"Lloyd! What in the world do you think you're doing?" Lloyd thought it might be the voice of his mother, but when he opened his eyes, he saw only Raine, dirt smeared across her face, blood dripping from her lower lip. He squinted at her, trying to make sure she was real. "Are you trying to kill yourself?" she practically screamed at him, lowering her hands to his shoulder.

A comforting warmth spread from her fingers into his blood, and his fragmented mind began to piece itself back together. The pain receded, and Raine's healing energy flooded his veins, coaxing him back into consciousness. Slowly, painfully, he came to realize he was still alive.

"Shit," he muttered. He sat up too quickly, suddenly remembering he had a father to rescue. He pushed Raine away and bent under Kratos, lightheaded and weak. He managed to drag the man to his feet, but shook under the weight.

"Your wound, Lloyd!" Raine said. "Put him down, you'll only injure yourself further. He's the one we're supposed to kill, remember?" Genis emerged behind her, similarly filthy but seemingly unharmed.

"Where is everyone?" Lloyd asked, heart dropping. "Is it just you two?"

"Yeah, and this poorly-disguised girl," Genis said as Colette, now without her helmet, appeared from the dusty shadows. Lloyd breathed a sigh of relief, but it was cut short by Raine's insistence that they make short work of his debilitated father.

"Put him down, Lloyd," she said. "You know what we have to do. If you want... I can do it so you don't need to."

"No!" he hissed furiously. "There's another way. There has to be."

Raine backed off, frowning at his sudden display of ferocity. "I'm sorry. But you know as well as I do what we need to do."

Lloyd looked at her. "I can't believe you…" he started, but when he glanced into her eyes, he saw that familiar look on her face, the look that told him she only thought of the far future, of what was ultimately best for everyone. It was so like Raine. Unfeeling, splendid Raine, who always did what she must, who could face consequences, so unlike Lloyd, who hopelessly scrambled to save everyone. He knew he would regret it, but he would defend Kratos from her if need be. He just hoped it wouldn't come to that.

"Just give us a while," he said desperately. "We'll figure something out."

And then Colette was there, beside him, lifting Kratos' other arm over her shoulder. She gave him a tired smile, pulling most of Kratos' weight onto her uncannily strong shoulders. "Don't push yourself. I'll help you with him."

"Colette," Raine started. "You—"

"I believe you, Lloyd," Colette said, loudly, determined look on her face. "I believe you, and I think we can find another way. We can always find another way."

Lloyd managed a weak, grateful smile. "Th… thank you."

"Do you even hear yourselves?" Raine said, exasperated.

"Raine," Genis started quietly. "We found a way to save Colette. We can find a way to save him, too."

She put a hand to her forehead and sighed. "I should've known it would come to this. Assassination really isn't your style. But if Genis and the Chosen wish it, then… I'll choose to trust you. Just this once." She retained her look of frustration and disdain but Lloyd thought he could see relief creep into her features.

She and Genis took the lead as Lloyd and Colette dragged Kratos down the hall, leaving a thin trail of blood. "Where's Botta?" Lloyd panted.

Colette looked at the ground, frowning. "He's… gone. After you fell through the floor, more of those security drones showed up. He and the others in our unit led them away, telling us to go find you."

"In all likelihood," Raine stated passively, "he's dead. But we don't have time to find out. For now, we should just focus on getting ourselves out of here." Raine tapped her staff, lighting its tip and filling the halls with a supernatural blue glow. "Over here. This looks like some sort of service corridor." She spoke quietly, as if afraid she might disturb the sleeping machines that lined the halls. "This may be a waste disposal facility, in which case there will be an exit. Probably more than one."

"Well, that's good to hear," Lloyd gasped, readjusting his father on his shoulders.

"Just keep quiet and let Genis and me scout out. We'll take care of any danger we find. You and Colette focus on yourselves."

