As usual, I don't own anything. I'm just a fan writing some fiction. Please enjoy!

Dwarven Vow 44
Gabhaidh an connadh fliuch, ach cha ghabh a' chlach.
Though wet kindling may start a fire, a stone never will.

26-

"…Orrison?"

Colette and Zelos both spoke his name at once. Colette immediately flinched, striking a defensive pose in front of Zelos. "Don't move!" she commanded. "What are you doing here?"

Zelos was frozen in place, too horrified to move. The sight in front of him was like something out of his nightmares- y'know, the ones where he showed up to an important meeting or party on a bad-hair-day, or with something disgusting spilled over his shirt. Orrison was an absolute mess. It wasn't an understatement to say that he looked as though, in the two days that had passed, he hadn't seen a bath, a hairbrush, or even a bed. Zelos was almost sick as he thought about how difficult his curly locks were to brush, even when properly managed. To steal Zelos Wilder's beautiful body and not even take proper care of it… sympathy be damned, Zelos wanted to strangle Orrison.

"Colette! I'm so glad to see you… I can't tell you how scared I've been-"

"What are you doing here?" Colette repeated her question, cutting him off. "Don't try to chat with us until you explain yourself."

Orrison's smile faltered. "W-we? Who's that with you? That's not-" He gasped. "-Zelos? You're alive? Oh, thank goodness-"

"GIVE COLETTE AN ANSWER, DAMMIT."

Orrison's face turned pale. "I… I… I had to come here. I have nowhere else to go. There's no way to get into the storage, and the weather on the mountain is too bad. I managed to sneak in from the roof, but I couldn't find anyone on the fifth floor. What happened? How did you turn back into a human?"

"My sister saved me- but that's not important right now." Zelos shook his head. He was beginning to calm down, realizing that he and Colette had been given a unique opportunity to speak with Orrison without their friends interfering. "How long have you been hiding here in the resort?"

"Not long. I haven't been hiding, honest. I just thought to explore the fifth floor before doing anything else, but when I heard someone come into the suite, I got scared and ran to hide in the bath." He took a step towards them, but Colette moved as though preparing an attack, and he flinched in response, waiting to hear what she had to say.

"If you have the urge to hide, then you know you've done something wrong," she spoke. "You have to stop."

Orrison wrapped his arms around his chest, stepping backwards. "Not you too, Colette. If anyone out there understood the importance of my mission, I was sure it would be you. You who knows what it feels like to have the salvation of the world riding on your shoulders… to be willing to make whatever sacrifices necessary to know that the people you love will be able to smile…"

The statement gave Colette pause, and Zelos felt her arm in front of him stiffen. For a few seconds, no one spoke, the sound of their pensive breaths covered up by the rattling of the windowpanes against the outside wind.

"Do you… really believe this will save the world?" Colette finally whispered.

"I believe that this world is beyond saving," Orrison replied. "This world stands in the way of people who love each other being together. I believe that, for the sake of everyone, I have to eliminate that barrier. Does that make sense to you?"

There was a pause. Zelos' breath caught in his throat as he waited for Colette's answer. Orrison already knew what he thought of the plan. But Colette, with her past, might feel differently.

"…no. No, it doesn't make sense to me."

"B-but Colette-!"

"All the good times I've had with the people I love have happened in this world. This world is home to so much more than just people; there are flowers and dogs and waterfalls and candy… and so, so many memories. What's the point of being with the people you love when there's nowhere for you to be?"

"This world is made of suffering."

"This world is beautiful." Colette inched forward, almost as a challenge. "Don't you want to take the time to see that before trying to destroy it?"

A look of despondence fell over Orrison's features. As he spoke, it sounded like he was choking back tears. "But Colette… aren't there people who've died that you want to see again? People you want to be with, to thank, to apologize to, or just to talk to? Haven't you ever felt sorrow at a person's death and wish you could change that? We can."

The statement gave Colette pause again, and her face turned down to focus on the floor. A look of fright passed over her features as her mind raced with the thoughts of all the death she'd witnessed.

