ToSS Rewrite

Quiz Start: You wake up slowly, feeling dizzy and a bit sick. You kept your eyes shut and took slow, deep breaths to calm your stomach. As you did, you noticed that you were lying on a bed; the fabric of the blankets under you was made of very soft materials. Softer than the blankets at the Triet Inn, for sure. Voices found their way to your ears, though they were a bit muffled, like they were from the other side of a door.
"I'm sorry sir," said a voice. It sounded like the voice of the guy that had muttered 'sorry' before you blacked out. "Before she went out her sleeve was torn, and that piece was left at the dock. I didn't have time to retrieve it. The others might..."
"I don't care. They won't be able to find their way here." Another voice said, this one sounding familiar. "Was she hurt?"
"No, sir," the first voice said. "She should be up soon."
"Good. You're dismissed."
"Sir." You listened to a pair of footsteps get softer and softer, the first person was walking away. Once their footsteps had vanished there was a small hiss of a door sliding open. A new pair of footsteps came closer to you as the door hissed shut again, stopping right next to your bed.
"...are you really...?" The second voice mumbled softly.
"N...nn..." you open your eyes slowly, "Wha...what happened...?" You push yourself up and rub the blurriness from your eyes.
"Good, you're finally up." The man from Iselia, the one who had been near your house, was standing next to your bed, staring down at you. From this close you could tell that he was a half-elf.
"...Where am I?" you ask softly. He had to know, he was the one being called 'sir'.
"You don't need to worry about that right now," he said plainly. "You're safe here."
"Safe?"
"Tell me if you remember anything." He knew about your memories? That was disconcerting... You stared at him for a long moment, noticing that one of his eyes was silver and the other was blue, then looked down the bed as you tried to think. That dream with the room and the magitechnology came back to the front of your mind, but the form of the figure was still blurry, despite your nagging feeling that it was this man. Everything was still blurs and mumbles, but perhaps...
You glance up at him. "R... Run far, and run fast. They already know you're gone."
His brow shot up and his mouth almost dropped open. "You remember?"
You shrug weakly, "Just that... I've seen it in a dream for years now. You told me to run, not to think about anything, then everything goes white... That's all."
His expression changed to a mildly-disappointed frown. "Then we'll have to start small... If you can remember that, then you can probably remember who I am."
"You're..." You murmur, staring at his face. You saw a little flash of him speaking with you in some sort of forested area... Then speaking with someone you couldn't see clearly, the two of them standing in a crowded city. "You... we used to be friends." He nodded slightly and mumbles started up inside your head. "Your name is..." you closed your eyes and pressed your forehead into your hand, as you searched, "I know it...!"
He waited patiently, silent.
"Y..."
A voice finally rang clearly above the murmurs, "Yuan! Come on, let's go."
"Yeah, I'm coming." His voice responded, just a whisper.
"Yu..." You raised your head from your hand as you said, "Yuan."
A slight smile flickered across his lips. "Yes...I guess you are getting your memory back."
"Then you know..." You pause. "You know about my memory loss?"
He nodded.
"Then you know who I am?" You sit up a little straighter. "You know why I knew yours and Kratos' names?"
Yuan's eye twitched at the mention of the Mercenary. "Hmm..."
"We used to be friends. You helped me."
"Yeah, I did."
Your heart sped hopefully. "Who am I?"
"Well..."
The door hissed open and a Desian sped into the room. "Lord Yuan--"
"...!" You stare between the two men... Yuan was a Desian?
Yuan glared at the intruder, folding his arms disapprovingly.
The Desian tilted his head respectfully. "I...I apologize sir." He glanced at you and then mimicked the gesture, "Ma'am. I didn't mean to interrupt."
Yuan sighed. "It's fine. What is your report?"
"We've found him, sir."
"Good." He took a few steps towards the Desian, but your hand shot out and grabbed his wrist.
"Wait!" Yuan turned back to you, startled.
"How dare you-" The Desian started, but Yuan held a hand towards him.
"It's alright," he said firmly.
"Where am I?" you ask. With whatever news the Desian brought Yuan was probably too preoccupied to talk at length about your past, but surely he could answer one, simple question.
He looked at you for a long moment and then gently freed his wrist from your grasp. "You're safe."
You stare at him, confused, and shake your head. "Safe from what?"
"...Still don't remember..." He mumbled under his breath. He looked at the Desian over his shoulder, "Step out."
"Yes, sir." The Desian obediently left the room and closed the door.
Yuan turned back to you and stared seriously at you for a long moment before finally saying, "You can't leave."
"W-what? Why?"
