Happy belated New Years. Meant to have this chapter up in December, but got busy. Seems to work out since this site seems finally fixed and I can see my views again. Thanks to anyone who stuck with this story.
Now, onward to the chapter.
Chapter 69: Dragon's Nest
The wind was unbearably cold as Lloyd flew the Rheaird away from the Renegades' base. Despite his current discomfort, his heart was still racing from his battle with Yuan.
He couldn't believed that they managed to hold back someone on Kratos' level. Granted, Yuan wasn't going all out since he didn't spout wings and use his angel powers, but he was able to be Yuan's equal on a 'normal' level. Before they entered the Tower of Salvation, Kratos managed to kick his ass regularly and that was just training. While Yuan wasn't trying to kill him, he didn't exactly go easy either.
Was he finally getting stronger?
He glanced at his exsphere and thought of Yuan's words.
What did Yuan mean that his exsphere was evolving? As far as he knew, his exsphere could only become a Cruxis Crystal by feeding off a human's life. It couldn't be becoming one, could it? Then again, his exsphere did look brighter than usual. It has in fact been 'shiner' for a while now.
"You okay, Lloyd?" Genis called out over the engines of the Rheairds.
Lloyd quickly shook himself out of his thoughts. "Yeah, I'm fine."
"So, where are we heading?" Sheena asked for everyone.
"All I know is that Rodyle headed east from Ozette," Lloyd said. "It isn't much, but it's the only clue we have."
"That's pretty vague, but there isn't too many places a half-elf can go in Tethe'alla," Zelos replied.
"And there are no Ranches in Tethe'alla," Raine also noted. "Still, he wouldn't be a Grand Cardinal if he didn't know how to hide himself in this world."
"Well, I'm sure if we just keep our eyes open, we'll run into him eventually," Zelos chuckled.
What he couldn't tell them was that Rodyle was a flashy SOB. He would never just 'hide' even if his life depended on it. If he knew that crusty old geezer, his base would be in plain sight.
The ride to Ozette was peaceful and Lloyd couldn't help feeling giddy seeing Tethe'alla from the sky. This easily beat walking and it certainly beat the cramp EC. The world seemed so small from up here.
"Those Renegades, they're called, right? They have quite impressive technology," Regal spoke, breaking the calm silence He drove his Rheaird closer to Lloyd and Raine's.
"Their bases and stuff were incredible," Lloyd conceded. Going into the Renegades' bases were like entering a different world. It was like they came from a thousand years from the future or something.
"Considering the level of technology that those guys have, this Cruxis that you fight must have even greater," Regal noted.
Lloyd lowered his head.
What Regal said was true. The Renegades were powerful, but even they were ants before Cruxis. They managed to fool two worlds into thinking that they were a holy organization run by a goddess and got them both to willingly sacrifice people for generations in order to save themselves. He also still couldn't wrap his head around how something like the Tower of Salvation was built by the hands of mortals.
Not to mention they had a monster like Kratos on their side and their leader Yggdrasill was somehow above even him.
"Yeah. We have to be prepared," Lloyd finally replied once her cleared his head.
"But we have something that they do not," Regal spoke with certainty.
This got Lloyd's attention. "Huh? What do we have?"
"Love and courage!" Genis exclaimed, jumping into the conversation.
Lloyd cringed. "Regal wouldn't be thinking of something common and silly like that!" Not to mentioned corny and cliche.
Regal's eyes became downcast. "Common and silly…hmm…" He was honestly surprised that Lloyd felt that way given how idealistic he was. But he supposed that even Lloyd had his limits.
"Hey, Regal," Lloyd called, getting his attention. "I've been meaning to ask you, how can use magic?"
This confused Regal. "Use magic?"
"Yeah, you can heal, but I don't recognize the spell you use," Genis chimed in. "Healer, right?"
"Aw, that isn't magic," Regal stated.
This shocked both Lloyd and Genis.
"What I used is called chi," Regal explained.
"What's chi?" Lloyd asked.
"How to explain this," Regal said more to himself. "It is an ancient martial arts where you channel your inner energy from within your body. By using that energy, you can manipulate your environment allowing you create energy waves and even heal."
"That sounds like mana," Genis said in thought.
"It's similar, but it isn't the same," Regal corrected. "For one, mana is only really usable to magic users, while anyone can use chi."
Now Lloyd was interested. "You mean I can use chi?"
"With enough dedicated training, yes," Regal answered.