"…yes, I've felt sorrow for people who've died. There are people I couldn't save and people who willingly gave their life for me because they believed in me as the Chosen. But… but…" She lifted her head again, clenching her fists. "…why do you think those people gave their lives for me in the first place? Why do you think those who suffered in Sylvarant were willing to hang on until the bitter end? It's because they believed in the regenerated world, Orrison! If anything, I want them to know that we've created a united world, with no need for a Chosen anymore! If I were to destroy that once we've gotten this far, wouldn't all their effort be in vain? Why would you want to destroy the world when it's finally become what everyone hoped and prayed for?"

Orrison was momentarily speechless, Zelos found himself lost for words as well. He was surprised by her perspective, how she'd responded to the question that was so similar to one that he'd asked Lloyd long ago. 'But think about it,' he'd insisted, 'you'd disappear too.' And still Lloyd fought him. But now under the same circumstances, Colette- Lloyd's best friend, his sister, practically his conjoined twin- had a completely different perspective. Lloyd drew his optimism from potential. He looked to the future and saw things that might be. But Colette found optimism without looking toward the future. She found happiness in the here and now, in what already was, rather than speculating on what might be. The future argument might be countered or doubted, but there was no denying what was right in front of you.

Or so Zelos thought.

"NO! You don't get it at all!" Orrison yelled, prompting Zelos to grab Colette and tug her back to keep out of harm's way. "I should've known not to trust someone not initiated by the Great Divine… the Chosen of a false goddess…"

Zelos stiffened. "Martel was no goddess, but she was at least a real person and not a drug-induced hallucina-"

"Orrison, please." Through it all, Colette was keeping a frighteningly calm demeanor. "You have to stop. Give Zelos his body back and disarm your weapon. We can spend the rest of the festival together- as friends. There's no bringing back people you've lost, so why don't you appreciate those you still have? We're here for you." She shook off Zelos' grip and stepped forward to Orrison, offering a hand. "Trust us."

He glanced back and forth between her smile and her hand a few times, and then reached out a timid hand of his own. He was able to envelop her smaller hand in his grip, and she laced her fingers around his-

"AH!"

With a soft, fluid jerk, Orrison pulled Colette into a headlock, drawing a knife from his belt. He moved to hold it against Colette's neck, but he wasn't fast enough to contend with her reflexes. She elbowed him in the stomach, causing him to double over and allowing her a better grip on his arm to flip him over her head and onto the floor. It all happened before Zelos could even process the situation, so by the time he realized what was going on, Orrison was already on the floor with Colette's foot on his chest. His eyes were wide with surprise.

"Colette… please…" Tears pooled at the sides of his eyes as he spoke. "I'm sorry for what I said. I know you can understand if you just try. Please, at least think about it. This will help everyone."

Colette shook her head. "What will it take to get you to stop this? What do we need to do in order to change your mind?"

"My mind will never change! This is my destiny! I'll never give it up or stop fighting for it! You'll have to kill me first!"

The atmosphere in the room grew suddenly colder. Zelos walked over to Colette and motioned for her to move her foot. She did so, releasing Orrison to sit up and allowing Zelos to step in.

"Then how about this? What'll it take to get you to return my body?"

"I can't," Orrison spat. "I need a Cruxis Crystal."

"Why?"

"Because I need to be angel to destroy the world. In my vision, I was an angel."

"Why?"

"H-huh?" The stern look on Orrison's face disappeared. "What do you mean, why?"

"Why do you need to be an angel to destroy the world?" Zelos leaned down to better communicate with him. "I know your vision told you that you needed to, but did it ever tell you why?"

"I refuse to question the reasoning behind a being powerful enough to wake me from the dead. That power functions beyond our understanding."

Zelos frowned. "Did you ever maybe stop and consider that you woke up because you didn't actually die?"

Orrison shook his head. "But the shaking, the visions, losing my foot…"

"Your foot turning black and being amputated? That sounds more like gangrene than a near-death experience. And a lot of drugs can cause convulsions and hallucinations. This could all be in your head."

