|
I am an Angel.
That was Colette's last thought before it happened. Instantly she lost control.
Her vision swam out of focus, her sense of touch vanished, and everything went
blank. Suddenly afraid, she tried to cry out, but her voice had already been
stolen from her. It wouldn't have worked, anyway... she no longer had a body to
speak with. But she understand what was happening, now. She had become an Angel.
Her soul had been taken from her body. No... it had been suppressed by the
Cruxis Crystal, the instrument of her death and rebirth. She was trapped...
trapped inside her own mind by the gemstone at her neck.
Is...is this what it's like to die...?
Her fear expanded rapidly. Colette had been prepared for most of her life for
this moment. She had known that she would become an angel... she had known that
the process would cost her heart. But this was not what she had expected. A
vessel of the Goddess Martel... the tool to be used in the regeneration of the
world. The cost of her own existence would be trivial if it meant that every
person in Sylvarant would be saved from the torture that the Desians inflicted
upon them. Every single moment of her life had led towards this point in time.
Then why was it so different... why was nothing happening?
It... it couldn't have been a lie... could it? No, it wasn't possible... her
entire life couldn't have been a deception like that. It was unthinkable. But
then if it hadn't been a lie, why wasn't everything happening like it was
supposed to...?
Lloyd... please help me...
She was such a fool. Her last moments with Lloyd... despite her lack of voice,
Colette had spoken to him through her heart. How he had given her the courage to
go ahead with the whole process. How he had made her sixteen years of life
enjoyable. And yet despite all that, he had demanded that she not sacrifice
herself... that there had to be a better way. Yet she had given up on such a
notion and instead had focused on the singular, self-destructive path that she
had been brought up to fulfill. She hadn't questioned it, but Lloyd had fought
against it with every ounce of strength in his body.
Inferior beings. Remiel had said that. It was what the Desians had called them
all throughout their journey... it was far too much of a coincidence to ignore.
Angels were supposed to be caring, sympathetic beings... they wouldn't treat
humans like that. It had all been one big deception from the very start. She
wasn't going to save the world from Desians... she had been plummeting towards
the end of her existence for no good purpose.
Lloyd... you were right...
Colette was trapped. She wanted to cry. She wanted to wail. She wanted to live
again... to be Colette again. But that freedom was now forever denied from her.
Her fate was sealed - she would be trapped here within the darkness of her own
mind for all eternity. It was such an encompassing realisation that she could do
little but quaver at it's full impact. As long as her body existed, and perhaps
even longer, she would be trapped here in a state of spiritual undeath. A fate
worse than death...
What she wouldn't do to see Lloyd again. To see him here... to be able to take
in his warm smile, his caring gestures, his positive outlook on the whole
situation... but more importantly though, Colette wanted to see him to tell him
that he had been right. It wasn't worth her life... she had the right to keep on
living. To stay with him forever. If only she could be with him forever... but
now she never would be. She would never, ever be with him again. Never talk to
one another, never laugh in class with one another, never watch the night sky
with one another... her existence was lonely and bleak.
Had she been placed in the same situation now, she knew that she wouldn't repeat
her decisions. She knew that she wouldn't abandon Lloyd despite how hard he had
fought to keep her alive for that time.
Lloyd...
I shouldn't have sacrificed myself... just like you said...
...I...I wish I had have stayed with you...
Her friends. Her family. Her world. They were to suffer at the hands of Remiel
and the Desians, now. It had only been her wish to save them. Yet they had saved
her more times than she could count. Colette knew she was weak... she had
depended on Lloyd the whole time. She always had a smile plastered to her face,
but Lloyd was the one who made the smile genuine.
She depended on him. For happiness, for protection, for a reason to live. All of
it had come from Lloyd Irving. And in return, she had given him her friendship.
Her... affection, even.
If you can hear me Lloyd... please...
Help me... save me...
Lloyd... I care about you so much...
- - - - -
A sensation. The slighest twinge at her neck... something that she had not felt
for a countless period of time. Colette started slightly... it was her Cruxis
Crystal. Someone had done something to her Cruxis Crystal. It was... a Key
Crest. Hope meandered it's way through her thoughts... was something happening?
Could she be saved? Her heart skipped a beat... Lloyd had done it. He'd saved
her. She was sure of it...
There was a voice. She could barely hear it... but... it sounded like Lloyd...
