Within that week, I lost my readers. All two of them! Nyuk nyuk nyuk.

If walking through the desert with Lloyd and his dwarven gear wasn't painful enough, adding Raine, Colette, and Kratos to the mix certainly was. None of the three were complaining about the heat in addition to refusing to take off their jackets and cloaks. Kratos even had the gall to not even look like he was suffering in the heat! Luke wondered if the man was even human at all. Of course, all of this stayed in his head. He had no evidence to back up his outlandish accusations that even he wasn't completely convinced of. Between healing wounds and kicking bandit ass, Kratos should have registered as awesome in the young redhead's books. Lloyd was already taken in by the man, why was he still distrustful? Maybe all he needed was a beard. Luke envisioned Kratos with a goatee and chuckled to himself. Unfortunately, he was louder than he thought.

"Raine, I think Luke's hallucinating!" Genis joked. "Should I cool him off with an Aqua Edge?"

"I'm not hallucinating!" Luke snapped.

"Boys, that's enough." Raine chided. "The ruins are just ahead."

"Finally!" Lloyd cried. He ran the rest of the way, ignoring Raine's protest. Luke groaned. He felt hotter watching Lloyd run in his dwarven gear in the desert. He almost missed Noishe beginning to whine and cower away from the ruins. Kratos noticed as well and dashed ahead.

"Lloyd, watch out!" He shouted. The twin swordsman turned around in confusion. Kratos zipped ahead of him and slashed at an approaching Fire Elemental. Startled, Lloyd nearly jumped and fumbled when he drew his swords. Colette and Luke rushed to his side to help while Genis began casting. Raine stayed in the back, watching everyone closely in case they needed healing. They quickly dispatched of the monsters. It was then that Kratos decided to teach them proper guard techniques. He taught Colette Damage Guard, the Sages Force Field, and the Irvings Guardian. Luke seemed to have a little trouble learning Guardian as he kept trying to drive the force of his protective mana to the floor, leaving him vulnerable to an aerial assault. It took him a few more tries to create the sphere Lloyd was able to make. Once everyone was settled with their new techniques, they continued up to the altar.

"This has my family's crest on it." Colette observed, pointing to a pedestal. "I think it might be the seal."

"Marvelous!"

If Angry Raine had scared her students, she instantly became a kitten against Ruin Mode Raine.

"The structure around this slab is still intact, and the slab itself! Oh, this slab! It must be polycarbonate, used in the Ancient War to deflect magic. Ooh, it feels so wondrous! Oh? Oh? What's this… Battle marks! The scars from a magical attack are still here! This is an amazing find!"

For once, it appeared as if Kratos had something he wanted to say but could not find the words to express himself. Lloyd and Luke were just as dumbstruck as he was. Genis, on the other hand, seemed to have anticipated this and groaned.

"I tried so hard to hide it…" He lamented. Kratos blinked at the small half-elven boy.

"So this what a famed ruin-maniac looks like." He commented, amused.

"A what?" Lloyd blurted. "You mean there are other people who are crazy like the Professor?"

"That's not how I would put it, but I'm afraid so."

Luckily, Raine was too busy rubbing her face against the polycarbonate to even register that they might have just insulted her. She suddenly noticed the pedestal Colette pointed to earlier and ran up to it to inspect it even more.

"Oh? This reads… 'Oracle Stone'. And this depression… Colette, place your hand here."

"Is that safe, Professor?" Lloyd asked. "What if something pops out and attacks?"

"Lloyd, don't be stupid." Luke scoffed. "They already popped out at you."

"We should be on guard in case Lloyd is right." Kratos said. Luke stared at him. Did he just agree with Lloyd? Meanwhile, Colette complied and placed her hand on the impression. The polycarbonate slab rumbled and groaned with life before receding. Dust and stale air belched out from the hole and once it cleared, they could see stairs leading down into the ruins. Raine was going crazy. Lloyd was positively boiling over with excitement over some old ruins. Kratos had agreed with Lloyd earlier. Luke was certain only he, Colette, and Genis were the only sane ones on the trip.

"Wow! I guess this means I really am the Chosen!"