"NO!"

"You have to face the reality that this whole thing might be something you constructed in your head."

"NO!"

"I know it's hard, but sometimes you just have to-"

"Zelos, stop." Colette reached out and grabbed his arm. "It's too much for him right now."

"But…"

"Orrison, listen to me." Colette knelt down and took Orrison's hand, helping him to his feet. "You said you wouldn't return Zelos' body because you need a Cruxis Crystal, right?"

"Y-yes."

"Then I'll give you mine."

A surprised sound escaped Zelos' mouth momentarily, and he resisted the urge to tug on Colette's arm. She wasn't serious, was she?

"R-really?" Orrison drew closer to her, a smile returning to his face.

"Yes, but only if you give us Zelos' body back first. Okay?"

Zelos could see Orrison's- his- body visibly contract. "Is that really fair? That you get what you want first? Besides, even if I have a Cruxis Crystal, it means nothing without that converter. I need both of them. How about you give me both for Zelos' body back?"

Immediately, Zelos and Colette gave simultaneous answers.

"No way-" "Deal."

Zelos froze.

"Oh, thank you, Colette!" Orrison threw himself at her, wrapping his arms around her tightly. She didn't reciprocate the gesture.

"It's too dark to venture out tonight. Meet us at the storage facility tomorrow at noon. We'll give you the converter, then you give Zelos back his body. Only then will you get the Cruxis Crystal. Understand?"

"Yes! I understand!"

Zelos was floored. He couldn't believe what he was hearing- from Colette of all people! He opened his mouth to say something to her, but the first words that came to his mind were 'do you really want my body that badly?' and an embarrassing realization that he couldn't possibly say that out loud prevented him from doing anything.

Colette took a step back. "If you come downstairs, someone might question you. It's probably better to stay up here on the fifth floor for now, since no one will bother you. Feel free to turn on the radiator or take a bath-"

"Oh, that's right!" Orrison interrupted, digging into his pants pocket. "I found this on the hook by the bath. Isn't it yours?"

Colette snatched the bracelet. "Y-yes! Thank you!"

"No, Colette. Thank you. For everything."

Zelos kept his mouth closed. He didn't like where this was going, and he prayed that Colette knew what she was doing.

No one was happy to hear that Orrison was hiding right under their noses- or, above, as the case with the fifth floor might be. But Colette wasn't shy about explaining her reasoning behind what she was doing. Zelos knew he shouldn't be surprised, after their earlier declarations of feelings, but he was still amazed by how intently she was fighting for him. More than anything he wanted to be back in a body that felt like his. But he knew that the safety of the world should come first, and was willing to make sacrifices if need be. It was just nice to have someone telling him that he didn't have to choose.

Colette, on the other hand, didn't think anything of it. Lloyd had taught her the importance of fighting for her friends. But despite his encouragement, he was quiet during their planning meeting. The premise was simple: Colette had negotiated the trade with Orrison, but made no guarantees about what would come after. Once her Cruxis Crystal was in his hands, anything was fair game. An ambush was the only way to be sure that he couldn't put his plan into motion. It was decided that Zelos and Colette would meet Orrison at first, so as not to tip him off about their plans, but Lloyd, Sheena, Genis, Hazel, and Yuan would be waiting as backup. Kratos' insistence on joining was shot down by Lloyd, who begged him to keep Anna and Seles safe at the resort in case things went badly. Hazel didn't want to be separated from her mistress, but Seles insisted that the best thing she could do was to protect Zelos. Thus, the decisions had been made, and all arguments to the contrary were shut down before they could be brought up. There was no time to be squabbling at this point.

Still, Colette knew Lloyd too well to miss his attitude. She saw Genis trailing him after the conversation had broken up, and followed the two. Whatever was going on in Lloyd's mind, she wanted to be a part of it- and Genis had just the place they could go for some guaranteed privacy.