"I don't have the time to tell you now," he said. "Just stay here. We can talk later."
He stepped out and the door shut. You heard soft beeping sounds followed by a muttered, "It's locked." His voice was barely audible, and you were surprised you'd even heard him. Then Yuan spoke normally, "What did you want?"
"Sir, we've got Lloyd in prison now." Lloyd?! Lloyd was here too? In prison?
"Good. Keep him there," Yuan said. "I need to discuss terms with someone."
"What about..." The Desian trailed off.
"Keep her in that room, and make sure she's alright. Don't let her leave under any circumstances, unless Botta or I come for her. Understood?"
"Yes, sir." Botta... The Desian that attacked the Martel Temple? So Yuan was behind that too... It fit, somewhat. Lloyd said he'd seen someone watching your house that day, probably Yuan, and then when Botta, Yuan's subordinate, was to attack Colette he was supposed to take you, too. But he failed. And then Yuan was at your house again that night, perhaps meaning to kidnap you himself, but you'd spotted him and he'd fled. But why would Yuan want Colette dead?

You sat back against the headboard, wondering. Eventually your thoughts wandered from trying to puzzle out Yuan's motives to simpler things. How much time had passed since last night? There weren't any windows for you to tell. The others had to be looking for you: Kratos had been standing guard in the inn's lobby all night, he must have noticed that you hadn't returned. But Yuan had told the guard 'they won't be able to find their way here'...
You shouldn't sit and wait to be rescued. And besides that, Lloyd was here! If you could find him and escape together, you'd be able to get back to Triet or...somewhere close by. You could work out the finer details later, once you both were free.
Now, how to get out... These Desians obeyed Yuan's commands, so there was no way the one at the door would simply let you leave. But perhaps they obeyed his commands to a fault.
You stood and moved slightly closer to the door, running heated mana over your face to create some sweat. You took a few deep breaths then said, voice weak and shaky, "H...Help. I can't...I can't breathe..."
"Ma'am...?" The guard's voice asked outside.
"Help... Please." You drop to your knees, "Can't breathe..." As the door hissed open you collapsed limply on your side and let your eyes shut.
The guard ran over to you and turned you onto your back. "Ma'am! Can you hear me?" He pressed his fingers against your neck, checking your pulse. You slam the heel of your palm into his chin, stunning him for long enough for you to strike him in the neck and knock him out.
"Sorry..." You mumble. You make for the door, then stop yourself. You couldn't just go walking around like this, what if you ran into Yuan again?

The guard didn't look much bigger than you, and yet you had to wear his uniform over your own clothes so that it would fit even remotely like it was supposed to. The shoulders were still too broad and the pants still a bit too long, but for the most part you had made the disguise work. You knotted your hair into a sloppy bun and then set the helmet on your head, trying to balance it so it wouldn't clunk around too much.
You stepped cautiously into the hallway, and when you turned to the door's keypad your fingers moved on their own over the proper buttons. A small display above the pad said 'locked' once the door had shut. Well, then...
The Desian had told Yuan that Lloyd was in the prison... Now all you had to do was find your way there. There wasn't much to do but wander around, though as you began down one hallway you heard Yuan's voice on the other side of a door and quickly backpedalled.
It was strange how deserted the hallways were, but almost every door you came to was locked. Some had voices behind them some didn't...Maybe everyone was just at work? Eventually you came to a dead-end hallway and heard two guards speaking ahead.
"I sure do feel sorry for that Lloyd kid.
"Yeah," a second said. "There's no way he can escape execution." Execution! Your body acted before your mind caught up and you strolled towards the two guards, moving past a small armory. They were standing in front of prison cells.
You cough once and they turn towards you. "L...Lord Botta wants to speak with both of you. I'll guard Lloyd." Your attempt to make your voice sound deep was laughable at best, and the two Desians gave you a strange look.
"...You feeling alright?" One asked skeptically.
"Just feeling a little under the weather," you say evasively. "You two should get going."
"Alright." They both departed without any more questions. Lloyd stood in the closest cell and he was glaring angrily at you. Once the door at the other end of the room closed you turned to him and grinned.
"I can't believe that worked!"
He blinked. "That voice...? Aura?"
You pull off your helmet, letting your hair fall out of its bun. "Hey."
"What are you doing here?" Lloyd gasped. "Where did you get that uniform?"
"It's a long story..." You reach for the door and then stop. "Oh no... They didn't leave me a key."
"Don't worry about that, I can jimmy this open. Just give me a minute."
"Lloyd, listen..." You say uneasily as he worked on the lock. "Back at Iselia..I'm sorry I took off like that."