Lloyd didn't know how many hours they wandered through the labyrinthine halls of that rickety facility. Sometime after his legs went numb, he stopped counting his steps. He only focused on putting one foot in front of the other, panting, shaking, occasionally groaning with the effort. Colette, relying on her angelic strength, carried the majority of Kratos' weight. She tried to get Lloyd to let her take the whole burden, but he refused. His dad was his responsibility; he wouldn't let Colette carry him alone.

He ached, he panted, his exspheres burned, his muscles felt like jelly. But he pressed on, telling himself that his pain would end eventually, that there must be an exit somewhere around here… eventually… His eyelids drooped, his feet tripped over themselves, he could barely stand, much less hold his father up, but to his own surprise he kept on going. Just when he thought there was no end to the insane maze of purple and silver metal, he found himself bumping into a relieved-looking Raine.

"We found an exit," she said. "We don't know where it goes, but I suppose we have little choice in the matter."

She and Genis led them to a small, well-used magic rune at the end of a twisted hallway. Its lines and curves were faded with age, but it still emanated a dim, whitish light. Genis hesitated for a moment, staring into the glow. "Well, Martel hates a coward," he chuckled, and stepped inside.

"We'll see you on the other side," Raine said. She took a deep breath and strode in next, her silhouette dissipating into the dusty air.

Lloyd glanced at Colette and she smiled encouragingly. Together they limped forward, balancing Kratos between them. When the entered the soft glow of the portal, Lloyd felt the ground fall away from his feet, and for a moment everything became soft, light. The weight of his father's body rose from his shoulders, quickly followed by his own weight. For a wonderful second, he had been swept up in a gentle, massless wind.

Stepping out of the other side of the portal left him heavier than ever before. He nearly collapsed when his father's body fell on his shoulders again, but somehow he managed to keep standing, legs shaking unsteadily. He looks down at his feet, wheezing, and saw he was standing on a pile of rough, volcanic stone. He looked around, at Colette, Genis, and Raine—all unharmed, all relieved—and then scouted the horizon for any sign of danger. Beyond the current trash heap where they stood, piled high with Derris-Kharlan's debris, Lloyd could see the empty wilderness. Mountains and mountains rose around them, reaching for the endless blue sky.

"It looks like we're near Hima," Raine said. "Yes... there's the road, way down there." She pointed down the slope. "We should carry Kratos to a bed. And then... then I have my work cut out for me."

The sun was still high when they reached the town. The roads were clear, and although there were still a few shabby tents pitched here and there, most of the refugees from the Asgard ranch seemed to have moved on from Hima. A few escapees emerged from their lean-tos to watch them limp by, occasionally offering a hand. With help from a few volunteers, they eventually dragged Kratos to the inn, where they found a vacant room and the prospect of rest.

When they finally laid Kratos down on the bed, Lloyd sighed with exhausted relief. He could barely keep his head up and his eyes open, but he hovered behind Raine as she examined his father's injuries.

"These are very interesting puncture wounds," she said. She lifted his arm, counting the red spots across his skin. Most had dried, but a few bled afresh as she poked at them, staining the pristine white sheets. "Did you find him like this?"

Lloyd, quite unable to keep standing, collapsed on a chair in the corner of the room. "He was hooked up to some sort of machine. I don't know what it did."

"Well, considering he's Origin's seal, I would guess that it has something to do with harvesting his mana. The machine might've been there to strengthen the seal, but it's only guesswork. If I had been able to see it, then maybe I would've known."

She turned Kratos on his side and examined his punctured back, running her fingers along his bloodied wounds, whispering to herself. Lloyd saw Kratos twitch in what must've been pain.

"Hey," Lloyd said, lifting his aching head from his hand. "Stop prodding him like that."

Raine glanced over her shoulder at him, eyes narrowing. "Lloyd. Honestly. I am a physician and an educator. If anyone's qualified to prod him, it's me." She looked back to her patient. "I know you're concerned for him, Lloyd. That's why I think you should probably leave."

