ToSS Rewrite

Quiz Start: "What should we do?" Colette asked quietly as you all gathered in a small circle on the stairs.
"We still have daylight," Kratos said. "We should go back to the Ranch and meet Neil. The sooner we save Chocolat, the sooner this will all be over."
"What will Palmacosta do without Dorr?" Lloyd asked.
"Neil is Dorr's assistant," Raine said. "It will probably fall on him to become the new Governor-General."
"Should we bring the militia with us?" Genis asked. "They were planning to help, right?"
"I think that was just part of the story," you say.
"I doubt the militia would reject a request for aid from the one who saw so many of them healed," Kratos said, looking at you. "But if we bring the Palmacosta militia with us, as though to actually attack the Ranch, it may put Chocolat in more danger."
"And the people of the militia will die in any open fight," you say. "Trained or not, Desians are half elves with exspheres and magic. The people of Palmacosta lost Dorr, they can't lose their militia too. I won't ask that of them."
Kratos tilted his head towards you, conceding your point.
"Then we head out ourselves," Lloyd said. "Neil's probably figured out where that secret entrance Dorr mentioned is."

The trek was long and back to the Ranch felt long and emotionally trying, for you at least. And probably for Raine as well, from the expression she was wearing.
Neil was waiting where you'd met him before, pacing back and forth restlessly. His face blanched as he saw you.
He held up a hand as Lloyd opened his mouth. "...No, don't say anything. From the looks on y our faces I can imagine what happened to Dorr."
"But Dorr did say this: He wants us to save Chocolat," Colette said, quietly but firmly.
Neil sighed, seeming on the verge of tears, "...Governor-General..." He shook his head and it passed. "I understand. Please take me along to carry out the Governor-General's last wish."
Lloyd said immediately, "All right."
"...At any rate, let's see if we can find a place to use that key we received from Dorr," Raine said.
"But you know...even assuming we can open the door and get in," Genis said. "I don't think we'll be able to just go in and out as we please."
"We need to be properly prepared and focused before taking action." Kratos agreed.
"I don't imagine that card is for the main gate," Neil said. "I've seen a few Desians coming out from the left corner of the building, over that way. "
"Then let's go there. Is everyone ready?" Lloyd asked. Everyone nodded, faces still as stony as they were when you'd left Palmacosta.
Neil led you around to the Ranch's left side, and eventually you found a narrow, beaten path that led to a side door. A magitechnology machine in front of it displayed 'Please Enter the Password' on its screen. Lloyd pressed '3341' on the small keypad at the screen's base, and the door unlocked and audibly slid open.

The stairs led you down into a narrow hallway fashioned in a design not too unlike Yuan's base. You all looked at one another and realized nobody had any idea where to go in a place like this.
"What should we do?" Genis asked. "This place looks huge from the outside."
"Find our way to wherever they're keeping Chocolat, and beat every Desian on the way," Lloyd said fiercely.
"It would not be wise to draw such attention to ourselves." Kratos rebuked him immediately. The Mercenary paused and glanced down the hallway, then faced you all again, shaking his head. "...However we have few other options. Do not go out of your way looking for combat."
The first three Desians you found went down quickly and quietly, too surprised by your presence in the base to put up a fight. When you heard more coming from the far corner you ducked down a different hallway, walking until you found a flight of stairs.
"This place is so..." You trail off, unable to find a word to suit the discomfort you felt. It wasn't the same kind of fear you'd felt near Forcystus' Ranch, but there was still that distinct quasi-disappointment lurking in the back of your head.
"Unsettling." Raine finished for you.
"Yeah, I don't like being here one bit." Genis agreed. "Everything here feels wrong."
"Let's hurry and save Chocolat, then we can be done with this place," Lloyd said.
The Sorcerer's Ring changer was a bit of a shock to find, but Raine surmised they'd reverse-engineered their own Sorcerer's Rings after killing a Chosen sometime in the past. The changer enabled your rings to change your perceptions of the surroundings slightly, allowing you to see things you couldn't before.
