A/N: Not much going on with me; I've been sick, have a math test tomorrow and I wrote an ode to a table.

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Part VIII: The Once-Friends

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Meltokio was a very large city. In the morning Aster showed Emil the way to the Elemental Research Laboratory, which happened to be just down the street from the inn they had just stayed in the night before. There the Sybak scientist bid him to go see the sights of the city and entertain himself for a while; the process of getting the affirmative to research monsters before they were deposited into the arena would take a while. It involved a long, drawn-out process of filling out paperwork and having discussions of the consequences of such an action, mostly financial.

Emil happily obliged, leaving the small, dimly lit Elemental Research Laboratory in favor of exploring the lively city. It certainly was more crowded than when he had visited the walled imperial capital two years from now. With the Grand Tethe'allan Bridge still existing, it brought in many, many people in addition to those who traveled by ship. There were merchants lining the streets, selling everything from weaponry to everyday items, with selections that put most other stores to shame.

The path bending from the Lab led down a set of crumbling stone stairs: the way to the slums. Certainly Emil could defend himself in the worst parts of town, but he had absolutely no desire to get into any street fights. Not to mention it'd be bad for Aster--since they were identical, most likely the researcher would get the blame if Emil did get into any trouble with the law, anywhere in Tethe'alla. So Emil stuck to the upper city, exploring the shops (there were some broadswords, but he rather liked the one he had). He was looking through the wares of an accessory merchant when a group of people by the open gate caught his eye.

His heart skipped a few beats and he almost dropped the topaz ring he was examining. Just entering the city was a young man he knew by sight: the unruly reddish brown hair, the red jacket with white buttons, boots to match, black pants with suspenders, and the telltale twin swords belted about his waist. The man he'd blamed, and later sought help from. The man who would one day become his friend. Flanking Lloyd were Genis (who didn't look very different from the future) and his older sister Raine. Emerging from behind them was Colette, with an oddly blank stare in her deep blue eyes, and for some reason, her transparent angel wings of glittering magenta were at her back.

Emil could have been jumping up and down; he was so excited. He'd get to see his friends again! Before all the unpleasantness of a need for secrets beyond the newly born World Tree, before all the guilt and blame cast upon an innocent person for the destruction of a city. He was already weaving his way through the crowds and running to meet them, forgetting they were supposed to be strangers in this time. What stopped him short was not suddenly remembering the former fact, but something else entirely: a dog had walked up to Lloyd's group.

The act itself of a dog approaching them was not so strange in and of itself. But what happened to the dog was a different story entirely. The impossible in Emil's eyes indeed occurred before his very worldly eyes: Colette looked at the dog once, and kicked it, sending it flying down the street with a pitiful yelp. She didn't give it a second glance, not once. Lloyd's group had stunned expressions, but none gave out exclamations or the slightest inquiry as to Colette's behavior. Emil, standing by the wall, actually sank to his knees.

"What ... the hell?" He asked breathlessly. "She loves dogs! Why would she ... ?"

I told you we wouldn't like it.

Emil glared at nothing in particular as Lloyd's group moved up the stairs, advancing to the next level of the city. Why is Colette kicking dogs? It's her favorite animal! Besides, she was never really the violent type ...

I don't know why the Chosen is acting this way. But I have a feeling it's better if we don't get involved.

But for Colette to act this way--

They were all just fine as friends two years from now, weren't they?

To that Emil had no adequate reply. Whatever made Colette be cruel to dogs, it seemed that she had gotten over it by the time she met him two years later. But it wasn't just something he could ignore. Resolutely, he followed them up the stairs, intending to find out just why Colette was abusing dogs, and to find some way to help her, to return her to the gentle person she once was. He pointedly ignored the way Ratatosk was saying that for all they knew, Colette once had been a violent person before they had known her. That just wasn't true, it couldn't be. Sure, the Chosen could be a little weird (an ... apple steak?), but she was a good person!