"What? No way. What if he wakes up and I'm not here?" Lloyd wasn't sure where this reluctance to leave his father's side had suddenly come from. When he was growing up he had looked for every opportunity to do just that.

"This isn't going to be pretty," Raine continued. "I've a lot of stitching up to do. I think you should find some food and rest up. I'll let you know how he is when I'm done."

"Come on, Lloyd," Colette wrapped her arm around his. "She's right, I think."

Lloyd couldn't really say no to Colette, not when she looked at him like that, so attentively, so kindly. He nodded and let her lead him out into the lobby, where Genis sat at the bar.

Lloyd and Colette seated themselves beside him. "I ordered us some grub. I don't know about you, but I'm starving."

"Yeah. Me too." Lloyd stared at the wall, forcing his eyes to remain open, but he found he couldn't really think clearly. A mess of fears swirled in his tired head: the specter of his father's outline in that tiny room in Derris-Kharlan, Renegades storming the halls of his mind, a bright, inescapable afterimage of a white-clad boy. He saw Yuan's face, disappointed, angry, he saw the flash of Flamberge, heard the echo of distant bullets.

"Lloyd, are you even listening?" Genis asked.

"Huh? Oh. What?"

Genis shook his head. "Here." He slid a plate of meat toward him, motioning for him to eat. Lloyd shoved some into his mouth, but didn't taste anything. He finished his meal without a word, preferring to let Genis and Colette make conversation. Instead, he stared at the wall, wondering, worrying.

When Colette insisted he lie down, he collapsed on the couch in the lobby. She and Genis hovered over him, blankets in hand.

"Is your shoulder okay?" Genis asked.

"Yeah. It's not bleeding anymore."

Genis shook his head. "You're lucky Raine got the bullet out and stitched up the worst of it. She's gonna get sucked dry if everyone keeps hurting themselves like this." He slid off the stool. "I'll get you something for it. It won't be as good as my sister's, but you gotta work with what you have. She has an emergency to attend to, so you're stuck with me."

"Thanks Genis."

The boy disappeared and returned with a set of small jars, which he stirred and mixed, wrinkling his nose at the smells that wafted from them. Lloyd grunted a little when his friend cleaned his injury, but it had improved markedly after Raine's intervention. He was pretty sure she had saved his life, since he had been so close to giving up, to closing his eyes and letting himself drift off to sleep.

"Ow!" he flinched as Genis rubbed some sort of green goop on his skin.

"This is for the pain. Don't worry, Raine uses it all the time."

"Uh, okay." He let Genis finish his nursing, and by the time the wound was cleaned and wrapped, the pain had dulled and his eyes started to droop again. He almost felt comfortable when sleep took him, and he even managed to escape dreaming. It seemed to him nothing more than the blink of an eye, but when he awoke once more, the inn's lobby glowed red with the setting sun.

Colette hovered over him, smiling. It wouldn't surprise him to learn she had stayed by his side the whole time, watching over him.

"Is Raine done yet?" he asked.

She shook her head. "I don't think so."

"How long as it been?"

"About three hours."

"Damn." Lloyd sat up, flinching at the pain. "I want to see him."

"Raine won't let you," Colette sighed. "She's not letting anyone in there."

He yawned, rubbing his eyes. "I guess… I guess I'd better go outside for a bit, then."

"You're not well enough for that. You should rest."

He swung his legs over the side of the couch. "I need fresh air. I feel like I'm suffocating in here."

"Well, all right, but at least let me come with you."

Lloyd smiled at her. Perhaps she was afraid he would try to secretly interrupt Raine's delicate work to see his father. "Sure. Since you don't seem eager to let me out of your sight."

"I'm sorry," she said. "Wait. No, I'm not sorry. I just want to make sure you're okay."

"I know. I don't want you to worry." He offered his arm to her, and she took it, though when they walked outside she was the one who supported his weight.