This made Lloyd smile. "Cool, then I want to learn to heal like you."
Regal chuckled. "It isn't something you can just do overnight. It took me years to reached the level I am at."
"How many years?" Lloyd asked.
"About twenty, give or take," Regal replied bluntly.
"What!? Twenty years!?" Lloyd exclaimed in shocked.
"That is how long it took for me. For you, it could be shorter since you do hold an exsphere," Regal pointed out.
Lloyd groaned. "Still that's a long time."
"If you want, I can teach you the basic of chi when we train," Regal offered.
Lloyd let out a low hum. "I'll consider it."
On one hand, he didn't particularly want to dedicate decades to that type of training, but at the same time it was too useful not to have. Kratos showed him the benefits of being a sword master who could heal. Even if he couldn't used it now, it was something to consider for the future.
It was about twenty minutes into their flight when something caught Lloyd's attention. There seemed to be something floating over the sea.
"What's that?" Lloyd asked, getting everyone's attention.
Zelos narrowed his eyes. "Floating island over the sea surrounded by creepy fog, must be Rodyle. It's so standard super villain."
"I wouldn't think someone who opposed Cruxis would put themselves right on the open like this," Raine observed. Maybe she overestimated Rodyle. Or, it could be a trap.
They flew closer to the direction of the island and was nearly blinded by the thick fog. Despite the low visibility, however, Lloyd was able to see something glowing in the middle of the island. It only took him a moment to realized that what he was seeing were Colette's angels wings.
"Colette!" Lloyd exclaimed as he pushed the Rheaird down until he landed. The others were right behind him as he ran towards his childhood friend.
Colette seemed to be okay. While she was surrounded by a some kind of force field, there wasn't a mark on her.
Lloyd almost collapsed in relief seeing that Colette was unharmed.
"No, Lloyd, stay away! It's a trap!" Colette shouted from her prison, stopping Lloyd in his tracks.
"What?" Lloyd asked in confusion.
Zelos glanced around the island and got a very bad feeling. Now that he thought about it, he'd heard rumors about a floating island that was the birth place of dragons and Rodyle was infamously known for keeping several pet dragons.
He cussed under his breath for being so stupid. They were in trouble.
At that moment, Rodyle appeared before them. He had his usual cocky smile.
Presea wasted no time stepping forward while drawing her axe. Her eyes burned with unholy fury at the man who ruined her life. "You will pay for using me! Let Colette go!"
She charged at Rodyle and brought her axe down on his head. However, the attack passed right through him like he was a ghost. "….An illusion?"
Zelos sneered. "Of course. He's too much of a coward to confront us himself."
Rodyle laughed at him. "Call me what you want. I am not like those other brutes like Magnius who chose muscles over brains. Why fight you directly when you inferior beings are so stupid to walk into such an obvious trap? Especially to save such a worthless Chosen. Now I understand why Yggdrasill left her alone."
"Worthless?" Lloyd growled.
Rodyle turned towards Colette and looked down his nose at her. "Absolutely. A sinful Chosen like that is completely useless for my Mana Cannon. She can't even save the world. She can't merge with Martel. She even puts her friends in danger. What a pathetic Chosen," he spat out the last part.
Lloyd was nearly boiling over with rage.
Presea felt much the same. "Stop blaming Colette for things she did not do!"
Regal walked up to the illusion of Rodyle. "It is enough that I alone bear the weight of sin. You and I are the epitome of sin! I'll drag you down to hell with me!"
Everyone looked at Regal in surprised. They understood why Presea despised Rodyle, but why did Regal? Was it because of what he did to Presea?
Zelos was especially interested. He knew that Rodyle was working with the Pope and the Pope deceived Regal. But….this was far more personal. It was obviously connected to Presea, but Regal barely knew the girl.
Rodyle laughed in Regal's face. "Take me to hell? You inferior beings and your silly jokes."
"Everyone, please, run!" Colette pleaded from her prison.
Rodyle smirked. "Now, my darling pets! Feed on the flesh of these wretched beings!" With that, the illusion of Rodyle disappeared.
As soon as he did, three giant purple dragons appeared.
Zelos growled to himself. Just as he feared. They walked right into a Dragon's Nest.
"Don't try to fight them! Run!" Colette screamed.
"Winged Dragon, a subspecies of dragon. Carnivorous. Excels at the pursuit and capture of prey. The probability of successful evasion on this small platform is one percent," Presea stated bluntly.
"And even if we did try to escape on the Rheairds, the possibility of escaping is close to zero," Raine added.