On the second level of the city that led to the Coliseum, Emil stopped, seeing how Lloyd's group had halted in the middle of the plaza. With a frown Emil remembered in his own time, how here Alice had set that golem monster on them, and as a result, Tenebrae returned to core form. He shook his head of the memory. Tenebrae had been all right after the fact, and here in this place, Alice had even helped someone, although Decus hadn't been very well, the natural chaos of Solum's core driving him close to insanity. Instead of dwelling on the past (future), he focused on the present (past).

Lloyd and his friends were looking around, drinking in the huge sights of Meltokio (as most Sylvaranti were wont to do upon visiting the grand capital for the first time), when a group of ladies descending the stairs from the royal quarter bumped into Colette, who oddly didn't seem to be aware of her surroundings. The three ladies then were arguing amongst themselves about Colette's inexcusable behavior (which Lloyd strangely let go), when the unbelievable happened yet again: Zelos appeared before Colette, but that wasn't the strange part. Colette took Zelos's arm and threw him across the plaza.

Emil's jaw dropped. "Wh-what?" He knew Zelos was famous as a philanderer, but only Sheena had ever taken physical action against him. Colette ... threw him across the plaza ... the thought was mind-boggling, even more so than the concept of her kicking dogs around. He crept closer, figuring he'd get away with being a spectator (this was a strange sight in Meltokio indeed). He heard Zelos, upon recovering and coming close again, saying something to the effect of, "You don't know me?" Emil figured this was the first time Lloyd and Co met Zelos.

Pulled away by the ladies, Zelos continued on his way. He never looked once at Emil, though that was to be expected since Zelos knew nobody named Emil yet. Still, seeing people he had counted as friends completely ignore him ... and exhibiting such strange behavior ... it hurt, to say the least. For a good long while he contemplated going to find Aster, finish up whatever business the Director would have the researcher do and get back to Sybak. Let Lloyd and his friends resolve their own issues. Emil had problems of his own to worry about, namely a murder to uncommit. The only thing that prodded Emil to continue to follow Lloyd's group up to the royal quarter before the gates of the castle was the thought of possibly being able to help Colette with whatever was wrong with her.

There was a change in the guard at the castle gates and Emil didn't hear much, just that the King wasn't accepting visitors on account on his being ill. And, looking at the right state Lloyd and his friends were in, even if the King were healthy, it was doubtful if they would be granted an audience. Sylvarant wasn't even united as a world, much less a country. Every village had its own leader. The closest they had to a king of their own was the Governor-General in Palmacosta. But that was for one city; the only city that had a navy and even an army. Every other place had only militias, paltry nothings compared to Palmacosta's military might.

But Tethe'alla was on an entirely different level.

It appeared they couldn't get inside the castle, but damnit if they would give up. Lloyd and Company wheeled to the left instead, entering the huge building that was the Church of Martel Cathedral. All the other times Emil had come to Meltokio--the fight with Alice, the little scene Alice and Decus had caused, being dropped off by Richter, and all the other times to duke it out at the Coliseum--never once had he thought of coming to the cathedral. Perhaps subconsciously he had thought it pointless to visit the temple of a dying religion that probably had no actual basis in fact. It wasn't that he wasn't religious--the true Emil had been a pious follower of the Church of Martel, that much he remembered while growing up in Palmacosta. But finding out that he was in fact something of a god in and of himself may have killed any desire he would have had to visit the church, much less pray. Who did one pray to when one was a god?

There had been a church of not-so-comparable size in Palmacosta, built up nice of all stone, no wood like the village churches elsewhere. There were even stained glass windows. Upon entering the cathedral, the church in Palmacosta looked like a run down shack with the eaves falling down around it. The cathedral was built up of marble, not just any old rock, it had pillars, actual gold on the altar stone, real benches instead of mats to sit on, the windows were huge, and were all made of stained glass that depicted various scenes of Martel's teachings. The sunlight pouring through those magnificent windows made the interior look as if he'd walked into a dream. There was no way this place could be the slightest bit real.