The evening was dry and cool. Some of the refugees had built a fire in what looked like an oil drum, and made themselves busy cooking some stinky, unidentifiable meat over it. Lloyd examined them, scanning for a familiar face, even though he knew that the people he would've recognized were probably dead by now. He searched most of all for the man who had first explained the exsphere manufacturing process to him, the one who had been so happy when he learned that Lloyd had killed Kvar. Lloyd figured he was long gone, and that his search was in vain.

But there he was, frying a clump of meat at the end of a stick. He looked frail, starving, even pestilent in the dim light, as if his exsphere could be contagious. Lloyd strode toward him anyway, Colette in tow, and when the man looked up, he smiled.

"You again, kid! And it looks like the Chosen's with you." As he bowed, he coughed into his hand, and it came away bloody. He wiped it on his trousers and continued frying his dinner.

"You're… surviving," Lloyd smiled sadly at him.

"I do my best. And you, look at you…" The man glanced at Lloyd's exsphere and gasped at its tremendous progress. "Holy shit, kid. What have you been doing to yourself? Even with a crest, that thing is growing like a weed! Take it easy or you'll die before I do."

"I don't plan on it," Lloyd said. He hoped his optimistic smile hid his sinking heart. Every day was one day closer to the end. He wondered if Colette would be all right without him, how long she would last with her disease spreading as rapidly as it was. And his father… what would his father say? How mad would he be when he found out that Lloyd had gotten himself caught and murdered by Kvar? Even after all those cautious, tedious years of traveling and hiding?

"Well, be sure to take it easy," the man said, examining his dinner. "At least you got a key crest for it. That's a start. You get it from that dwarf?"

"Yeah. He's helped a lot of people from the ranch."

"Good to hear." The man took a bite of his meat, and coughed so hard Lloyd thought his lung might come sliding out his mouth. But he could do nothing for the man but watch, unconsciously toying with his exsphere.

"Are you… are you all right?" he said uselessly.

The man half-laughed, half-coughed. "You're a funny one, aren't you? Be sure to take care of yourself, kid." The man coughed into his hand again, shaking and hacking for a full minute. "I'll… I'll see you around."

When Lloyd and Colette approached the inn again, she hung her head. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"Even still… after all this time, after I survived the Regeneration, I still can't save anyone. Not him. Not you. No one."

"Colette…" He led her to the inn's porch and took her shoulders in his hands. "I think you should get some rest."

"You want to be left alone, don't you?"

"Well…"

"All right, Lloyd. But don't go in and bother Raine while she's at work."

"I won't."

He kissed her goodnight, and she retreated into the building. When she was gone, Lloyd turned and watched the stars crawl slowly by.

"Son, what are you doing?"

Lloyd had not heard his father creep up on him. He jumped, trying to hide his project, but he was small, clumsy, and it fell from his arms onto the rocky riverside. It tumbled across the stones, a pathetic mess of woven weeds and gathered sticks.

"What in the world is that?"

"It's a…" Lloyd turned red, embarrassed at his horrid craftsmanship. "It's a boat."

"For whom?"

"For me."

"Lloyd. That's much too small for you."

"I know. I didn't have enough sticks." He collapsed at the riverside, hugging his knees and staring into the water.

"Why do you need a boat?" Kratos asked, sitting beside him.

Lloyd watched the shadows of trees dance as the sun disappeared behind them. The first star of evening glinted above. "Because," he said, "I can't be a pirate without a boat."

"Why do you want to be a pirate?"

"So I can sail the world. I can go wherever I want. I can find out where mom went and bring her back."

His father sighed and wrapped an arm around his tiny shoulders. "Lloyd, you have to be a little taller to be a pirate."

"Why?" he asked, tears welling up in his eyes. He had wasted so much time already, staying on land, following his dad wherever he went, when he could be out there, searching. His father squeezed his shoulders, and for some reason that just wrung the tears from his eyes.