"This place is so complicated," Lloyd complained as you battled your way through intricate security measures and confusing puzzles of teleporter pads.
"I wonder if it's to prevent the escape of captured humans," Kratos said.
"I certainly wouldn't be able to find my way out of a place like this while trying to evade capture." Raine agreed.
"And if you didn't have a Sorcerer's Ring you'd be blind," Colette mumbled sadly. "This is a terrible place."
"All of this amazing magitechnology." Raine shook her head, mouth forming a bitter line. "And this is what they do with it..."
More hallways and turns and teleporters led you to a multilevel room with small, individual-person cells built into the walls. People stood in them, their expressions turning into mixes of hopefulness and wariness as they saw you.
"It's the captives..." Genis gasped.
"We need to get them out of here, now," you say. "They can't stay here.
"Should we split into two groups, then?" Lloyd asked.
"No, please leave this to me," Neil said. "Members of the Palmacosta army will be coming in soon."
"The militia is actually coming?" you ask. "I thought it was a trap..."
He shook his head. "They wanted to save Chocolat. I'll remain here, join up with them and free these people. Please, take care of Chocolat."
"Okay." Lloyd nodded, "Well leave it to you, then." As everyone worked to free the captives from their cells a small boy approached Lloyd.
"Thank you for saving me. Here, take this," he said, holding out a key card to Lloyd.
"What's this?"
"I picked it up over there." He pointed to the sliding doors. "I saw a Desian treating that card like it was really important."
"Thanks. This'll be a big help," Lloyd said, ruffling the boy's hair.
The child giggled then turned and to run after Neil.

Winding down hallways and through teleporters eventually landed you in a room with three Desians surrounding a prisoner on the far side, the only Desians you'd seen so far that weren't actively patrolling around.
"That's...!" Colette gasped. "Chocolat!"
"Stop!" Lloyd yelled, foregoing the element of surprise and charging across the room. "Let her go!" Lloyd cut down one Desian immediately, and then struck out at another as Colette's chakrams turn out the last.
"Everyone!" Chocolat yelped gratefully as you ran to meet her. "You came to rescue me?"
"Yup! Did they hurt you? Are you okay?" Colette asked.
"Yes, I'm fine, Chosen One," Chocolat said with a grateful smile. "Everybody, thank you all so much."
"Ah, don't mention it..." Lloyd said.
"There is no time to be celebrating," Kratos said. "We still need to take care of Magnius."
"Assistant Governor-General Neil is taking the people here to safety," Raine said. "Our job is to secure the control room and assure a safe escape."
Chocolat's eyes lit up, "Door finally mobilized his plans, didn't he?"
"Um...uh, yeah," Lloyd said uneasily.
"I'm not sure if it's in the control room or not, but in the back is a platform that leads to a room filled with sparkling lights and other magical looking things." Chocolat suggested. "I'll show you the way."
"Hm..." Raine frowned. "It may be a bit dangerous, but we'd appreciate your help."
"Of course! Follow me." Chocolat led you back across the floor to a teleporter you'd passed before. "Hmm...Well, they used this one to get there, but it's not working."
"We can fix that."

The teleporter set you down in a room full of magitechnology machines, similar to the ones in your dream with Yuan.
"This is the place," you say. "The control room."
"So," a voice said from somewhere above you. "The forsaken Chosen and her entourage of vermin have finally arrived."
"For...saken?" Kratos repeated questioningly, eyes scanning around for the source of the voice.
Magnius, sitting in some form of magitechnology chair, floated down from the ceiling, coming to hover over the center console of the room. He smirked at all of you.
"You got it all mixed up Magnius," Lloyd said firmly. "You're the one that's forsaken. Your time here is up." Desians appeared from teleporters at the sides of the room, taking up formation around the center console.
"We're surrounded!" Colette gasped.
"Hahaha! Just like a bunch of stupid vermin!" Magnius laughed. "I know your every move. And I know about those inferior beings trying to escape, too."