His eyes cast around for Lloyd, but there was a flash of pink, and abruptly he was met with the sight of Presea. She was carrying a heavy log, dragging it along the floor as if it weighed no more than a stuffed animal. Though she didn't look very different than how she would two years from now, there was a particular aspect of her that struck Emil: her eyes. Like Colette's they were dark, bottomless ... empty. Shivers ran down his spine. What was wrong with them? He stepped further into the cathedral, down the nave, toward where Lloyd huddled with Genis and Raine, cooking up a plan. Behind him he heard the dragging of wood against marble, the swinging of the huge cathedral doors. The frantic whispering stopped once he was within earshot, and Lloyd, the man who was known to be friendly to a fault, looked at him with cold eyes and a jagged frown.

"What do you want?" Not even the times when Lloyd had been an enemy had there been such an icy and venomous tone in his voice.

For a split second, Emil almost stopped where he stood, the old timidness creeping back up. But he took a few more steps before he finally did stop. Lloyd, looking rather haggard and travel-worn (to put it mildly) appeared no better than a stray street dog who would fight at the slightest sign of a potential threat, not counting any real ones. Emil took in a deep breath before he answered.

"I ... Why are you guys trying to get into the castle?" It was an honest enough question.

Lloyd's eyes narrowed. "Why do you wanna know? Are you one of the king's knights?"

The dual swordsman could be quite clever at times, but Emil had to make an actual effort not to slap his forehead with his palm.

"Do I look like a knight to you?" For one thing, he had no real armor ...

"He could be a mercenary," Two-years-younger Genis spoke for the first time, eyeing Emil's getup suspiciously. Well, to be fair, a Centurion's taste in fashion was considerably different than what humans, elves and half-elves would be.

Surprisingly, it was Raine who stopped the suspicious slathering of words.

"There's no need to be so defensive." She said levelly, stepping up to Emil. "Our friend is sick, and we need to see the King."

At once Emil looked to Colette. "Sick" would describe all the strange behavior she had been exhibiting--wings out at all times, kicking dogs, indifference to her surroundings but for the last, and those bottomless, disturbing eyes ... The words were out of his mouth before he could stop himself.

"You mean Colette? What's wrong with her?"

There was a mental shout that sent Emil reeling, more of feeling of the mind rather than words. Ratatosk's anger at the senseless wording--you're not supposed to know her yet!--sent every nerve Emil had blazing. The cathedral was swimming in unfocused imagery, the one clear picture one of Lloyd wearing a face of surprise and preparing to draw his weapons. If Emil wasn't careful, he really could have Lloyd as an enemy.

"How do you know her name!" Lloyd demanded. "If you're a spy, you're doing a pretty pathetic job."

"I'm not a spy!" Emil protested sheepishly. He sighed, shoulders bowing as if under a great weight. Finally, he said, "Of course I know the Chosen of Sylvarant. I'm from Sylvarant."

"What?" Genis asked, his voice barely audible. "How did you ... get to Tethe'alla?"

"I'd like to know that myself." Emil murmured softly. Maybe Ratatosk was right. Maybe it would have been better to get back to Aster and remain as uninvolved as he possibly could. Was it a choice of the lesser of two evils? Help Aster, and leave any issues with Lloyd's wide circle of friends to fester like an infected wound? But no one died, and they were all emotionally healthy. If there was a problem two years from now, it wasn't with Lloyd; all had been genuinely concerned when doubt was cast on his name.

But this wasn't that time. This was in the past, and the act of merely existing here altered the time stream nonetheless. With a wry smile, Emil wondered: what would they think if they knew the Summon Spirit of the first Giant Kharlan Tree stood here before them?

"Let's leave that alone for now." Raine's voice broke Emil from his reverie. She turned her gaze on him, as sternly as he ever remembered seeing her. "If you're truly from Sylvarant, are you sure you want to know what's wrong with Colette?"

"Absolutely." Emil said with no hesitation. "I might be able to help."

There was something wry and sarcastic in Ratatosk's mind lingering in his own:

Exspheres are terrible things, aren't they?

Emil never knew much about Exspheres. In his memories of Palmacosta there was a man who once told him that the Desians wore them, and they forced the people at the human ranches to make them. Little crimson stones that amplified people's powers beyond reckoning.

So why had it never occurred to anyone before that the Cruxis Crystal, so revered by the Church of Martel, was actually an evolved form of Exsphere?