"I can't believe I'm giving you your birthday present like this..."
It WAS Lloyd. As he said it, she felt something at her neck... the present that
Lloyd had promised her? It made her feel happy to receive it, even though she
could do little about it. And it seemed to restrict the hold the Cruxis Crystal
had on her... otherwise how could she be hearing this? Her vision was still
completely black, and she had no control over her body, but she could hear...
after the bitter, depressing silence that been hers for who knew how long, even
the slightest sound was an absolute joy to perceive. And he had kept his
promise... he had given her the present just like he'd said he would.
More began to happen after that. A whole series of events unwound themselves,
though she barely understood it all. Imprisonment... Genis and Raine being taken
away because they half-elves... a frantic pursuit across a bridge because of
them. All on the distant edges of her perception, and Colette desperately wished
that she knew what was happening... all of it right there, but she was still
unable to grasp it.
But then...
"Colette! Don't go!"
A woman's laughter - a voice that Colette had heard briefly once, but could not
place. Her sense of touch returned, and she could feel something strange on her
neck... something had changed about her Cruxis Crystal. But what...
"A futile effort. Your words cannot reach a Chosen who has lost her soul." That
voice again... it was coming right from beside her, and it was the person that
was holding her. What was happening...?
"What is this? Why is there such a crude Key Crest upon the Cruxis Crystal?"
Only one person could have done that... Lloyd. Colette's heart skipped a beat
once again. He had saved her... just like she had hoped he would...
"How pathetic. I shall remove this ugly thing at once."
Almost instantly, everything returned to normality. Her vision cleared, her
feeling came back strong, and light greeted her. Light... after being lost in a
dark, empty landscape for so long, the light was a gift. The greatest present
she could have received. But then the words sunk in... the woman was going to
take the Key Crest. She was going to take away what Lloyd had given her... the
birthday gift that he had finally made her. It had to be. He had promised... and
she had said that she'd wait for it no matter how long it took.
"No!" she cried, clutching at her neck. "This is a birthday present that Lloyd
gave me!"
"Colette spoke!" said a familiar voice... Genis. The next voice was even more
familiar though... it was Lloyd's.
"Colette! Are you okay?"
Glancing around to find the source of the two voices, Colette was surprised to
see them trapped within a shimmering forcefield. What was going on?
"Still," the woman persisted, "in the end, it is but a worthless bauble. It
shan't last long. Now come with me!" At that, she gripped Colette's arm tightly.
The Chosen struggled against her, trying to pry her arm free.
"Let me go!" she yelled, continuing to struggle. With a sharp jerk she managed
to free herself from the woman's grip, but that made her lose her balance and
topple to the ground. Miraculously, though, she struck the control for the force
field and shattered them, making the barrier instantly dissipate. Lloyd and the
others hurriedly stepped out and prepared themselves.
"Oh no! I broke it!" Colette said.
"All right!" the red-haired man declared... she believed him to be Zelos. "Good
job, my little Colette! I think I'm falling in love!"
"Now that's our Colette!" Genis said with a laugh.
"Some things never change," Raine murmured.
Colette barely heard them, though. She was focused more on one person.
"Lloyd! Lloyd, thank you for the present! I was so happy but there wasn't
anything I could do at the time..."
Lloyd just flashed her a smile, the smile that she had been dying to see for so
long. "It's okay - don't worry about it."
Colette just smiled in return.
"Behind you!" Raine cried out, pointing over Colette's shoulder. She turned in
time to see the woman advance towards them.
"You impudent...! Prepare to die!"
- - - - -
A time after the battle, Colette and the others were preparing to leave the
Fooji Mountains. Pronyma and the two angels - one of them Kratos, amazingly -
had fled, and everyone had inquired as to her health. She was thankful -
everything that had happened to her as she had changed had disappeared. She
could feel hot and cold, she could get tired, and she could feel hunger. Her
wings still remained, though that was a small price to pay for the other
benefits.
Now they were all heading away from the summit, but Lloyd hesitated a moment.
"Colette..." he murmured.
"What's wrong Lloyd?" she asked cheerfully. It seemed impossible that she
wouldn't feel cheerful for the next ten years.
"...welcome back." He gave her another smile.
"I'm glad to be back," Colette replied with a giggle. Almost absently, she bit
her lower lip... there was more she had to say. More she wanted to say. But for
now... perhaps it was best just to leave it...
|