"That is correct," Presea replied.
"Give me a break! I'll pass on dying, thanks!" Zelos said.
Lloyd withdrew his sword. "All we have to do is defeat them before they can kill us!" It was a simple plan, but that was literally their only option.
"Indeed. I have no intention of becoming a part of the food chain without a fight," Regal said as he got into his stance.
The Winged Dragons gave a loud screech and charged the group.
"Field Barrier!" Raine quickly yelled, protecting her allies from harm.
"Rising Falcon!" Lloyd shouted as he took to the air and hit one of the Winded Dragons, causing it to scream.
Regal also took to the air. "Rising Dragon!" He spin kicked his dragon in the face.
"Absolute!" Genis yelled as the jagged hit all the dragons within its range.
This gave Raine time to cast Acuteness on everyone's weapons.
Zelos took this as his cue to act. "Victory Light Spear!" He spun into the air clipped one of the dragon's wings.
One of the Winded Dragons screeched and lunged at Lloyd. It was much faster than Lloyd though and it managed to grabbed one of his legs when while he was trying to dive out of the way.
In less than a second, Lloyd was being flung around.
"LLOYD!" Colette screamed from her prison.
Lloyd cried in pain as the world spun around him. At this rate, the dragon was going to take his leg off.
"Endless Infliction!" the voice of Presea yelled and she brought down her axe on the Winded Dragon's wing, severing it.
The dragon screamed as it as forced to the ground and Lloyd fell out of its month.
Lloyd managed to land on his good leg before collapsing in agony. Blood was everywhere and it looked like the dragon had sever several of his veins. Despite the added protection of his leg johns, the dragon bit through it like it was nothing.
"Cure!" Raine shouted, instantly healing his leg. That didn't fix the blood lost, however. "Protect Lloyd!"
Sheena was on it as she began to chant. "I call upon the hammer of godly lightning. I summon thee. Come, Volt!"
Volt appeared before Sheena and awaited her command.
"Attack the Winded Dragons!" Sheena ordered.
Volt wasted no time filling the entire area with lightning, striking all the Winded Dragons.
Presea saw her opening. "Genis, I need some fire."
Genis looked at Presea in shock before knowing. He concentrated on his Kendama. "Flame Lance!"
The lance of fire rushed towards Presea who held out her axe to catch it. Soon, the entire axe was on fire. Once that was done, Presea rushed the dragon whose wing she just took off. "This will finish all. Critical Blade!"
She brought the flaming axe down on the dragon's neck, attempting to decapitate it. However, even with her axe being empowered, the scales on the dragon's neck area were just too thick.
That didn't stop it from crying in pain and thrashing its neck around, knocking Presea off-balance.
While this was happening, Regal was having problems on his own as his Winged Dragon kept using a type of earth technique that looked like Stalagmite. He was riddle with cuts and bruises.
He would cast Healer on himself, but the dragon didn't give him time to charge his chi.
"First Aid!" Zelos yelled, healing Regal's wounds.
Regal turned towards the Chosen in gratefulness. "Thank you."
"Thank me once we got out of this mess," Zelos said as he started to chant.
The Winged Dragon rushed in to stop him, but Regal quickly intercepted it with a hard flying kick to its snout.
"Air Thrust!" Zelos shouted, sending saws of wind at the Winged Dragon, cutting it all over its body.
It retaliated by slamming into the ground so hard that it knocked Zelos and Regal off their feet. It then unleashed several Stalagmite like attacks, nearly tearing them apart.
"Nurse!" Raine yelled, healing as much damage as possible. She, however, quickly tiring. Between the healing she did with Yuan and Botta, and now this, she was quickly reaching her limit.
"Genis, cover for me!" she yelled at her brother as she quickly reached into her bag for a pineapple gel.
"Got it," Genis said as he ready another spell. "Explosion!"
The entire area was engulfed in fire and Sheena used this time to summon Volt once again.
The Winded Dragons were seized with fire and lightning attacks, yet none of them fell.
"What does it take to kill these things?" Genis asked in frustration.
"Winded Dragons are known for their toughness and high resistance to magic thanks to their scales," Presea stated. "They can also still attack even with sixty percent of their bodies disable."
"Great…." Genis muttered.
"That doesn't matter," Lloyd said. He was finally recovered enough to fight again. "Everyone, focus on attacking one dragon at a time!" He glared at the dragon that Presea disabled earlier and pointed his sword at it. "Starting with this one!"
