Chapter 4: A Day of Rest

Colette and Raine looked around for the two teens, slightly surprised at how they suddenly disappeared. Raine tapped her foot against the hardened dirt, a slight scowl on her face; they went in to rest, and they take off on them? It did not make sense. "They're supposed to be guarding us, not dragging us behind."

Colette, however, shook her head. "I'm sure they have a good reason for it!" she said with a smile, spotting the two coming closer to them. "Oh look! There they are now!" she said, squinting; she then saw two other blurs behind them and gasped. "Is that Nino and Genis?" she asked the teacher, who flinched slightly.

"Yes, it is. Why did they have to come? I thought they were told that they were going to be staying in the village, where it's safe. They better have a good reason for this…" She sighed into her hand, using it to rub her temple. As they made their way to the resting house, Raine stared at them with severity. "Why are you two here? Is that why these two had gone off?"

Genis and Nino winced at the tone she was using. "Sorry Raine… It's a long story…" Genis said, rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment. "You see… the Desians attacked the village, and in order to keep the village from going into an uproar, we left."

"Why would you have to leave? What did you do?" she asked, looking at the two. Genis looked at Nino, having explained part of it already. "Nino? Would you care to explain?" she asked, giving her "the look." That stern look she always gave whenever she wanted someone to explain what happened, or else.

"Uh… We went to the ranch!" she said, covering her face into her hands. "We went to see-" she paused, turning her head to Genis to see if he would get mad. However, he had slowly nodded his head, giving her the okay to tell. "We went to see Genis' friend, who was in the ranch, and we got caught by the Desians… After you guys left, the Desians came and started burning the villager's homes… No one knew it was us, but we told Grandmother about it, and she let us go."

Raine flinched slightly, a saddened look on her face. "What am I going to do with you two?" she sighed, her hand meeting with her head once more. "Genis, is the house still there…?" she asked, eyes turning distant.

Genis smiled happily. "Yes! It is! Luckily, they didn't burn down our house!"

"Good." she said, letting out a sigh of relief she never knew she had. "Well, I'm glad you both are alright. You both have gone through much in such short time… Go inside and get some rest – we'll spend the remainder of the day here in the sanctuary." Raine said, sending the two into the building. Watching as the two and Colette hurried into the building, Raine sighed at the two teens. "You two saw them coming and went to them, is that it?" she asked.

Jaffar nodded his head. Lloyd lowered his head slightly, eyes narrowed and a scowl on his face. "I saw them coming down the road and told Jaffar about it. Then the two of us went down to confront them. We had not thought that you would be waiting for us to come back. Of course, we had thought that we would have been back before then. Sorry." he said, nodding his head.

"Hmm. It's alright, Lloyd, however, I would have liked that you would have informed me of it before hand." Raine said with another sigh.

"We did think to tell you, however, we thought that since you were resting that we would take care of it." he said; he was starting to grow slightly suspicious of the half-elf woman. Was she trying to interrogate them?

Raine placed her hand onto her elbow, shifting her weight to the other side. "I see. Well, while I'm glad you took the initiative for me, you could have at least left a note." she said, still holding a frown. Lloyd was wondering if she was ever going to stop. "However, I suppose there's no point in worrying about it now – it's happened and it's done."

'Good – she's letting it go. I was afraid I'd have to do something that could blow our cover…' Lloyd thought, his right eye looking at the auburn-haired teen. 'Such a stupid woman for being a half-elf...' "So we'll be taking them with us, right? Alright, that's fine with me. What of you, Jaffar?"

Jaffar crossed his arms over his chest, his eyes now closed. "It does not bother me. Now then, I'm heading into the sanctuary. If you need me, that's where I'll be." He said, pushing him off from the fence post he was leaning against.

Lloyd watched him head into the building, thinking he should do the same. "I'll be heading in as well. I would like to relax a bit before we eat. Until dinner then." he said, heading for the door of the building. He stopped in front of the door and turned his head, noting that the woman was walking toward the wooden chairs that were placed on the House of Salvation's lawn. He then entered and made his way to the rest area, hopping onto the bed.

Meanwhile, Raine was sitting at the table near her seat, her thoughts turning toward the two teenage mercenaries. "Lloyd seems to be the more talkative between the two, and a lot kinder and less cold, but it's too early to tell, I guess. I suppose I should continue to evaluate them to see how they actually are…" she mused a loud, not knowing of the ease-dropping teens hearing every word she said …

"It feels like she is stalking us, doesn't it, cousin?" Jaffar asked Lloyd nervously, glancing at the window in worry. Lloyd rolled his eyes in response, and nodded grimly.

"I fear that we will have to be more on guard around her than we originally planned." Lloyd sighed, shaking his head. "While the children will not suspect us – if we keep our profiles low, at least – Raine seems to suspect that there is more to us than we let on."