"I'm just glad you're okay. Genis and I were looking everywhere for you." Once he got the door open he grabbed you in a friendly hug. "I'm glad you're safe."
"You too," you say, returning the hug. "Though I don't think we can be called 'safe' just yet." You were safe, at least if you believed Yuan, but Lloyd was definitely still in danger.
"They took my weapons," Lloyd said with an angry frown.
"I passed an armory on the way here, maybe our stuff is there," you say, realizing your weapon was gone too. Your sword and Lloyd's were lying on top of a pile of discarded blades, and feeling its weight hanging off of your hip made you feel secure.
"Where to now?" Lloyd asked.
"I'm not sure, most of these halls just end in locked doors..."
"Then we'll just have to keep trying until we get somewhere," Lloyd said. You knot your hair and put your helmet back on.
"I'll keep this on for now, then. You never know."

After another fifteen minutes of wandering the base you grab Lloyd's wrist.
"I hear footsteps up there... Five of them." Normally you weren't nervous about fighting, but you didn't like the odds of five-on-two.
"What do we do?" Lloyd asked.
"Uh... There, that room," you say, pointing. You'd come upon that door before, hadn't you? No time to think about it now, you just had to hope it wasn't locked. "Hide in there, I'll distract them."
"Okay. Be careful!"
"H-Hey you, stop!" You yell as he ducked into the room. The five Desians you'd heard rounded the corner. "That Lloyd kid just ran by here!"
"He's escaped?!" One exclaimed.
"Where did he go?"
"That way!" You point down the hall. They dash down the hall, weapons at the ready, and as they rounded the corner you pulled off your helmet and stepped into the room after Lloyd. You watch the door close over your shoulder, and say, "Okay Lloyd, it's clear, let's..."
You stop when you see Yuan. Of course, this was the room you'd heard his voice coming from earlier...
Yuan had taken a slight step to the side, and Lloyd had one of his blades drawn. Some part of you surmised that the half-elf had been taunting the swordsman. They both froze then when they saw you.
"Aura?" He blinked, staring at your stolen armor. "How did you get...?"
Red lights flashed overhead and an alarm blared.
"An alarm?" You gasp. Had you set that off? Every Desian here would come running now!
"Aura, be careful," Lloyd said, sidestepping so that he was between you and Yuan. "This guy's dangerous."
"You..." Yuan narrowed his eyes at the boy.
You hadn't had much time to talk with Yuan, and though he'd helped you in the past the evasive, secretive way he was acting made you uneasy. He kept saying you were 'safe' but leaving it there...Safe from what, though? You took a step towards Lloyd. Trusting Yuan or not, Lloyd was in danger here.
The opened behind you and you quickly jumped away from it. The man from the Martel Temple --Botta was his name-- dashed inside with two Desians at his side.
"Sir, I've just received reports that the Chosen's group has infiltrated our facility."
"You... You're the Desian that attacked Iselia. You're the one who tried to kidnap Aura," Lloyd said.
"So you're Lloyd. Now this is amusing," Botta said, chuckling to himself.
Yuan gave you a disapproving look and then turned to Botta. "Botta, I'm leaving for now. Our plans will be ruined if he sees me."
"What of the Chosen and Aura?" Botta asked.
"I'll leave the Chosen to you," Yuan said. "Bring Aura with you."
"Understood." Botta held out his hand and a large blood-red scimitar appeared there, an exsphere embedded in its surface.
"This is for your own good, Aura," Yuan said quietly, then stepped out through a door on the other side of the room. He called over his shoulder, "Lloyd, the next time we meet... You're mine."
The door slid shut behind him, leaving the two of you alone with Botta. What was all this about 'safety' and 'your own good'? Yuan had tried to kidnap you (and tried again and succeeded) and his Desians had tried to kill Colette! What was he supposed to be keeping you 'safe' from?
There wasn't time to think too much on it. You still had Botta to deal with. Lloyd drew his other blade and you drew your sword, morphing it into a naginata. The two of you retreated a few steps, and you wondered exactly what this fight would entail...
The door opened behind the advancing Desians. Colette, Rkatos and Genis burst into the room.
"Lloyd, Aura!" Genis called.
"Are you both alright? Are you hurt...?" Colette asked.
"They look fine," Kratos said flatly.
"You guys all came for us?" Lloyd asked.
"Perfect timing," Botta said, though he looked less than amused. "I'll take care of all of you at once!"
Lloyd and Kratos took care of Botta, while you, Colette and Genis got rid of his two lackeys. Despite the odds Botta held out well against two opponents, until--
SMASH!