"A wise decision," Raine praised.
At their currently rate, the Winded Dragons would beat them by attrition. Focusing all their efforts on one dragon gave them chance to kill them faster as opposed of scattering their attacks.
"Got it!" Zelos exclaimed once he picked himself off the ground.
The dragon attempted to pursue him, but Regal launched himself into the air and kneed the dragon in the face. "I will distract the other two dragons!"
"I'll help too," Sheena huffed as she prepared another summons. At this rate, she would only be able to do two more. "I call upon the maiden of the mist. I summon thee. Come, Undine!"
Undine appeared before Sheena with her sword ready.
"Please Undine, hold off that dragon," Sheena commanded as she pointed towards who was the least hurt during the battle.
Undine heeded her command and forward on a tidal wave of water. She slammed her sword into the dragon's chest, leaving a giant gash.
While Sheena and Regal held off their dragons, that gave Lloyd team the opening they needed to take out the dragon that Presea nearly beheaded.
Lloyd slammed his swords into the stone ground and skidded them so fast that they set on fire. "Rising Phoenix!" He leaped and hit the Winded Dragon on the neck, right where Presea had critically hit it.
The dragon screeched as the attack burn it to the bone.
"Flame Lance!" Genis shouted, following Lloyd's lead on hitting the soft area.
The dragon countered throwing giant boulders at the young mage.
"Permaguard!" Raine quickly yelled, shielding her brother from harm.
While the dragon was dealing with Genis, it completely failed to noticed Zelos who jumped over from its back.
"Light Spear Cannon!" Zelos shouted as he descended on the beast's neck.
He hit so hard and the dragon was so weakened that the attack successfully severed its head.
Genis felt a little ill watching the dragon's head flying off and land with an ungraceful thug on the ground.
"That's one down!" Zelos cheered.
It came just in time too as Undine's time was spent and she vanished.
Sheena was breathing hard as the dragon flew at her.
"No you don't, Thunder Blade!" Genis shouted, nailing the dragon with a giant blade of lightning.
"You're using too many spells," Raine warned as she reached into her pack and grabbed a pineapple gel. She rushed to Genis who looked like he was about to collapsed. "Here!"
Genis quickly took the gel and shollow it whole, slightly recoiling from the taste. "Thanks."
Lloyd jumped and did a spin slash at the dragon that Genis attack. "Raging Beast!" Once his swords hit, he rammed the dragon with his shoulder, knocking the creature out of the air.
Presea was ready when the dragon fell and slammed her axe right into the dragon's mouth, actually knocking several teeth out as she cut along its mouth.
Now the dragon was really pissed off as it screeched and got back into the air. There, it sent a storm of jagged rocks at the group.
Raine quickly cast Field Barrier, but she collapsed to her knees.
"Raine!" Genis yelled.
"Even with pineapple gels, the Professor is at her limit," Zelos said as he went to protect Raine with his shield. "Keep attacking it! I can handle the heals."
Raine looked at Zelos. "Thanks….just give me a moment to catch my breath."
"Just rest," Zelos ordered in an unusually harsh voice. "You did more than enough healing for one day."
Lloyd growled at himself. They were taking too long. He glanced from the side of his eye and saw Regal was barely holding on while he kept the last dragon busy. He was only able to do so well since Regal's fighting style had a lot of anti-air techniques.
They needed to hurry.
"Sheena, lend me a hand!" Lloyd shouted.
Sheena looked at Lloyd and nodded. "Gotcha." She took out a piece of paper. "Power Seal Pinion!" She threw the paper and it hit the dragon dead on, lowering its defense.
The moment the paper landed, Lloyd jumped and thrusted his sword at the paper card. "Hurricane Thrust!"
The dragon exploded in a pillar of black smoke as Lloyd pierced the dragon's head and hit its brain. It gave one last screeched before it fell dead on the ground.
"Now the last one!" Lloyd yelled as he rushed to help Regal.
Regal was badly cut across the stomach by the dragon's claws and was knocked down by its tail.
"First Aid!" Zelos shouted, but the spell barely closed Regal's rapidly bleeding wound. "Dammit, not strong enough. Someone give him a Lemon Gel before he bleeds out!"
Sheena reached into her bag and rushed towards Regal. Lloyd and Presea covered her as she quickly spread the gel over Regal's wound. It looked much better, but it still didn't completely close.
"Sorry for not doing more…."Regal whispered weakly.