Scratch that, only he and Genis were sane. Regardless, they all entered the stuffy ruin. Lloyd managed to not run his batteries as dry as the desert they were in despite how much he ran around. His excitement was compounded when he discovered the key to reaching the seal was to light things on fire. Needless to say, Luke felt like jumping into the lava below. That would be much more cooler than staying with Lloyd. He even opened a chest which turned out to be a Fake. Luckily, Genis easily defeated it with his magic before the brunet was killed by random junk. Before Luke could seriously consider suicide by hot lava, they managed to solve the final puzzle and reach the warp. Raine was ready to spazz over the ancient architecture, but the seal and the room shook violently. Suddenly, three fire monsters akin to large cats appeared, the two smaller ones clearly the underlings of the large one.

"Genis, Raine, stay in the back and keep casting." Kratos immediately commanded. "Lloyd, Luke, go for the smaller ones and make sure they don't get to the Sages. Colette, back them up." Leaving no room for argument, blocked the large Ktugach's charge. Luke and Lloyd immediately split up and went after their own Ktugachling.

"Barrier!" Raine cried. A thin, magical barrier appeared around Lloyd, and later Luke gained his own, followed by Kratos and Colette. Luke constantly blocked and countered the teeth of his Ktuagachling, so very much thankful Raine reminded him and Lloyd to get real swords. Not only would the seal guardians splinter those wooden swords, they could also light them on fire from a distance. He soon killed it, watching it disappear in a black and white cloud with a shudder. Lloyd disposed of his shortly beforehand and the two joined Kratos for the main course. The man had obviously done a good job fending off the large beast even without Colette's support. Now that there were five assaulting it and someone helping them in the back, the monster soon joined its smaller counterparts. The seal soon opened, and at that moment, Luke stopped hearing everything.

'What the—'

Nothing came out. He only heard a soft ringing in his ears, and a soft tune that stimulated the recesses of his memories. He saw Remiel descend after the bright red light that came from the seal when he heard more than the melody.

Luke… my sc…n… Rem….s….Don….en to…..im….

Wings burst from Colette's back and it felt like they would explode from Luke's head as well. He would have screamed and passed out had it not been for the melody taking the pain away. The awe of watching Colette floating in the air helped distract him from the pounding headache as well. When Remiel disappeared and Colette returned to the floor, the headache ebbed away and his hearing slowly came back.

"…has wings!" was the first thing he heard. "But man, that's got to be a huge pain to live with. What if they become like Remiel's? Then you'd have to cut holes in all your clothes."

Colette giggled at Lloyd's speculation. "No worries, I can put them away."

"Wow, that's so cool!" Genis praised. He and Colette began playing with her wings, the former feeling the mana while the latter released and withdrew her wings. Luke rolled his eyes and expected Lloyd to join in. To his surprise, his dwarven gear wearing nut of a brother was discussing where the next destination would be with Raine and Kratos. Between what happened earlier at the entrance and what was happening now, he was now certain he was the only sane one. But was he? It was the second time he had a painful headache when Remiel showed up and this time he heard weird things. He wondered if he should tell someone, but it seemed selfish. Colette was turning into an angel and he was worried about himself. Colette had other dangers ahead, and if he couldn't focus on her, she could get hurt. So he dismissed it as paranoia. Even if it happened at the next seal, and the next after that, that brought the world closer to being regenerated. He'd just have to deal with the minor headaches and voices.

"Hey, if you two are done, we got to go." Lloyd said to Genis and Colette, which also snapped Luke from his deep thinking.

The trip out of the Triet Ruins was much faster than running around and lighting things on fire. Once at the exit, Colette suddenly collapsed.

"Colette!"

"I'm fine, Lloyd…"

"No you're not, you're really pale!" Genis gasped. "This is all my fault, I made you keep puling your new wings in and out."

"Her lips are already discoloring…" Raine noted. "Hurry, let's get her to a doctor—"

"No." All eyes were on Kratos. "That angel mentioned there was a trial the Chosen must undergo during the angelic transformation. This must be a part of it. It would be best if we didn't move her for the time being."

Angelic transformation? Luke's head began to pound again, this time he was unable to suppress a groan as he too collapsed.

Frankly, Luke had been embarrassed by his little display. He somehow managed to convince everyone that he was just exhausted. Lloyd took the longest to convince. At the camp site before dinner, Lloyd took Luke aside for an inquisition.