"Look up there," Kratos said, pointing to the single star glinting in the distance. "That's the bow of an ancient pirate ship. In a little while, a few more stars will appear beside it—that's the figurehead. She was the captain, until an evil witch turned her to wood. So her loyal crew lay her wooden body on the front of the ship, so she would still lead them across the water, ever fearless."

Lloyd sniffed and rubbed his eyes, holding in his sobs.

"When the Kharlan War came, the boat was so famed for its speed and firepower, it was recruited to join a naval force of a thousand ships. The crew was paid generously, of course, but they couldn't just pillage and loot as usual, since they had to have a commanding officer aboard to relay orders."

Lloyd didn't quite get it, but it sounded interesting. "Who was the crew?" he asked.

"Well, there was Dogan, the famed pirate, and his six brothers. There was Captain Deimos and his fierce daughter, there was Hakim, Alfred, Samuel, and one they just called the Skinner. There was Enos the Bloody, who could shoot a cannonball into a man's heart from a mile away. And the officer aboard was Kratos, who wielded a sword of flame."

Lloyd gasped, pleased. "He has your name, dad."

"I know."

"Were you named after him? Did you know him?"

Kratos chuckled. "Oh, it was so long ago. Far too long ago for anyone to remember. These are all just old stories."

Lloyd leaned on his father's chest, listening to the susurrations of the river. He looked up at the sky and could just make out the shape of a woman, suspended at the bow of a gargantuan ship, her hands thrust forward as if in encouragement.

"I see it, I see the ship," he said excitedly. "But what's that over there, that one?" Lloyd pointed to a clump of stars twinkling by the horizon.

"Oh. That's a different story. That one isn't about war or adventure. That one's more of a love story."

"Tell it to me."

"All right. Well, there once was a king, and he had five daughters, each more beautiful than the next…"

"I'm finished," Raine said, emerging into the lobby and closing the door behind her. "I'm afraid all we can do now is wait." She rubbed her forehead, smearing some blood across it. Purplish fatigue ringed her red eyes, and her pale skin glowed a ghostly grey.

"Jeez, sis, you look terrible," Genis said, getting up to help her. She collapsed on the lobby's empty couch and groaned. "Wait there, I'll go get some water." He scampered off.

"How did it go?" Lloyd dared himself to ask.

"It's hard to say," Raine sighed, closing her eyes. "I couldn't…" She yawned. "His injuries are so bizarre, and his mana… We just need to wait. I did… all I could." By the time Genis returned with a wet cloth and a bucket of water, Raine had passed out.

Lloyd entered the room while Genis set to work caring for his sister. He closed the door behind him and approached Kratos. The man lay motionless on the bed, breath shallow, skin paler than usual. He lay on his back, chest and arms cleanly bandaged. He didn't show any signs of awareness or recovery, but at least he was breathing at all. Lloyd sat on the bed next to him and lay his head over his heart. He heard the steady thump of a heartbeat, agonizingly slow, as usual. He sighed and pulled a chair up beside his father, threw the blanket over him, and began to watch.

He watched for days. He didn't leave his father's side, didn't sleep, only ate when someone came in with a plate of food and practically force-fed him. His companions came and went, equally as likely to be checking on him than on his father. Even Raine seemed more worried about his health than the health of her patient.

"Lloyd, are you all right?" she would always ask before entering the room. She didn't knock, and Lloyd didn't mind. There was nothing exciting going on in there anyway. Just him, watching his father sleep. "How is your exsphere?"

"It's fine. I'm fine."

"You should get some rest," she said. "I can watch him for a while."

"No. It's all right."

"He's not going anywhere, Lloyd. Four thousand years can wear a man out."

"You know…" He paused, and Raine looked at him expectantly. "This is the first time in my life I've ever seen him sleep."

"Really."