You spin back as your opponent fell, in time to see Kratos' sword smashing through Bottas, shattering it. Botta made a strangled gasp and jumped back, out of the way of Lloyd's next swing.
"I underestimated... Your abilities." Botta admitted. He threw down the remnants of his sword and dashed out of the exit Yuan had taken. You heard the locks click closed once he was through.
"Is he really gone?" Lloyd asked apprehensively.
"He no longer has a weapon with which to do battle," Kratos said, sheathing his blade. "I doubt he'll return." As you return your sword to its sheathe Raine entered, glancing at everyone to make sure they weren't injured. She picked up Botta's discarded sword, examining the exsphere embedded in it.
"This crystalline object...is this an exsphere?" she asked.
"It would seem so," Kratos said, glancing at it.
"Professor, you're here too?" You ask.
"Aura, Lloyd... Genis told me what happened to all of you," she said, her voice apologetic. She glanced at Genis, who looked down and toed the carpet. "I'm sorry for the trouble he's caused you."
"I'm the one that dragged Genis and Aura into all this. I'm sorry," Lloyd said, his voice wavering slightly and your eyes moved down when you remembered that the whole reason you were here was because of Marble...
"Save the chit-chat for later," Kratos said firmly. "We shouldn't stay here long."
"You're right. I opened the escape route just now," Raine said, prying the exsphere off of the blade. "Let's go."

Lloyd fondly greeted Noishe outside, and then you all set off into the desert.
"I suppose you'll have to change back in Triet," Raine told you after the base had disappeared behind you. "Be careful that extra layer doesn't overheat you."
"I'll be alright, as long as I don't look too much like a Desian," you say. "I don't, right?"
"Not without the helmet," Lloyd said, the others nodding along. Kratos was watching the desert, rather than listening.
"Why are you wearing that thing, anyway? Where did you get it?" Genis asked. You left out your conversation with Yuan and skipped to the part where you heard 'someone' say you were to be kept in that room and monitored, then explained the rest from there.
"Very resourceful," Raine said.
"Oh, Aura, here." Colette pulled a scrap of cloth out of her pocket and you realized it belonged to one of your sleeves.
"We found this stuck on the dock," Raine said. "We knew something must have gone wrong when you never came back to the Inn. We assumed the worst and went looking for you. We found Genis and Noishe along the way, who told us that Lloyd had been kidnapped as well."
Lloyd glanced at you as Colette handed you the scrap of your sleeve. "How did that man know your name?"
"I...I don't know," you say, and leave it at that. Your current experience was clashing with what little you remembered of him, and you wanted to hold off on judgment... If Yuan really did know who you were, maybe he would be able to help you some day. And, maybe, he had been genuinely trying to help you when he abducted you.
"I'm sorry for the quick change of topic, but what is an exsphere, exactly?" Raine asked Lloyd, pulling the one she'd taken from her pocket. "You, Kratos and Aura have had them since I've known you, and Genis has begun using one as well."
"It will take a while to explain," Kratos said from the front of the group. "Let's save the discussion for Triet." He paused for a moment, then said seriously, "You two really outdid yourselves this time. You're incredibly lucky."
"What do you mean?" you ask.
"Lloyd, Aura, if we hadn't made it here in time, who knows what would have happened," Raine said. "Kratos is right."
"It's not like we wanted to be there," Lloyd said defensively. "They just happened to catch us off guard." He glanced at you and you nod.
"So then it was carelessness that placed you in that precarious situation," the Mercenary said, tone scolding. Lloyd winced.
"If you want to put it bluntly," you say flatly. "Everyone makes mistakes, but ours were more ill-timed than most."
Kratos frowned at you.
"Please, Kratos, it's okay now, right?" Colette asked. "Everyone's safe."
"I'm sorry guys," Lloyd said. "Thanks, Colette."
"I'm sorry for all of this, too. That man had been following me since Iselia," you say, though Kratos' comment still had you a little annoyed. "I should have been paying more attention." If you used Yuan's name you were worried someone might become suspicious of your connection to him. It was probably ridiculous paranoia-- your friends trusted you!-- but you decided not to push it.
"They've acknowledged their mistakes and apologized. Let's just leave it at that and get back to town before any of us get dehydrated," Raine said.

It took nearly two hours of trudging through desert to get back to Triet, and by then the sun was getting low. People cast strange glances at your clothes as you passed through the city, and you all quickly moved for the inn.
You returned to your room to get rid of all the Desian clothing, grateful to finally have all the extra weight off you. By the time you got back to Kratos and Lloyd's room you heard Raine speaking.