"Are you sure you're alright?" He asked skeptically.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"Luke, are you sure? What the heck happened earlier with you?"

"I just got a huge headache from how stuffy it was in there."

"Luke, you know better than to lie. Dwarven vow seven!"

"I know! Just… Could you not tell anyone? I don't want them to worry about me when there's more important things going on."

"Luke…"

"Just promise me!"

Lloyd sighed. "Fine. But if it's serious, I have to tell the others."

"Don't worry, it's not." Luke took a deep breath, still doubting whether he really should tell his brother. But Lloyd was the type to forget about small details. "I got a really bad headache when Remiel showed up."

"Worse than at the temple?"

Luke froze. Lloyd remembered that incident? He couldn't remember to make a birthday present but he remembered when the redhead had a headache?

"No. I think it's just the magic of the seal that's making my head get all weird. You know, it might be my mana."

Lloyd frowned. He still seemed dubious of how much truth Luke was telling, but he knew better than to press it. He suspected Luke and Colette were more similar than he originally thought. They shared the same smile when they tried to conceal their feelings. Since Luke did share, it didn't seem to be that big of an issue with him. "Okay, but if it gets worse, tell me." He finally said. Luke grinned and half hugged him.

"Didn't mean to make you worry." He said softly.

"You worry me all the time anyway."

The shorter Irving just laughed. "Yeah, and you make me worry too."

"So we're even!"

Raine watched them from afar. Genis somehow wrestled cooking duty away from her, leaving the teacher to her own devices. She couldn't hear them, but she could read the mood of their conversation from their body language. Lloyd was definitely worried while Luke was trying to hide something. As they continued to talk, Luke slowly turned from his brother, as if he didn't want to be found, and then suddenly jerked to face him. Lloyd had nearly jumped back in surprise, and started scratching his head while Luke dared not move a muscle, indicating there was some sort of compromise to be made. As the conversation continued, Raine could practically see the gears in Lloyd's head turning. They seemed to make up after that, causing the teacher to sigh. She wondered how a pair of boys could manage to be simple but complicated at the same time. After that, Lloyd went to talk to Kratos while Luke approached her.

"Hey Professor." He greeted cheerfully.

"What can I do for you, Luke?"

"Is there something wrong with my mana?"

The silver haired woman stared at him hard. He seemed nervous and a little worried. He was still a little pale from when he passed out, but was recovering quickly. "Why do you ask? Are you still not feeling well?"

"I'm feeling better, but I just found it funny that I felt sick the same time Colette did, and she's supposed to endure that trial or whatever."

"I see… Well I don't sense anything out of the ordinary with your mana." Raine finally concluded. Relief spread over his face. "But if you start to feel worse, tell me right away."

Luke scratched at the back of his head, a little embarrassed by her concern for his well being. "I will, but you shouldn't worry about me. Colette's health is more important. She must be hurting more."

Raine closed her eyes and rubbed her temples. Not even Lloyd managed to get Luke's self-worth back on track. "Understood." He seemed to cheer up a little at that.

"Okay then. I'm going to talk to Kratos now. A—About training."

"That would be wise."

As soon as Lloyd finished speaking with the man, Luke scrambled over to him.

"Hey, Kratos!" He greeted.

"If you don't mind me being straight forward, I'd like to ask you something." The mercenary greeted. Luke blinked, but shrugged, signaling the man to proceed. "Lloyd told me how your father found the two of you. I was curious if you remember anything from that time."

"It was a long time ago." Luke answered with a frown. "I hardly remember stuff from when I was four."

"I see…"

"Why do you want to know?" Luke asked suspiciously.

"You look familiar." Kratos said. "It's possible I've met your blood relatives in the past."

This revelation startled Luke. Kratos was a mercenary, so he probably did go around the world a few times. Flaming red hair and bright green eyes was an unusual combination, so it was likely to stick to his memory.

"W—When? Where!"

"I'm sorry, it was a long time ago."

He had to let the facts sink in before coherency returned. Luke swallowed the lump in his throat. He looked up at Kratos' passive face, and then back to the ground. His blood relatives could be alive. He honestly never thought about them, even when they went to talk to Lloyd's mother's grave. A million thoughts ran through his mind at once. Where could the be? Were they still alive? What were they like? How did he end up with Lloyd and his mother? Where was Lloyd's father?