"Humph; why such intelligence was wasting away in that small village escapes me. She would do much better working as a scientist over on Tethe'alla." Jaffar shook his head, lowering the hood of his cape. "But those fools only see half-elves as freaks of nature, life forms that should only be ignored or belittled." Lloyd also scowled, his red eyes narrowing.

"Humans only discriminate against them because they fear them." He sighed, having had this conversation with Jaffar before; Jaffar's father had been a half-elf. "If people truly did not think that half-elves needed to exist, then humans and elves would not fall in love with one another."

"You're optimistic, cousin." Jaffar muttered darkly, but dropped the subject in favor of glancing out the window at the sun setting over the distant mountains. "… Do you have any notion of how long this trip will take us?" He asked after a moment, sighing.

"Bored already?" Lloyd teased, earning a light glare from Jaffar. "Don't worry; we will be approaching the Seal of Fire soon, and then the Chosen will begin her transformation into an angel." Glancing at the door, Lloyd shook his head in annoyance. "But as soon as that happens, we will have our work cut out for us keeping any assassin that the Renegades send for the Chosen at bay, and we might have to fight Desians."

"I see no problem with that." Jaffar responded, folding his arms behind his head and stretching out on the bed.

"You just like killing people, Jaffar; you ARE the Angel of Death after all." Lloyd countered, earning one of Jaffar's shoes in his face for the comment; the older cousin's eyes were narrowed in annoyance.

"Be careful with that name; you never know when the walls might be listening in …" He stated, and both of them heard Raine sneeze beneath them.

Lloyd grumbled inaudibly, rubbing his forehead. "Sorry. I had not expected her to enter so soon. Has it already turned dark?" the younger cousin asked, looking out the window. "I must have forgotten how fast time flows around here." he whispered, receiving a nod from Jaffar.

"Remember, Cousin," Jaffar said, looking at the teen calmly, "we arrived here at about mid-afternoon." he said, hearing him respond with his usual "Ah." "At any rate, did Uncle provide you with the eating pills? I found that I barely ate anything this morning, so it must have worn off."

Lloyd smirked at Jaffar with a cocked eyebrow. "Of course he did – that's Dad for you. Take it before Raine spots you – we do not need any unnecessary explaining to do." he said, handing Jaffar the pill; he quickly threw it into his mouth, swallowing hastily.

"Alright, I'm going to lie down for a while." he said, folding his arms across his chest. "If there is one thing I hate about these things, it's that they almost seem to suck all the strength out of you, and make you have to-" he would have finished, had Lloyd not raise his hand. Soon, he heard a quartet of voices coming down the hall, then finally, a knock on the door.

"Lloyd? Jaffar?" Lloyd sighed softly; it was the Chosen. What did she want? "May I come in?" Jaffar nodded to Lloyd, who walked over to the door. Jaffar quickly made his way onto the bed, plopping on it and feigning sleep before he actually did fall asleep. Lloyd smiled just before opening the door. "Oh, hello Lloyd!" Colette said cheerfully, giggling lightly.

"Good Evening, Chosen. Is there anything that you need?" he asked, looking back at his cousin. "Jaffar is a little tired, so he is resting for a bit. But is there something I can do for you?"

The girl smiled, turning to the three behind her. "We were going to head downstairs for dinner. The pastors of the House of Salvation here are making it as we speak, so we thought to get you." she said, eyes dancing with gleam. "Would you care to join us?" she asked, hoping he would agree; she wanted to learn so much more about him. She felt saddened that she knew so little…

Lloyd chuckled lightly, as to not disturb Jaffar. "Of course. We can just bring something up for Jaffar when he gets up." he said, gently closing the door behind him. He followed the four down the stairs into the dining area.

Colette stopped for a moment, allowing the other three to go down before her. She walked beside Lloyd, her hands across her chest. "Lloyd, may I ask you a question?"

Lloyd cocked his eyebrow slightly, looking at her smiling face. "You do not have to ask me if you wish to ask me a question. If it is something I cannot answer, I will simply let you know." he said, a tug of a smile forcing its way onto his lips. "What is it that you require?"

Colette blushed a bit, having not expected to be called out like that. "Umm… W-Would you m-mind…"she stuttered, trying to recompose herself, "telling m-me about y-yourself? Like your family? I-If you don't mind, that is…" she responded, lowering her face slightly.

Lloyd felt a nagging pull in his mind. True, it was something anyone would be curious of, but at the same time, he could not simply tell her. It was not like she was asking him to be her slave and do what she commanded, but he did not know how to answer it. But remaining silent for too long was not an option. He would just have to be careful, he figured. "Certainly. While there are things I cannot tell you due to various reasons, I will answer to the best of my ability." he said with a smile as he led her down the stairs.