"Are you kidding?" Sheena asked in disbelief. "You held off a dragon by yourself! If it was any of us, we would be dead."
"Absolute!" Genis yelled, trying to make the dragon so cold that it would be forced to land. He was greeted with more flying rocks, but he was prepared this time and quickly put up a Force Field. He was still knocked off his feet.
"Fiery Infliction!" Presea shouted, striking the ground before her and causing rocks to blast towards the the dragon.
The dragon managed to avoid the flying debris, but was taken off-guard when Presea jumped performed two upward cuts resembling crescent moon.
"Now, Endless Infliction!" Presea yelled, attempting to cut this dragon's wing off too.
The dragon moved at the very last second to avoid the fate of its brethren, but the attack still landed hard on its shoulder, causing blood to fly everywhere.
"Tempest Thrust!" Lloyd shouted as the spun in the air and cut the dragon across its back. He finished the attack by thrusting his swords downwards into the dragon's spin.
It screamed and attempted to bucked Lloyd off of it.
"Genis, I need your power again," Presea called.
Genis was huffing, the pineapple gel has long since worn off. He could barely cast a mid-level spell. But….. Presea needed him. "Okay."
She ran forward and jumped. "Punishment!"
Just before the blow connected with the dragon, Genis finished his chant. "Thunder Blade!"
The sword of lightning slammed into Presea's axe and merged with it. She brought it down on the dragon's head, splitting its skull opened. It gave a loud screamed as the lightning wretched through its body before it finally collapsed.
Then, everything was still. No one moved, waiting to see if the dragon would get up. After over a minute had past, everyone relaxed.
"It's over…." Lloyd sighed as he sheathed his swords.
He examined his torn pants leg and cringed at the damage. The long johns he wore were so badly mangled that he wasn't sure if he could repair them. But given what happened, he should be thankful that was the only damaged he received.
"Too close," Zelos whispered. He turned around to help Raine up.
Now that Raine was given a chance to rest, she cast Heal to mend the remains of Regal's injuries.
"Thank you, Professor," Regal said as he slowly stood up.
Raine could only nod. After this, they needed to go shopping again.
Lloyd turned towards Colette and smiled. To his surprise, however, Colette didn't look happy. Before he could asked why, a rumbled reached his ears. He was at first worried that the dragons weren't dead, but he quickly realized that the entire island was shaking.
"No, it's too late!" Colette exclaimed in despair. From Colette's prison, an orange light spilled out across the ground and encased everyone.
"What is this ominous light that threatens to engulf us?" Regal asked, realizing that he was frozen in place.
Sheena quickly realized the same thing. "I…I can't move!"
Genis eyes widened. "It's Colette! The mana from Colette's body is flowing out towards us!"
"It's caused by that magic circle beneath her!" Raine continued.
Zelos growled. "So….this was the true trap. Those monstrous dragons were here just to weakened us."
And they did a superb job at it. If he was even at half strength, this mana trap wouldn't be an issue. Now, tired and hurting all over, he could barely lift his legs.
He glanced at Lloyd to see if he could do anything, but was dismay to see that he was just as stuck as anyone else.
"Colette! Get out of there!" Lloyd yelled, trying with all his might to move.
Colette lowered her head in shame. "I can't…I'm chained to it. I'm sorry. I'm just a Chosen who couldn't even save her friends, much less the world. Maybe I'm just like Rodyle said, 'a pathetic Chosen'."
"No, Colette, don't delude yourself," Presea said as she forced her body to step forward. It was taking everything she had to reach Colette's prison. "You haven't done anything wrong." Her eyes blazed as she lifted her axe. "What's wrong is this system that demands the sacrifice of the Chosen!"
With her remaining strength, she slammed her axe into Colette's energy prison. She gave a loud cry as the backlash from the prison sent her flying.
"Presea!" Genis screamed. He suddenly realized that he could move again. He also realized Colette was also free.
"Presea! Thank you…" Colette whispered.
Raine quickly checked on Presea. Despite how dramatic the backlash was, Presea was unharmed. But she was unconscious.
The shaking on the island got worse, telling everyone that they needed to escape, now.
"We have to get out of here!" Lloyd yelled as Regal quickly picked Presea.
"Lloyd, I…" Colette started.
Lloyd turned towards his childhood friend. "Colette! You have to live!"
Colette was quiet for a moment. "I…I know."
Without another word, the group ran to the awaiting Rheairds and jumped on. They got off the island without a moment to spare as they watched the floating island collapsed into the sea. There, it disappeared like it never existed at all.