Screens on the far side of the room displayed Neil and the prisoners moving through the hallways, only to be stopped when the doors around them shut. They were locked in.
You knew this technology... Magnius had been monitoring you the whole time. He'd known you were coming all along...
"How'd Neil...get in there?" Colette asked, confused.
Kratos growled under his breath and then said, "That's a projector, a product of magitechnology.
"It's a device that displays images of people and things that are far away," Raine said.
"We were displayed on those things, too," you say, clenching your fists. "He's known this whole time."
"They're trapped!" Genis exclaimed.
"Hahaha! A wasted effort! Everything you've done is meaningless!"
"How so?!" Lloyd demanded stubbornly. "We can rescue everyone after we take care of you!"
"Big words from someone whose futile actions caused the disaster at Iselia!" Mangius spat. You, Genis and Lloyd flinch.
The twin swordsman's head drooped, "Th...That was..."
"I know." Magnius grinned maliciously. "How about I recreate that incident using the vermin on the projector? Watch, I'll unleash their exspheres and turn them into monsters!"
"No!" You yell. "You can't!"
"Come on now, I'll be more than happy to turn them all into monsters. Just like that old lady the two of you killed..." He turned to Chocolat. "Just like Marble! Hahahah!"
Chocolat's mouth fell open. "Marble? You can't mean..."
"Oh, but I do, my little Chocolat. Dear old granny Marble was sent to the Iselia Ranch, where she was killed by Aura and Lloyd," Magnius announced. "I heard she met a pitiful end!"
"Shut up! You know nothing about her!" You yell at him, taking the others aback for a moment.
Genis frantically turned to Chocolat "Wait, it wasn't like that! Lloyd tried to save her! Aura did too! But the Desians turned her into a monster--"
"Lloyd struck her down, and then Aura delivered the killing blow." Magnius bellowed, laughing.
Chocolat stared at you and Lloyd, all color draining from her face. "No..." She backed away until the Desians that flanked the console could surround her.
"Chocolat!" Colette called as the Desians grabbed her.
"Wait!" You call, "Please!"
"Dammit!" Lloyd cursed, "Let her go!"
"Leave me alone!" She shrieked, alternating from glaring at Lloyd to glaring at you, her brown eyes full of fury and sorrow. "I refuse to be saved by grandma's murderers! I'd rather die!"
"Mur..." You choke on the word.
Colette shook her head furiously and started bouncing on her heels like she did when she was pleading. "You mustn't say things like that! Don't throw your life away!"
She furiously wiped her tears away, "Dorr will save me. Leave me alone!"
Magnius started laughing again. "Right, Dorr, huh... Well, whatever. Take her away!" The Desians around Chocolat grabbed her arms and dragged her back to the teleporter they'd come in through.
"Stop!" Lloyd yelled after them.
A second later they were gone.
The remaining Desians surged towards you. You didn't remember drawing your sword but as you turned towards the closest Desian your naginata blade sliced cleanly through their helmet.
As the last of the Desians fell Lloyd picked up a pass that Chocolat had dropped.
"Dammit, how could you idiots allow these inferior beings to defeat you!" Magnius exclaimed. His chair lowered him to the ground and he stood, flexing his shoulders before conjuring a huge axe to his hands. "Fine, I'll take care of you myself! I'll put an end to the Chosen, right along with you fools who can't let go of your elven blood!"

The two guards that came to Magnius' aide made the fight more arduous than it could be, but you found yourself constantly charging the grand cardinal down, slamming him out of his spells with your 'beast' arte while Kratos moved alongside you and Lloyd helped Genis get rid of the two guards.
You struck the last blow on the Grand Cardinal, putting a deep gash in his chest from his left shoulder to his right hip that sent him to the ground.
"Ugh...how?!" He clutched his bleeding wound. "How could a superior half-elf like me..."
"It's because you are a fool, Magnius." Kratos told him decisively. "Cruxis has accepted Colette as the Chosen."
"...What?!"
"That's right!" Lloyd said. "Colette is going to regenerate the world! We're not going to lose to someone like you!"