How ironic, Emil remembered thinking sourly, that they would tell him this, the truth behind the Chosen's journey of regeneration, the lie that it was, in the very heart of the Tethe'allan Church? He also remembered, as Raine told him that every time Colette released a seal she would lose a part of what made her human, the paltry explanation she fed Emil and Marta once when they flew in the skies with the Rheairds. He flashed back to the little boy in Asgard: "You have no idea what the Chosen went through!" Raine finished this eloquent explanation with the tale of the angels wanting to claim the now soulless Colette as the vessel for the Goddess Martel. Upon Sheena's telling of how they were researching the Chosen's Cruxis Crystal at the Imperial Research Academy, they decided to come to Tethe'alla, with hopes of using its more advanced technology to cure her.

Looking at Colette now, the truth of the burden she had borne laid bare ... Emil wanted so desperately to run up and hug her and bury his face in her shoulder and just cry himself hoarse. She was so happy and bubbly and caring ... and all this time he had no idea ... he had no idea ... with the animosity Marta had held toward the angel floating before him, the knowledge of what happened on the journey of regeneration would absolutely destroy her. Marta still couldn't forgive Colette for causing the destruction of Palmacosta, but the guilt of what the Chosen herself endured for them, the people of Sylvarant ... it would eat away at her like a pack of so many ravenous monsters. Not for the first time, he was glad Marta hadn't traveled back with him.

Instead of running up to hug Colette, Emil blinked, frowned, and clenched his fists at his sides. The gears in his mind were turning, and turning quickly. Tethe'alla was studying the Chosen's Cruxis Crystal in the Imperial Research Academy in Sybak. That might be the only way to find out what was wrong with Colette and cure her. Seeing Colette like this ... Emil didn't know her well, but he knew her well enough. He wanted to see Colette as herself again. Not this violent demon-angel who kicked dogs and threw people across the city without good reason. Ratatosk's voice was wavering in his mind.

I don't think that's a good idea--!

But Emil ignored it, took a deep breath, and said to Lloyd,

"You don't need to go to the castle. I can help you."

"How?" Genis demanded suspiciously. The little half-elf had not changed much in the two years between now and the future. Emil continued.

"I can take you to Sybak, where they're studying Tethe'alla's Chosen's Cruxis Crystal."

Lloyd then proceeded to huddle with Genis and Raine, considering. Should they deviate from what Sheena told them to do? In the end they decided (albeit reluctantly) that acting now and curing Colette was better than waiting around for the King to get better and to go see him. By that time the angels of Cruxis could catch up with them to make Colette Martel's vessel. Lloyd's reddish brown eyes locked with Emil's green ones.

"Okay ... take us to Sybak."

Happiness welled up inside Emil, despite the way Ratatosk grumbled in his mind. It was true, Lloyd, Raine, and Genis looked tentative, but as long as they were traveling with him again, he could pretend there never was any time travel, and that they all were friends. The motley crew proceeded in a single file line outside the cathedral, with Emil in the lead.

They came to the square of the royal quarter, just outside the castle. Emil led them down the staircases, toward the main gates. On the way out of the city, something that Emil completely forgot about turned up--Aster approached him from a knot of townsfolk, away from the Elemental Laboratory. He was smiling broadly, waving his hands in the air, as sunny as he ever was.

"Hey, Emil! I got the okay--" Aster stopped just a few feet short of Emil, eyes fixed on the small crowd of people following Emil down the stairs. Curious, he quirked a brow, asking his living reflection, "Who are these people? Friends of yours?"

Aster's question was drowned out in Lloyd and his friends' loud shock. They exclaimed, chattering rapidly, remarking on how Emil and Aster did not just look alike; they were identical, practically twins. At first it was just amazement at the fact of the scientist and the swordsman being mirrors of flesh, when it all died down as Raine murmured under her breath. By all means none should have heard, but under the immense volume of surprise, it was loud and clear.

"Emil could be lying. Is he perhaps Tethe'allan, trying to lure us into some trap?"

"Professor, what do you mean?" Lloyd demanded, but he kept a wary eye on Emil just the same.