"Too close again," Zelos whispered to himself. That Rodyle….he underestimated that bastard. He didn't think he could make such a multilayered trap. If it wasn't for Presea, they all would be dead.
He sighed as he looked over the group.
Still, he underestimated them again. They not only managed to break into the Renegades' base, but they managed to fight Yuan, one of the Four Seraphim, to a draw. Now, they fought off three Winged Dragons who had the home turf advantage. He was beginning to wonder if they actually may stand a chance.
From the distance, he could see Lloyd's exsphere. For some time now, it was steadily glowing stronger. Was that what Yuan meant? About Lloyd's exsphere evolving. Yuan also said some strange stuff before about Lloyd's life depending on his exsphere. Could it have something to do with Kratos being his dad?
As far as he knew, he never heard of an angel of Cruxis bearing a child outside of the fairytale that the Chosen was born from an angel father. In fact, he didn't think it was even possible. Then again, it could be because who would want to bear an angel's child. Yuan, Kratos, and Yggdrasill weren't exactly 'fatherly' material.
Lloyd was becoming a bigger mystery by the day. What exactly was he?
While Zelos was lost in his musings, Raine saw something of interest in the distance. It looked vaguely family to her. Like a faded memory. Like the memory of…..
Her eyes widened. It couldn't be!?
"Raine, you're okay? You look pale?" Genis asked in concern.
Raine shook her head. "It's nothing." She tried to banished the thought of what she saw from her mind, but no matter how hard she tried, it wouldn't go away.
They flew for about five minutes before they landed in a clearing to recollect themselves.
"Is everyone alright?" Lloyd asked as he glanced at the group. From what he could see, any mortal injures were healed.
"I'm still alive," Zelos piped up.
"It looks like everyone's alright," Sheena said, too tired to snark Zelos.
"But for what purpose did that Rodyle character kidnap Colette?" Regal asked the question in the back of everyone's minds.
"He said he needed a Cruxis Crystal in order to control the Mana Cannon, but, apparently, mines didn't work," Colette explained to the group.
Zelos hummed.
That made sense. Since there wasn't enough mana in either Sylvarant or Tethe'alla to power such a massive weapon, Rodyle needed another power source. A Cruxis Crystal was in theory the 'easiest' workaround, but it was nearly impossible to get one since Cruxis controlled all the crystals and the ones left in the lower worlds for the Chosen were heavily guarded.
While that little mystery was solved, another one remained. Why didn't Colette's Cruxis Crystal worked? It should be the same as any other Cruxis Crystal. The only logical explanation was that there was something wrong with Colette. Kratos and Yuan hinted as much back on Fooji Mountains. Something about toxicosis if he remembered correctly.
He stared at his fellow Chosen. She didn't appear to be sick, but she did have those strange pains and fever before she was kidnapped. Was that somehow connected to this?
Another thought occurred to Zelos and a pang of fear pulsed though his chest. If Rodyle has giving up on making his own Crystal Crystal with Presea and Colette's crystal was useless to him….that left only Seles who had his Cruxis Crystal.
Dammit! He wanted to rush back home to give warning, but that bastard Pope made that impossible. Well, he would just have to pull in a few favors from Yuan. After acting as that guy's eyes and ears, he owed it to him to at least keep his sister safe.
"Mana Cannon?" Lloyd repeated, unaware of Zelos' thoughts.
"Pietro also spoke of this Mana Cannon," Raine stated, remembering his warnings as she cared for Presea.
Lloyd's eyes widened. "Yeah….and Kvar was talking to that Pronyma lady about the Mana Cannon no longer being a secret. So Kvar was working with Rodyle."
Before more discussions could be had, Presea began to stir.
"Presea's waking up!" Genis exclaimed.
Presea slowly opened her eyes and sat up. Her eyes were unfocused and she was clearly still dazed.
"Try not to move too much," Raine advised.
Presea chose to ignore her and turned her eyes towards Colette. "Colette, are you okay?"
Colette gave Presea a warm smile, happy to see that Presea was back to normal. "Yes, thanks to you."
Presea relaxed on the ground upon hearing the news and, for the first time since any of them met her, she smiled.
Lloyd was taken aback when he saw it. "Presea smiled!"
It was like seeing rays of sunlight after a week of long storming days. For the first time in a long time, Lloyd felt truly happy. Colette has returned to them unharmed, Presea was giving back her humanity, and…they may finally found a way to save both worlds.