"So...you're..." He paused, glancing between Colette, Kratos, Lloyd and you. "Then... I was deceived..." He collapsed on the floor, his whole being a deathly pallor.
You moved to the other side of the room, to the controls under the monitors that displayed Neil and the captives. Your hands moved over the keys without your conscious effort as Raine came to your side.
"What are you doing?" Genis asked.
"Opening the doors....There!" The doors on the projector all opened and the captives began their escape once more. "But..." You switched to a camera from outside in time to see the Desians escort Chocolat away from the Ranch and out into the forest. She paused and turned, as if to come back, but one Desian cracked his whip at her and she kept walking.
"...Dammit!" Lloyd cursed.
"What about the exspheres implanted in the captives?" Kratos asked. "Without Key Crests, it's only a matter of time before they go out of control."
"Can't we just take the exspheres off them?" Genis asked.
"It's dangerous to attempt to remove an exsphere lacking a Key Crest," the Mercenary said seriously. "I would imagine only a dwarf could handle it."
"Then we could ask Dirk to do it." Colette suggested.
"Yeah. Let's contact my dad." Lloyd agreed.
"...We can work out the details later," Raine said, gently pushing your hands away from the controls. "Right now, I'm going to program this place to self-destruct. Ready?"
"Self-destruct?" You stutter.
"Are you serious?!" Lloyd gasped.
"Raine, if you do that--" Genis started.
She cut him off. "At the very least, we'll deal a major blow to the Desian stranglehold over this region."
"Raine..." her little brother mumbled.
"Remember, Genis, we're not like them," his sister said softly. "We're different." She turned back to the controls and entered a series of combinations until an alarm sounded and a red light flashed over your heads. "I've set the self-destruct for 10 minutes. Let's hurry and evacuate."
"I think that teleporter back there is a shortcut down," you say, pointing to the teleporter in the back of the room.
"Let's go, then!" Lloyd exclaimed.
"I must inform Forcystus...while I can..." Magnius' voice groaned from behind you as everyone moved across the room. Lloyd stepped onto the teleporter first, vanishing a moment later.
"I have a slight problem with you contacting Lord Forcystus, He'd realize what I'm trying to do." A strange man's voice cackled as Colette disappeared next, quickly followed by Genis.
"Rodyle!" Magnius cried weakly. "You...you deceived me! There was no order to eliminate the Chosen, was there?!" It was you, Raine and Kratos left.
Raine went through.
"Hehehehe. Collecting gald for me, attempting to eliminate the Chosen for me...you've been quite useful, Magnius."
"Aura, go." Kratos ordered.
"Farewell!" The voice cackled as you stepped onto the teleporter. "I hope you e--"
Then you were in a different room, near the Ranch's ground floor. You quickly stepped off the teleporter, making room for Kratos to follow. Rodyle. Another one of the Grand Cardinals... And he'd tricked and used Magnius, from the sound of it.
Outside you found Neil waiting for you. Alone.
"Where are all the captives?" Lloyd asked.
"Further out, outside the forest. They're very weak and injured, and dark is falling soon," Neil said. "We didn't want to try to make the run to Palmacosta yet."
"Neil, we have to get out of here too!" Genis said, "Hurry!"
He blinked at all of you as you flooded around him, moving to get the forest between you and the Ranch.
You heard Colette exclaim, "It's about to blow up!" before you heard her and Neil puffing for breath as they chased after you.

You found the captives all gathered nearly a hundred yards outside of the cover of trees, the militia them safe from any monsters. An ear-wracking explosion sounded from behind you, the earth rumbling so violently that you, Colette, Genis and Raine fell to the ground, along with many of the captives.
When the rumbling settled the thick, the almost noxious smell of charred metal and burning machines wafted over all of you and out to sea. Nothing was left of the ranch except twisted, burnt metal and craters.
"I thought I was going to die..." Lloyd sighed.
Colette smiled. "I'm glad everyone's all right."