"Dwarven Vow number 18 says that it's better to be deceived than to deceive." Lloyd looked up at the sky above them, following the dark patches in the clouds as the wind blew them past. "I know that we're trying to save the world and all, but I don't like the idea of an ambush on principle. It feels too much like we're tricking him."

"But Lloyd, if we don't…" Genis spoke up, pausing to turn so that his back was against the wind. The roof was an undeniably private place, but it didn't offer any cover from the wind or the occasional snowflakes that were beginning to fall once again. "…we don't know what's going to happen. I know Orrison was a friend of yours, but you can't let that blind you to the damage that he could do to the world." He glanced away. "I know that better than anyone."

Lloyd reached out to take Genis' hand and pulled him over toward the door to sit down against the wall. Colette followed and sat on the other side, leaning against him with her head on his shoulder. "I'm so sorry, Lloyd, Genis. I couldn't think of anything else to do at this point."

"No, Colette. I think you did the right thing." Lloyd shook his head. "Using the converter to lure Orrison back was the plan originally. I wouldn't say he was my friend, but the fact that my talk of an exsphere journey is how he got himself into this mess, I feel responsible for him. He never seemed like a bad guy to me, but maybe that's because I never knew him outside of work."

"He has a kind heart," Colette offered, showing her bracelet. "Zelos says that he only turned to this weird religion after he lost his family to the Desians. Can we really fault him for that? I want to help him, but he won't accept the kind of help he needs. So we have to get through to him another way." A moment after she finished speaking, she sneezed and wiped her nose on her sleeve. Lloyd and Genis simultaneously tugged at their coats to offer to her, but they bumped into one another in their attempts and Colette laughed. "Don't worry about me. You guys are the ones who're backing me up."

Genis gave her a teasing nudge. "We didn't travel halfway around the world to let you do this on your own, y'know."

"I have faith in my and Zelos' abilities, but having everyone backing us up is reassuring. I know we'll be able to fix this!"

"That's the spirit!" Genis reached up and offered her a hand for a high-five. She started to reciprocate, but she noticed Lloyd glancing in the opposite direction with a frown, and she lowered her hand with an apologetic nod toward Genis. He understood what she was getting at, and called over. "Something still bothering you, Lloyd?"

Lloyd jolted in surprise at his name. "Huh? Oh, uh, not really! I was just thinking…"

"Don't hurt yourself."

It was a response Lloyd had heard so many times before that it didn't even faze him, and he didn't react beyond a teasing nudge back toward Genis. "There's actually something I was hoping I could ask Colette."

"Me?" Colette adjusted her scarf so that it wasn't in the way of her mouth. "What is it?"

"I know you and Zelos are the ones who've been involved with Orrison this whole time, and I don't know him nearly as well. But I wanted to ask if… instead of being on back-up, you would let me be part of the meeting group. I want to speak to Orrison before we resort to any sort of violence. I want to know that I did everything I could to resolve the situation peacefully. It's not my fault, I know, but I still feel partially responsible for this mess. So… would you let me come with you?"

Colette closed her eyes and smiled. "I don't see any reason why our greeting duo couldn't be a threesome. If it were up to me, I'd let you join in a heartbeat- having you around always makes me feel better, after all. But…" She opened her eyes again, the smile on her face mellowing into something more pensive. "…Zelos feels really strongly about Orrison. I think he sees part of himself in Orrison, the way he's fallen into despair and wants the world to be destroyed. I don't yet know Zelos intimately enough to truly understand that connection, but it's still something I can't ignore. So I think Zelos is the one you should ask."

The look that passed between them held enough meaning in it that Lloyd was satisfied, and he replied with a nod of his head. "Thanks. I'll ask him, then."

Lloyd's frantic knocking on the door was met by a tired-looking Hazel, who didn't seem particularly pleased to see him.

"Yes, Master Lloyd? Can I help you?"

"I want to talk to Zelos, please." Lloyd leaned into the room, calling past Hazel. "Zelos? You awake?"

Zelos' voice came muffled from under a pillow. "I'm trying to not be. Can this wait until tomorrow?"