For the first time since coming to this world, he felt hope.
Regal felt his heart beat faster. "She resembles her, just as I thought."
Zelos also gave a rare authentic smile. "Okay then, now that my cute little Presea smiled, it's a good time to start thinking about the next step." As much as he enjoyed this happy moment, he wanted to know what this group was going to do next.
Genis turned towards Lloyd. "Yeah. We got Colette back, so what now?"
Lloyd smiled as he punched his opened palm. "What else? We're going to separate the two worlds!"
"So, we're going to form pacts with the summon spirits of both worlds," Zelos surmised.
"This is where I come in," Sheena said, feeling rearing to go.
"Before then, we should return to Mizuho to rest," Regal advised. "The day has been long and we are all tired."
Lloyd nodded. "Yeah, after all we've been through, we can used a couple days rest." He turned towards Raine. "Professor, is that okay with you?"
Raine seemed to be lost in thought and didn't really hear Lloyd's question. "What? Um, y…yes sure. That's fine."
Lloyd frowned. "Professor, is something wrong?"
Raine quickly shook her head. "It's nothing. Anyway, let's get going."
Lloyd sighed to himself. Why did Raine always felt the need to keep secrets from them. It never ended well.
With that, the group began to walk to the Rheairds.
Colette walked a little behind so she could walk besides Presea. "Thank you, Presea."
Presea stared at her in bafflement. "For what?"
"For rescuing me," Colette replied with a huge smile.
This confused Presea even more. "But it was my fault you were kidnapped. So…"
"No it wasn't. It was Rodyle's fault," Colette insisted gently, yet firmly. "You must not worry about it."
Presea was left stunned by her words. Colette had every reason to be mad and even hate her. But….she didn't. She forgave her so openly. No….not just forgave, but she outright didn't blame her for what happened.
"I...want to become like you," Presea whispered in admiration.
Colette tilted her head. "Huh?"
"I want to become someone who can smile and forgive everything," Presea elaborated with a smile on her face.
Colette smiled and blushed. "I'm nothing special. I was just taught at a young age to never hold grudges. That the Goddess Martel forgave everyone of their sins if they ask for it."
"After everything you've learned, you still believe in Martel?" Presea asked in disbelief.
Colette tapped her fingers together. "Even if the Goddess Martel isn't real, I still believe in her teaches. Especially the gospel on forgiveness and love."
Presea was left shock again by Colette's inner strength. This poor girl has been though so much and yet….she continued to believe, even to a faith that used, abused, and lied to her. Was this the resolved the Chosen? Or were they so condition to accept horror that nothing phased them? Maybe it was both.
She decided not to think about it anymore as she boarded the Rheaird driven by Regal.
Once everyone was ready, they made the short flight back to Mizuho.
Colette held Lloyd tightly as he drove, savoring his warmth. While she was happy to be by Lloyd's side again, she couldn't help worrying by her current condition.
"There must be something wrong with me," Colette whispered so softly that she didn't think anyone would hear her.
"Huh, did you say something?" Lloyd asked, hearing her over the hum of the Rheaird.
Colette quickly recollected herself. "No, it's nothing."
Lloyd sighed. She was lying again. This was becoming quite tiresome. "If you're concerned about something, tell us. It's not good to worry all by yourself." He would hoped she learned that after her becoming an angel fiasco.
Colette gave Lloyd a soft smile. "Thanks." She hugged Lloyd tighter. "But this...I can't tell anyone. I can't tell anyone about this body."
It was late afternoon by the time they returned and most of the group crashed the moment they reached the guest house.
While Lloyd wanted to sleep too, he decided to first mend his pants since if he didn't do it now, he would procrastinate on it later.
Genis was too tired to sleep so he spent his time catching up on his homework that Raine still gave despite everything that was happening.
Zelos, to everyone's surprised, had volunteered for cooking duty and from what Lloyd smelt, he seemed quite good at it.
"Yoooo, everybody, dinner time!" Zelos called happily as he stepped outside to get Lloyd and Genis. He spotted Genis doing his homework. "What the, you're studying?" Genis didn't answer. "Oh, I see how it is. You're ignoring me, huh? Huh? That's fine with me. I made this delicious meal myself, and I'll just eat the whole thing."
"Whatever, just be quiet and go away," Genis snapped.
Lloyd glanced up at his friend. Genis was rarely this agitated about being called for dinner since he enjoyed tasting other people's meals. It usually only happened when he was stuck on a tough problem from his homework. Then again, he could be just cranky from a lack of sleep and Zelos' peppy mood wasn't helping.