"The other boy's clothes are not what a Sylvaranti would wear. And they're identical, perhaps twins. This could be a ploy to capture Colette, and perhaps execute her to prevent Tethe'alla's decline through the regeneration ritual."

Lloyd threw a dirty look at Emil, and the blond froze in place. Never had such a cold, venomous look worn Lloyd's face before. Lloyd the Great, the hero who had rebuilt Luin, saved Colette, reunited the worlds, and germinated the new World Tree, now looked as if he wanted nothing more than to run Emil through. His hands were trembling, clenched into fists. Nothing but rage burned in those eyes.

"You bastard," Lloyd spat, though he made no move toward Emil. He would not begin a brawl in the street; that would endanger not only himself and the Sage siblings, but Colette in her current state would injure or perhaps even kill any who drew too near. "I won't let you or any other Tethe'allan get anywhere near Colette!"

Genis oh-so-eloquently added, "And that's a slimy trick, pretending to be from Sylvarant to get us to trust you! You're as bad as the Desians!"

"We should go back to the castle." Raine interjected, as if her student had not threatened Emil. "That Presea girl we saw was carrying something; perhaps we can 'help.' "

"Right, let's go!"

Emil never would remember seeing them leave. Instead, one moment they were standing before him, and the next they were gone, replaced by an empty stone staircase. Murmurs of the sea of townsfolk eddied around them, but he paid them no heed. He hung his head, his vision blurring, throat hitched. He blinked the tears back, clearing his voice.

"Great. Now they hate me."

"What was that all about?" Aster asked, quite confused. "Were they Sylvaranti, too?"

Emil nodded. "Yeah." Aster opened his mouth to ask another question, but Emil beat him in answering, "They came because they want to ask the King to use the Imperial Research Academy to help find a cure for their Chosen."

Aster thought for a moment, then shrugged. "If they do get permission from the King to come to Sybak, we'll just explain things to them there, that you're a bona fide Sylvaranti."

Emil looked at Aster, incredulous. "You're awfully unconcerned for Sylvarant's Chosen being here in Tethe'alla."

"It sounds cruel," Aster said as they made their way back to the inn to prepare to leave for Sybak, "but if the Chosen is here, they can't complete the regeneration ritual. As long as they don't go back to Sylvarant, Tethe'alla is safe." After a moment's consideration, while they walked up the stairs of the inn, he added, "I wonder how they got here. Doesn't seem like they used the Otherworldly Gate."

The Renegades, a mysterious organization that originally inspired the whole kill-the-Chosen-of-Sylvarant-to-protect-Tethe'alla plan, had a method of going back and forth between the worlds that didn't seem like the Gate's doing, but despite the shared technology of Exspheres, the Renegades didn't seem to want to share their method of inter-dimensional travel.

Once they were inside their room, there wasn't much to pack. They'd been here only for so long, and they had traveled lightly. The heaviest things they had on them were probably their weapons. Nonetheless there were still odds and ends to tidy up, so as they did that, a sudden thought occurred to Emil.

Or rather, to Ratatosk.

Hey, can we make a trip to the Temple of Darkness before we go?

Emil knew what was on Ratatosk's mind--the purpose of going to the Temple of Darkness would be to retrieve Centurion Tenebrae's core, to begin racking up their insurance against suddenly losing their powers courtesy of time travel. Emil wouldn't ordinarily mind that; he missed the Centurion of Darkness terribly, and Tenebrae was the first Centurion Emil really got to know. Aqua making a giant sea turtle knock him around did not count.

If it were just us, then yes, but ...

But what?

There's Aster. We can't just make a day long detour! It'd take us two or three days to get to Sybak then, and I want to see if Lloyd will go there to save Colette from her Cruxis Crystal!

Of course Lloyd will go there! He can handle himself--they're all alive, well and happy and good two years from now, right? We need to worry about ourselves!

I don't want to betray Aster's trust like that.

This ties right into his original mana-monster thesis.

It's that very habit of yours, doing things like this on your own, that made me want to seal you in the first place!

That shut Ratatosk up.

You're going to regret this later ...

I know.