"Yeah. When I was a kid, he never even seemed to get tired. I'd try to stay up, to see if he ever slept, but I always failed. Except one time, I remember…" He paused for a moment, trying to recollect. "Yeah, I must've been about six; we were staying at some inn in… Asgard, maybe. I decided that I'd stay up all night if I had to, but I would find out what he did while I slept. So I waited and waited, trying so hard not to fall asleep, but also trying to make it seem like I had. You know, he could always tell if I was awake or not, by the way I breathed, I think. It was so weird. Anyway, after a couple hours I heard him leave the room. I thought I had tricked him into thinking I was asleep, but I'm not so sure anymore. I tried to follow him as quietly as I could, looking in all the places I thought he'd be, and you know where I found him? In the kitchen, on his hands and knees, scrubbing the floor. It was so weird; my dad, the strongest guy ever, my sorta hero, and here he was, trying to get oil stains off the floor like some scullery maid. It took me years to figure out why, and I think it was because we had no money. He had to do things like that because we wouldn't be able to find a bed otherwise. I never talked to him about it. He was always proud… I didn't want him to know I saw him. I never asked him how he got the money to send me to school, but I have a feeling it wasn't nice work."

"Lloyd." Raine put a hand on his shoulder. "It's a hard life, raising a child on one's own. I'm sure whatever he did, he did for you."

"Yeah. I regret it sometimes."

"Why?"

"Well. I always thought he saw me as more of an inconvenience than anything. Like, he wouldn't even have to be scrubbing those floors if it weren't for me. It's like... I felt like he resented me for it, because after I started school he began to treat me differently. As I got older, he became less and less of a hero and more of a jailer. He always tried to keep me out of things… he'd never tell me what it was he did all year round when I was at school. He wouldn't even tell me why he was taking me where he did in the summertime. Sometimes he'd leave me in Palmacosta for weeks before he showed up, with no explanation. I usually found somewhere to stay, but, I don't know, it would've been nice if he'd told me what was going on. Ever."

"Considering his involvement with Cruxis, I wouldn't blame him."

Lloyd looked up at her, afraid she might be taking his side. "Ever since I was old enough to go to school, he suddenly became a no-show in my life. One of those absent dads the counselors at the Academy always talked about. And when he was around, he was impossible. He wouldn't tell me anything that was going on, and he'd always push me around when I ever got the guts to stand up to him. I hated him, sometimes, I really did."

"Lloyd, you've got to be kidding." Raine sounded frustrated, even angry.

"What?"

"You honestly think that there are any children who don't hate their parents? You honestly think Genis doesn't hate me, at least some of the time? It's a dangerous world, every parent knows that. Especially for you and your father. Especially for Genis and me, being what we are. I had to be a tyrant. I had to be strict, to be firm, to be cruel and no-fun and obdurate. I've ruined Genis' day a thousand times. I've spanked him, boxed his ears, yelled at him, put him to bed with no dinner, and you know why? Because that's what kept him alive. That's what kept him safe. Safe from harm, safe from prejudice, safe from everything. You're mad at your father for being a tyrant? Well, so what? You're lucky enough to have a father at all. And even though he may have been difficult, at least he didn't abandon you. He spent years watching the world suffer, all because he didn't want to leave you alone. You're more fortunate than you know."

Lloyd, thunderstruck by her tirade, sat speechless in his chair while Raine stormed out the door and closed it violently behind her. He called after her, getting up and following her out the door, through the lobby, past their confused companions, and out into the afternoon light.

Raine held her head, staring at the ground for a few seconds before turning to Lloyd. "I'm sorry," she said. "I shouldn't have been so harsh."

"Nah." Lloyd wasn't sure what he was supposed to say, if anything. "I do a pretty good job of pissing you off."

She smiled slightly, turned and leaned against the balustrade, staring into the distance. "I guess we all have our own... parental issues to work through."

"It seems to be kinda normal," Lloyd offered, and stood beside her, looking over the small balcony and to the town below.

"I know that sometimes I can be… too blunt. But I only speak harshly with you because despite your poor academic performance, your impetuousness, your insufferable stubbornness, I actually… care about you." She muttered the last three words quietly, as if she were afraid someone might overhear. Lloyd didn't care; anything even remotely close to affection from Raine was a step in the right direction. Even if he was a terrible student, even if he upset her far too often.