She closed her eyes after arriving at the foot of the stairs. "Thank you, Lloyd. I feel so bad not knowing much about you and Jaffar." Lloyd saw a quick flash of concern on her face, a secret frown the world never knew of. "So I would like to hear some of your stories so I can know you better!" she said, trying to maintain her excitement as to not disturb the other guests.

"Alright, I shall." he chuckled lightly, a smile spreading over his face. However, he mentally frowned at his current behavior, eyes narrow. 'I have to keep my guard up. She may be kind and selfless, but that does not change the fact that she is the Chosen going on her journey to become Lady Martel's vessel.' he sighed to himself in thought as he took his seat. 'After all, that is what is written in Fate's will.'

堕天使

Jaffar moaned as softly as he could, still feeling his head pound slightly. "Blast those pills. Uncle must have the researchers adjust them so that they don't negatively impact teenagers…" he said irritably as he sat up and placed his feet on the ground, running his hands through his hair. No sooner than that, he heard a knock on the door. Grumbling softly – as he hated the fact that those eating pills force him to perform "mortal" habits – he made his way to the door. "Who is it?" he asked drily.

"It's Nino." the green-haired girl replied, making something of a ruckus outside his door. Jaffar smelled something wafting in the air, most likely from whatever Nino had behind the door. "May I come in?"

'Why not? What harm can a young girl be?' He joked to himself, looking around the room to make sure that nothing inappropriate was sticking out. Shutting Lloyd's bag shut – as the pill bottle was sticking out, and Jaffar was one for taking no chances, he opened the door. "What is it you need?"

Jaffar spotted the tray of food that was in the girl's hands and wanted to smack himself for being so out of it. "Lloyd said that you would be getting up soon, and since I was finished with dinner, I thought I would bring it up for you." she said, unaware that Jaffar's left eye had twitched.

'Leave it to Lloyd…' Jaffar thought in his head, an annoyed look on his face. Quickly hiding it, he put on his stoic face and nodded his head. "Set it on the table, then." Nino looked up at him and nodded, setting the tray full of food off to one side; luckily, as soon as they had returned to the group, Genis had commandeered the kitchen, so Nino knew that the food was edible. Turning to talk with Jaffar, her eyes spotted the tattoo on his shoulder. Curious, she cocked her head and tried to remember if she had seen such before.

Yes; when they had been walking back from Dirk's house, she had seen the tattoo then too. But it had been on his other arm. 'Wait …' Nino looked again, and was startled to see that she could tell what the tattoo was now that she was looking; it was a stylized black wing, and when Jaffar turned to face her, she saw that he did boast the design on his other shoulder as well.

"Is there a reason you are staring at me with such interest?" Jaffar's voice cut through Nino's thoughts as easily as one of his daggers cut flesh, startling the girl into looking up into his red eyes. It was then that she noticed that his hood was gone as well, leaving his hair to fall into his face, making his eyes seem slightly paler than normal. Blushing – why was she blushing – Nino shook her head and looked at her feet, suddenly fascinated by them.

"Why do you have tattoos?" She asked after a moment, making Jaffar stop in the middle of pulling the tray towards him. Making a questioning noise, the auburn placed the tray back on the table and looked at Nino curiously. Managing to subdue some of her blush, Nino glanced up at Jaffar again and asked softly, "You have wings tattooed onto your shoulders … why?"

"… That is for me to know, and only me." Jaffar stated calmly, pulling the food towards him and taking a small sip of the soup. Nino didn't pursue the issue, but Jaffar could tell that the young girl was still curious about the wings, so he finally sighed. "You were there when you heard about my … outburst, correct?" Once he saw Nino nod, the assassin said softly, "… the black wings of the angel of death were added to my shoulders shortly after I turned twelve. They are … reminders, if you will."

"Reminders … of your crime?" Nino asked, eyes wide as she tried to comprehend what life would be like with such a shadow clinging to her. Jaffar gave a small half nod in response.

"That … and a reminder for me to keep a hold of my temper at all times … I would not want to cause such bloodshed again." Jaffar said, watching Nino's eyes widen even further in shock. "Is it that surprising?"

Nino shook her head, trying to regain composure. "S-Sort of. I-Is that a bad thing?" she asked weakly, wondering if it was wise to voice her question. "I-I mean, is that what you were expecting? Er…" she continued babbling, trying to find the words to fix her blunder. "I-"

"Relax." Jaffar said sternly, causing Nino to silence almost immediately. "Had I known this would happen, I would not have said it…" he said as he sighed weakly, his hand onto his forehead. That blasted headache still had not gone away. "It is fine, and before you do, you do not need to apologize."

Nino blushed a bit, having not expected him to figure out what she would have said next. "O-Okay. And is something wrong? Should I guess the Professor?" she asked, staring with confusion at Jaffar's forehead.