"Luke?" Kratos' voice snapped him back to reality. Luke nearly stumbled over in surprise.

"Huh? Oh sorry, I just…"

"No, I should apologize. I shouldn't have brought it up."

The redheads avoided eye contact with each other. They were silent for a while until Luke spoke up again.

"Have you seen anyone who looks like Lloyd?" He snuck a quick peek at Kratos.

"I'm afraid I haven't."

"Then… I'll keep my eyes open for them. For my blood relatives and for Lloyd's." There was something on the older man's face that Luke couldn't read.

"Don't let it get in the way of this journey then." Kratos warned. Luke pouted and folded his arms.

"I'm plenty capable you know."

Kratos just grunted in acknowledgement. Luke could have sworn it was a challenge, but thought nothing more of it. He didn't trust him yet, but he was starting to warm up to him.

"Dinner is ready." The man said in an attempt to change the subject and shoo Luke away. "You'll need it to regain your strength after passing out like that."

The teen made a face at him in lieu of a good argument or comeback. He honestly didn't feel hungry, but Kratos was right. He had to eat to regain his strength. Otherwise, he wouldn't keep up with Lloyd, and Lloyd shoveled food away like nobody's business. He turned around and headed back to the campfire, where his aforementioned brother was decimating the food on his plate. He grabbed the plate Genis offered him, quietly thanking the smaller boy, and began to eat. Strangely, his taste buds didn't protest as they normally did. In fact, they didn't even tell him anything. It was like they were sleeping, but all the better. This meant he could eat more and regain more energy. At least that's what the part of the brain that channeled Lloyd told him. His more logical side of the brain sent alerts to the rest of his brain that was undecided on the issue. At that moment, he recalled Kratos' words and the Lloyd side of his brain won over. He shoveled the rest of his meal down his throat, which seemed to garner the real Lloyd's attention.

"Whoa Luke, you're packing it away." The brunet gaped. "I thought you didn't like tofu curry."

"I don't." the redhead replied and made a face. "But I got to get more energy somehow. I figured since we can't afford to oversleep, I might as well pig out like you do."

"I do not pig out!"

"I'm going to have to agree with Luke on this one." Genis teased.

"Stay out of this, Genis!"

"Fine, no seconds for you."

"Huh—Hey, I didn't mean it like that, you can't take away my seconds!"

All worries Luke had soon melted away around the fire. He had his friends and his brother here. He truly was curious about his blood family, but he had no image of them in his head. They were important of course, but compared to what he had right here, they didn't matter. With Lloyd, Genis, Colette, Raine, and even Kratos, he felt as if he was worth something, and that was all he ever needed. The fire died down and it was soon time for sleep. Lloyd rejoined Luke's side after Colette declined his offer to take her out on a walk.

"Hey, if it weren't for Genis, she would have said yes."

"S—Shut up and go to sleep!"

They nestled into their separate mats without another fight. The lull of sleep had not claimed Luke yet, allowing his thoughts to run free again. He thought about that angel Remiel and the strange headaches he had whenever he appeared. The voice he heard that time was strangely familiar, as if he heard it a long time ago. Unconsciously, he began humming the bits of the tune he heard from that encounter.

"Hey, that's the lullaby you used to sing."

"Is it?"

"Yeah, it was really nice."

"What were the words again?"

"Hey, if you don't remember it, how the heck am I supposed to remember it? You're the one who sang it."

A new depth to the mystery had been added. He heard a song he used to sing when he was little whenever Remiel came down. The voice he heard was so familiar even though he couldn't put a face to it. Kratos mentioned his blood relatives could be alive. Were they all connected somehow? Thinking about it allowed the tune to resound through his mind, and eventually pull him to the land of dreams.

Whoa, long update time that time around. Still, the update period is shorter than We Come in Peace. Soon Resound will lap it, but whatever. No one cares about that story anyway.

The truth is, I've been working on designs for another crossover, only for Vesperia and Abyss. I had an idea for Vesperia and Symphonia, but aside from Flynn and Yuri in the Meltokio slums, it didn't go anywhere. I've worked through a bit of it, so I'll have more motivation to work on Resound after that's either started or abandoned. (6/16/11)