considering how close Presea was to Genis's age, he doubted the sister would be much help. That option was crossed out.

"At any rate, we can't just leave you here in this village by yourself if you have no one to turn to," Sheena said.

"Yeah, the people here made pretty clear what they think of little Presea," Zelos said spitefully.

Presea turned apprehensive for a second. Guess being trapped in a fog didn't make her blind to how the villagers felt about her. She looked back at the party with determination though.

"I, uh, I'd like to go with all of you if that would be all right."

"Huh? Why?" Lloyd replied confused.

"It's my fault that Colette was taken away. So please, let me help in her rescue."

Regal turned to them as well, the same determination in his eyes. "Please allow me to come along as well. It seems that my fate is linked to your enemy."

He surely meant Vharley's involvement with Rodyle and the Pope. Chasing after a way to get rid of Cruxis meant they would eventually clash with anyone benefitting from the current state of the world. It would be the perfect chance for Regal to settle whatever personal grudge he had against them.

Lloyd, in his sweet naïveté, asked for the party's consensus. Genis was delighted Presea would stay with them, it meant more chances to be with her and finally have more conversations, there was so much he wanted to ask her. Regal, though… Genis was torn. He hadn't started on the best terms with him, was pretty much a big jerk for no good reason. Regal had brushed it off like nothing, even saving him back there with the Papal Knights.

Right, I still need to thank him. His concern for Presea had kicked the stray thought out of his head at that time, but now… Genis didn't have any good reason to say no to this former enemy once more.

It was unanimous. The party had come too far to reject two people who clearly needed closure from their troubled past… well, almost, because his sister would have said something. Nonetheless, Genis was sure that Raine would have agreed no matter her doubts. Like him, who was becoming stubborn, she would become softer with time.

The only one to blame (or to thank) for all of this was Lloyd.

"Well, there you go. Lend us your help." Lloyd grinned.

"I will," Presea replied.

"Thank you, I'm in your debt. I shall not betray your trust," Regal swore.

Although tired from all the adrenaline, the party got ready to depart. The dragons had gone east and that was the only clue they had yet was better than nothing. The real problem was no one knew where dragons built their nests. They weren't exactly common in Sylvarant, and the reaction of those from Tethe'alla meant it was probably the same here.

While Sheena was asserting how much longer their supplies would last before another visit to Mizuho was necessary, Genis walked to Regal, who was still focused on the grave for some reason.

"Hey."

Regal redirected his eyes towards Genis but said nothing.

"Thanks for saving me. It was a close one."

"It is the least I can do to pay you back for your kindness."

Oh, right. Genis had forgotten about that little moment between all the chaos. He really had thanked him. "No, it's not a debt. You're one of us now. It's what we do."

"And what is that?" Regal turned fully to him now.

Genis beamed. "We have each other's back no matter what."

Regal said nothing else and looked back at the grave, but his grimace had softened. There wasn't any need to talk after that. Genis walked away and moved towards where Presea was speaking to Lloyd and Zelos. He was about to call out to them until…

"So you've lost the Chosen."

A/N: What?! Another chapter in this update? Yes. Yes there is. Originally, 33 was part of 32, but as you can see, the chapter got really, really long, so I decided to break it up! So, since 33 was nearly done anyway, I decided to just get it done and post it at the same time. Wheee!

So... looking ahead to 34... 34 needs a little love still, so it'll probably be a couple of weeks again, or maybe a little longer. But you can look forward to another awesome moment. Teehee =^-^=

In the meantime, I hope you have an amazing week. Take care of yourselves and have fun! See you soon.

~~Kat =^-^=