"No, it's fine. I just have a headache." Jaffar responded, gritting his teeth slightly. "It will pass as soon as I eat something." he said, picking up the fork. He lightly stabbed the slice of chicken, smearing it with the meager gravy on the plate. He placed it into his mouth, somewhat enjoying the taste. He noticed Nino remaining by his side and threw her a curious look. "Is there anything else that you need?"

Nino gasped lightly. "O-Oh, sorry. I'll be going then." she said, getting up off of the bed. She walked to the door, turning back toward him. "Oh, I almost forgot! I was told to tell you that you can bring the tray down tomorrow since the priests aren't low on dishes right now." she said with a smile before opening the door. "Good night, Jaffar."

Jaffar placed his hand onto his head. "Night." he responded, softly laying himself onto the bed as Nino made her way into the hallway. His head was still lightly pounding, though not as badly as before. He figured Lloyd would come in of his own accord. He pulled up the covers and went back to sleep, the after-effects of the pills lingering in his system. As she trotted downstairs, Nino was startled to see that her older sister had somehow managed to get Lloyd to sit down and play a game of chess with Genis. Lloyd was studying the board with interest, as was Genis.

"So, Lloyd, where did you come from?" Colette asked with a smile, blue eyes sparkling as she waited for Lloyd's response. Nino was amused to see that the brunet was startled by the question, hand in the middle of selecting a chess piece to move.

"Me? I was born in Izlood; my parents settled there shortly before I was born." Lloyd smiled, remembering the small fishing village with great fondness. "It was nice and peaceful there, mainly due to the fact that there isn't a Human Ranch in the immediate area; even the Remote Island ranch is closer to Palmacosta than Izlood." Moving his piece, Lloyd grinned as Genis scowled at the board. "Check and mate; you shouldn't have let me take your castles and bishops so early on in the game." He stated as he helped Genis clear the board.

"And where was Jaffar born? Is he from Izlood too?" Colette asked again, smiling to herself when she noticed the way Nino's head seemed to perk slightly. Lloyd thought for a moment, and then shook his head.

"No; he and his parents lived on their own, in the middle of a large forest. We would often visit them, though." Lloyd smiled. "He began to stay with us after his parents went missing, however, so it feels more like we're brothers than cousins." Standing, Lloyd stretched his arms over his head. "Speaking of Jaffar, is he still asleep?"

"Yeah; he ate and then went to bed." Nino nodded. "He didn't seem to be feeling well …" Lloyd shook his head.

"It's most likely a headache. Jaffar's never done well with extreme heat." He explained, gesturing out the dark window at the Triet desert that they would soon be heading into. "Speaking of resting, I think that's a good idea for all of us; we should get an early start if we want to reach Triet by tomorrow night."

Raine nodded her head. "Yes, and I wish to be up before the sun rises so we can avoid the early morning heat." she said, looking at the chess board. "Where did the chess board come from?"

Genis looked up. "Oh, the priests had it in storage – it was donated. We saw it and asked if we could use it." he said, looking at Lloyd. "I was hoping I would be good enough to win, but I guess I still need more practice."

"Well, do remember to return it before you enter our room. I don't want to hear that it is not in their hands."

"Right, Raine." he said, placing the pieces inside of the board. He folded the board in half, closing it. "Alright, I'm going to hand this to the nearest priest and then I'll be up, okay, Raine?" Raine nodded her head, yawning into her hand. "Alright, I'll see you all in the morning."

Colette bowed her head. "Good night, Genis!" she said, turning to the stairs. "Come on, Nino, we can share my bed! Oh! And good night, Lloyd!"

Nino gasped, rushing up the stairs. "O-Okay! Good night, Lloyd."

Lloyd chuckled, waving his hand. "Good night, Nino. Good night, Chosen." he turned for the stairs. He smirked; perhaps he should see how Jaffar was doing. He walked up the stairs and then down the hall to his room. He opened the door to find Jaffar sitting on the edge of the bed, his hands rubbing his head. Lloyd's smirk never left his face; he closed the door behind him. "So, I see you're feeling better now."

Jaffar stared back at him. "Shut it, Lloyd. You 're enjoying this more than you should." he said, groaning. "I still feel like crap…"

Lloyd walked over to his bed, taking off his boots. "And this is why I waited to take my pills just before we left. Besides, this is only just revenge for your mockery earlier when I took mine." he said, removing the jacket and placing it on the back of the chair. "So now what are you going to do? Sleep some more?"

"What else can I do? They obviously think I'm not feeling well." he said, sighing. "But I don't think I could sleep anymore."

Lloyd lay down, stretching under the covers. "Well, sucks to be you then, does it not? Night, Jaffar." he said, laughing before he fell asleep. He was ignorant to Jaffar's grumblings.

Sage here. So yeah, sorry for any delays, we've both been lazy as hell. Doubt this makes it up, but whatever. I'll see when we're gonna start the next one. At any rate, review if you will.