"I care about you too, prof." He made sure to say it loudly enough that she turned a little red. She was probably bad at this sort of thing, just like his dad—it seemed that disciplinarians always were. Raine pursed her lips and told him to go back inside, to get himself something to eat and lie down.

He flashed her a mischievous grin and returned to the lobby, shaking off his companions' questions. "Nothing's wrong, nothing at all," he said, before opening the door to his father's room and resuming his vigil.

He regretted leaving his sword in the lobby. He didn't think he'd need it, but at this heart-stopping moment he'd been proven wrong. He clenched his fists and tried to sound threatening. "Get the hell away from him."

Yuan leaned over his father's sleeping form. He lifted his head and smirked slightly, bluish hair falling over his shoulder. "Calm yourself, kid. I'm not going to kill him. Now that we have him back, he'll no doubt do it himself. Still, I never should've trusted you to get the job done. What with your failure to kill the Chosen and all."

Lloyd took a step toward Yuan, preparing to tackle him, to choke the life out of him before he hurt his father, but as he got closer, he noticed that Yuan seemed to be in no state to kill someone. He looked gaunt, tired, frail, his arm hung in a sling across his chest, and he moved like a man about ready to collapse.

All of a sudden Lloyd remembered that they had been on the same side. "Did you get the mana cannon or whatever?" he asked.

Yuan half-smiled, not taking his eyes off Kratos. "Yes. The operation was successful, but barely so. The Renegades are holed up on that island, protecting the cannon while Sheena continues her pact-making."

"Is she okay? And Zelos?"

"Yes, she's fine. Unfortunately, so is his highness. They got out of the whole mess before Mithos' army came down on us. We're holding out all right. It was nice of the Desians to build the cannon on a ridiculously well-fortified island, but they're not so nice that they would want to share. You're lucky we're keeping Mithos distracted, or he would've already found Kratos and taken him back. You should probably hide yourselves a bit better. It was a little too easy for me to find you."

"So. What's next?" Lloyd dared himself to ask.

"Well, I suppose eventually we will save the worlds. Sever the mana links, acquire the Eternal Sword, kill Mithos, destroy Cruxis, eliminate the Desians, revive the Tree. But in order to do that we must forge a pact ring, break the seal on Origin, and make a pact with him." Lloyd thought of the little leather book that his father had left behind, with all its diagrams and notes. He thought back to the chest of treasures in the mountains of Tethe'alla; the rotten, half-burnt wood, the chunk of metal, the weird tools. He wondered if Dirk had the skills to make the ring, provided he had all the materials. But after that… Lloyd didn't know how he could condemn his father. He had a terrible track record of killing people who apparently needed to die to save the world. "Okay. I know a dwarf who can make the ring. Then we can... I will..."

Yuan raised an eyebrow at him. "Lloyd, you're insane if you think I'd trust you to kill anyone, especially after all of your failures. No, I have a bad feeling you'd let the world die to save your own family. You're too much like your father in that." Lloyd glanced at his feet, unsure of what to say. "So I've thought up an alternative. It will be risky, it will require impeccable timing, but it may save Kratos' life."

"What is it?" Lloyd asked, hope returning.

Yuan only stood, sighing. "As soon as he wakes up you need to get out of here. Or else you run the risk of Cruxis finding you. Lloyd, if you want your father to live, you will make sure he does not release the seal until I am present. Do you understand?"

"Yeah. But hold up a minute—"

"I have things to do. So many things, and very, very little time. I will try my best to keep you informed of any new developments. Goodbye, Lloyd. I'll see you soon."

Before Lloyd could stop him, he raised his hands and disappeared in an upward current of electric air. "What the…" Lloyd muttered, but he knew better than to chase after him. He only turned back to his sleeping father, a little more hopeful than before, and continued his vigil until he was too tired to stay awake.