"Hey, brat," Zelos started.
"I told you stop calling me that!" Genis snapped again as he became more frustrated.
"You've got the third answer wrong," Zelos remarked.
Now Genis was really mad. "I said, shut up! To begin with, Zelos, you're…" He stopped himself short as he glanced at his paper. His eyes widened in shock. "Oh? Ah! You're right!"
This got Lloyd's attention. Genis rarely if ever got a problem wrong. And he sure in heck didn't expect Zelos of all people to correct it.
Zelos laughed at their surprise. "Like they say, the skilled hawk lets himself fly free."
"That proverb is wrong," Genis grumbled.
Lloyd turned away from his sewing. "So, you're good at studying?"
This made Zelos smirk. "Don't underestimate me. I graduated at the top of my class at the Imperial Research Academy."
This made both Lloyd and Genis slacked jaw.
"N...no way… I can't believe Zelos is smarter than me…" Genis stuttered in disbelief.
Lloyd couldn't believe it either. He knew that Zelos was smarter than he let on….but better than Genis? Was that even possible? The only person he knew that could outpace Genis was Professor Raine.
Their' reaction only made Zelos laugh harder. "If you want, I can help you on your math homework. You just have to call me Professor Zelos for now on."
Genis growled. "Not a chance."
Zelos shrugged. "Your lost, brat. Anyway, dinner is starting with or without you guys. So you better hurry." He waved at them as he went back into the guest house.
"Dammit, I hate that guy," Genis said.
"Oh come on, Genis. He's annoying, but he isn't that bad," Lloyd said as he finally finished the repairs to his long johns. The patches were shabby to put it nicely, but it should last…..hopefully. If the worse happened, he just have to go without them. He should be fine as long as he didn't catch his legs on fire or something.
Genis suddenly became serious as he stared at Lloyd. "So…what do you think?"
"Think about what?" Lloyd asked.
"About what Rodyle said about Colette. About her being worthless," Genis said.
Lloyd frowned. "I don't have clue. Especially about how he couldn't use Colette's crystal. That and Cruxis seemed to have stopped chasing Colette."
Genis sighed. "It's all so confusing. And we have Yuan in the mix who seems obsess with you."
"Yeah, what does that guy want from me?" Lloyd asked more to himself. "But…we can't worry about any of that."
This confused Genis.
"Right now, we need to focus on making pacts with the other summon spirits and separating the worlds," Lloyd said. "After that, we can worry about Rodyle and Yuan."
Genis sighed as he closed his book. Something told him that it wasn't going to be that easy.
The tests weren't looking good. While things were still in the preliminary stages, everything indicated that severing the mana links would have severe negative consequences on both worlds. So much so that it could destroy them.
On one hand, he wasn't too concern since as far as he knew, Lloyd had no way to return to Sylvarant even if they retrieved the Rheairds. And even by some chance that they did find a way home, it was nearly impossible to form a pact with Luna since she would only initial the test with Aska, and Aska was impossible to find without a Linkite Tree, which were currently extinct in Sylvarant.
At the same time, he's long learned not to underestimate Lloyd and the others. They did manage to form a pact with Volt, one of the most violent summon spirts, and from the latest reports survived a trap laid out for them by Rodyle. Unlike the trials in Sylvarant, this was all Lloyd since he wasn't there to carry them. If there was a way to do the impossible, Lloyd would find it.
Regardless, he had to report this to Mithos. Then, he could decide how to proceed.
He teleported into the throne room and was surprised to see that the throne was empty. It was a little odd since Mithos almost never left this room, but if he wasn't here, he must be in the Great Seed chamber. That was literally the only other place he went to in the palace.
With a thought, he was in the room where the Great Seed laid. He did his best not to look at it. He wasn't in the mood to see Martel's sleeping spirit.
He looked around and was shocked to find that Mithos wasn't there either. Now, he was worried.
He checked his senses and was horrified to realize that he couldn't sense Mithos' mana anywhere in the palace and he doubted that Mithos left to check on Welgaia since he hasn't done that in millennia. Which meant only one frightening thing.
Mithos had gone to the lower worlds.
Colette is finally saved! Sorry I took so long, Colette. And we finally have the entire group together. Things should start speeding up now since we're at the 'Summon Spirit' section of Act 2. Hope everyone look forward to the next chapter.
Until next time, take care.