"In other words, these exspheres are amplifiers that awaken our dormant capabilities." You push open the door and see a dreamy look come over her face. "I wonder if I could use one too?!"
"That would be difficult," Kratos said from where he was leaning against a wall. "Exspheres are harmful to the body without a Key Crest." Marble's mutated form flashed before your eyes and you shuddered.
"And the Key Crest is attached to the skin," Raine said. Kratos held out his left hand, displaying his exsphere.
"Yes. The final shape of the Key Crest is irrelevant, as long as the proper runes are carved on it, and depends mostly upon the crafter's tastes," Kratos said.
"Um, can't we make a Key Crest?" Colette asked from where she was sitting on one of the room's beds.
"As I told you before, a Key Crest is made by processing inhibitor ore, then engraving it with a crest to the control the exsphere that's attached to its surface," Kratos said patiently. "It's said to be a secret art known only to the dwarves."
"I don't suppose Dirk taught you anything about it, did he?" You ask Lloyd.
The human shrugged. "I could engrave that charm, er, crest. But only my dad can process the ore."
"Hm... Give me a moment," Raine said, making for the door. "Perhaps something I found could help..."
"Raine wants to use an exsphere, huh?" You ask.
"She's more interested in the runes and spells on it, I think," Genis said with a laugh.
Raine returned a few minutes later carrying a box. She carefully spread its contents on the floor, "Perhaps something here is the ore you need?"
"Raine! Did you bring these from our house?!" Genis demanded.
"Of course," she said. "They're valuable research materials." She pointed at the small vase, "This is a holy vase from the Balacruf Mausoleum, this is a jeweled sword from the Martel Temple, this is a priest's crown from the Asgard ruins, this is yellow ore from the Hima mines..."
You kneel next to the pile, sifting through its contents. "You brought all of this with you?"
"Research is important, it could provide valuable insight..." Raine grabbed your hand and pulled it towards her, almost pulling you off balance.
"Ah-!"
"Your exsphere..." she said, examining it and your tear-drop shaped Key Crest.
"What about it?" You ask.
"It's a strange color. Very different than Kratos' and Genis' and the one I've found, and only remotely similar to Lloyd's... How interesting."
"C-can I have my hand back?" you ask.
Lloyd nudged the hunk of yellow ore with one toe. "What the--all this stuff is junk!"
Raine leapt to her feet and flew at him, your exsphere forgotten. "What did you just say?!"
Kratos glanced over the pile and then stepped towards it, pushing aside the jeweled sword and lifting what was underneath. "Hmm. This is...?"
"Ah, I picked that up in front of the Human Ranch," Raine said. "It was engraved with angelic language, so I took it home."
Lloyd sidled around the stuff on the floor and took a look at the thing in Kratos' hand. "Professor! This is a Key Crest!"
"The crest is half worn off. It's unusable like this." Kratos shook his head and handed it to Lloyd.
"I can fix that," the twin swordsman said. "Don't worry, Professor. You'll be able to equip that exsphere tomorrow."
"Really?!" Raine beamed. "Thank you, Lloyd! I'm sorry to make you go through the trouble, but I appreciate it."

"Aura, while we're talking about interesting pieces of research," Raine said.
"W...we weren't talking about that anymore," you mumble.
"May I see your locket?" You gave her a strange look, tilting her head to one side
"My locket?"
"I caught a glimpse of it once, and I'd very much like a closer look at it." She paused, "If you don't mind, at least."
"No, it's alright... Please be gentle with it." You reach behind your neck and unfasten the clasp, and then hand your locket to your friend. Kratos' eyes followed it, his expression changing slightly.
"Such craftsmanship... Outstanding," Raine said. "This writing and these carvings are so worn... This must be ancient."
"Ancient?" Lloyd asked.
"But it says 'Aura' on it," Colette said.
"Perhaps an ancestor," Kratos suggested.
"Hm... This engraving here is a spell," she said suddenly, looking at the underside of your locket.
"A spell?" You ask. "A spell to do what?"
"It looks like a seal of some form, sealing something inside," she said. "It's advanced magic, I'm afraid I can't fully decipher it." She passed it back to you, smiling, "We'll have to find a way to open it!"
"What's inside?" Genis asked.
"I don't know," you say. "I've never been able to open it, and I forget what I put in it... I'm too scared to force it--it might break."
"There are holes for keys," Raine commented.
You shrug haplessly, "I don't have them..."
"I could probably make copies of them, if you give me enough time," Lloyd said.
"Really?" You ask hopefully, "Ah--Don't trouble yourself too much."
"No, it's fine." He grinned, "I can't start on them tonight with this Key Crest, but tomorrow night I will. I promise."