"No," Lloyd replied. "It's important. Can you come out here so we can talk?"

There was a prolonged groaning noise from Zelos, but he pulled himself from the bed and walked out into the hallway with a wave toward Hazel. "This had better not take long. C'mon, lets go over this way so that we don't wake Seles."

The two made their way to the end of the hallway, Zelos stopping to sit on the windowsill. He rested his head in one hand, staring up at Lloyd expectantly.

"Alright. What was so important that it couldn't wait?"

"W-well…" Lloyd suddenly found himself flustered, trying to figure out the most tactful way to insert himself into this incredibly personal situation. He didn't have any right to claim it was for Orrison's sake, at least as far as Zelos was concerned, so he had to find another reason. "Tonight I've been thinking- er, well, I've been thinking about it the past few days, but all the talk from you and Colette tonight has really made me realize I had to do something, and… um, that is, regarding… regarding you and Colette, you're both so important to me, and I… um…"

Zelos couldn't help an amused smile. He reached out and tapped Lloyd on the forehead. "Hurry up, would ya? You know you can ask me anything, so there's no need to be shy." With a laugh and a wink, he added "This isn't your roundabout way of asking for a threesome, is it?"

"Oh!" Lloyd stood up straight again. "Y-yes, that's it!"

There was a long pause. Zelos was frozen for so long, Lloyd almost got nervous.

"Zelos? Is something wrong with that?"

"W-wait. You're serious?"

"I've never been more serious in my life." Lloyd nodded his head. "Please."

"Wh-what? That's- er, what?" Zelos was suddenly spluttering, almost lost for a response. Lloyd hadn't expected this kind of reply. It didn't exactly sound positive.

"Are you against it?"

Zelos stood up from the windowsill, waving his hands wildly. "I-I… I mean, it's just so sudden and unexpected. I didn't think you were the type to… er, I mean, what brought this on?"

Lloyd took a step back, but his expression remained determined. "I know that, as your and Colette's friend, it's my job to support you no matter what. But with things the way they are, I'm just not content to be on the sidelines. You understand that, right?"

Zelos' face had been oddly pale this whole time, but it was suddenly flushed with red as he reached out and pulled Lloyd closer. Lloyd stiffened, fearing the worst. His face is bright red. Is he really that angry?

"Listen, Lloyd…" Zelos had lowered his voice to a whisper. "…normally for this sort of thing, my policy is the-more-the-merrier. But in this case, I have two concerns."

"Concerns?" Lloyd ventured. "What about?"

Zelos counted on his fingers. "One, I know that you and Colette aren't related, but you kinda have a brother-sister vibe going on, and I'm not sure what to think about that. Two, and this may just be thanks to the rumor mill, but I'm curious… how exactly does Sheena fit into all of this?"

"Sheena?" Lloyd shook his head. "What about her? She's going to be on back-up, just like Genis and Hazel. And yeah, of course I love Colette like my sister- we grew up together. That's why I want to go with you two tomorrow so that I can help protect her. Please, won't you let me meet Orrison with you tomorrow?"

There was a long silence again, and Lloyd nervously awaited Zelos' response. He couldn't read Zelos' expression, it was a mix of too many emotions.

"So… you're saying that… you want to join Colette and me to meet Orrison tomorrow, just the three of us? That's what you're asking?"

"Yes."

"A threesome adventuring party, is that right?"

"That's right."

Zelos' hand was shaking, but he managed to give Lloyd a nudge against his arm. "W-well, if you're going to do that, you need to go get some rest. I don't want my teammate tired tomorrow, 'kay?"

A smile spread across Lloyd's face. "Oh, Zelos! Thank you!" He threw his arms around Zelos, taking advantage of the new height difference to lift his friend off the floor a short distance.

"N-no problem. But in return…"

"Hmm?" Lloyd let go. "In return?"

"You need to come have lunch with me in Meltokio sometime so that I can teach you some local slang. Because you really need to expand your vocabulary."

Lloyd didn't really understand, but he agreed nonetheless.