"Ah...what about Chocolat?" Neil asked. Your hands clench into fists and you force your face to go blank. You don't speak, instead waiting for someone else to answer.
"I think she was taken to another location," Raine said finally.
Neil's expression fell. "I see..."
"If she's alright, she can still be rescued," Kratos said, facing you and Lloyd more than Neil.
"Yes. If you learn Chocolat's location, please let us know immediately. Even Dorr really wanted to save her."
"Right." Lloyd said staunchly. "I swear we'll find her."
"Also, the captives have something called an exsphere embedded in them," Genis said.
"It's dangerous to leave them as they are now. You need to send a letter in my name to a dwarf named Dirk, who lives in Iselia." Lloyd instructed. "I'm sure he'll help you get them removed."
Neil nodded. "Dirk, in Iselia. I understand. I'll send out the letter first thing once we get back to the city. For now, we should all rest." He turned to you. "Aura, right?"
"Yes," you say. "What is it?"
"Thompson told me how you healed the militiamen the other day." You blink at him and nod. He fidgeted, apparently expecting more of an answer than your melancholy stare, and asked, "Could I ask you to heal the people we've freed from the Ranch? It'll be a long trek back to the city and most of them are weak or hurt."
"Of course." You glance over at Raine, "Raine, will you help?"
"Are you sure you'll need me?" She asked. You could tell from the look in her eyes she was really asking 'are you sure I can even help?'.
"I'm exhausted." Only partially a lie. "Please?"
She nodded, somewhat reluctantly, you thought, and the two of you went to tend the injured.

Late in the night you were purposefully staying awake, ensuring everyone was as healed as your magics could make them. You didn't want to sleep with Marble's death and Chocolat's anger so fresh in your mind again, it would just give you nightmares.
Raine was resting at your group's fire, everyone speaking quietly with each other. Half a dozen fires burned in a general group with people clustered around them, all of them needed to sufficiently warm the numerous people you all had rescued.
"Hey, Aura..."
You look over your shoulder as you finish healing the swollen ankle of a young man. "Genis, you're still up?"
"We all are," Genis said quietly. He held out a mug, "Want some coffee? You look like you've had it."
"Thanks..." You took the mug from him, the glass pleasantly warm in your hands, and then turned back to the man. "How are you feeling now?"
"Better." He rolled his ankle and smiled, though it was hard to see through his unkempt beard. "All better... Thank you."
"Is there anyone else?" you ask.
"No. You two healed all of us. Thank you so much." You give a smile you hoped looked cheerful and then followed Genis back to the fire, sipping your coffee. You sat next to Raine, opposite the fire from Kratos.
"Magnius...hm..." Lloyd muttered.
"What is it?" Colette asked.
"Those last things he said were kind of strange." The twin swordsman explained.
"You mean about being deceived?" Kratos asked.
Colette looked up at the sky. "I wonder what he was deceived by."
"There's no way to know now," Raine said.
"Oh, I know! Maybe Magnius thought the fake Chosen group was us," Colette said.
"Ah, I see!" Lloyd grinned. "Then everything would make sense again!"
"No it doesn't!" Raine scolded. "If that was the case, the imposters would have been killed by now."
"...Just as Raine said, there's no way to know now," Kratos said "But Magnius is dead, isn't that enough?"
Lloyd shrugged. "Yeah, I guess so. Still, I really thought we'd figured it out..."
Rodyle... What had he been trying to do, leading Magnius astray like that? Had he been trying to get him killed? He certainly wasn't upset about his death. What exactly had Rodyle told him?
"Lloyd," you ask. "What was that thing Chocolat dropped?"
"Hmm..." Pulled it out of his pocket and examined it. "It's...It's a pilgrimage guide's pass for Hakoneshia peak."
"Can we get over the peak with that?" Genis asked.
"It's a guide's pass," Raine said, taking it from Lloyd. "Hmm...It'll let any number of people through, as long as they're led by a guide from the agency. If one of us simply acts as a guide, and the rest of us as pilgrims, we'll be able to pass the checkpoint easily."