Chapter 36

Lloyd wandered Asgard without much in mind. The town seemed much different without the people in it. The swordsman felt a brewing anger at Joseph for disrupting the peace and growing prosperity Sylvarant had been enjoying.

As he came down the steps leading up to the now-ruined dais, the swordsman came face to face with Raine.

"Oh, Professor! Uh…hi!"

"What are you thinking about, Lloyd?" the half-elf asked.

Lloyd shifted his weight to one foot. "This place is so empty because of Joseph. It ticks me off."

Raine gave him a stern look. "You should be thinking of plans for our attack on Joseph's base."

Lloyd looked away. "Yeah, I know. It just seems so unreal, having to do this again."

"You're too sentimental, Lloyd," a new voice said. "You should get over that soon." They both turned to see Yuan ascending the steps, his cape over one shoulder and his arms crossed. "You need a plan. Wandering around feeling sorry will not stop Joseph."

"You don't have to talk to me like that!" Lloyd flared. "I need a plan! I know! So either help me with one or shut up and let me do it!"
Yuan gave him a smugly expectant look for three seconds. Then he said, "There. I shut up. What's your plan?"

Lloyd glared at him.

Athan sighed. It didn't feel good to lie in bed now. He was too awake.

Well, first things first. He got up, checked himself to see how much scarring he'd suffered. Hm. He hadn't be ripped up, but he did have visible slash and puncture marks on his torso and arms. He went through some stretches, checking to see if there were any pains or pulls that weren't there before. There weren't.

Then he looked in the room's mirror and noticed that a couple of days without shaving had let his thin, scraggly beard sprout out. Brodelaw would already be reaching for a razor right now. The master didn't object to facial hair, just facial hair that looked as untidy as Athan's.

Athan dug out his shaving kit, and then attended to hygiene.

Shaven and bathed, and feeling quite good, the monk went out into the daylight, to find out what trouble was brewing and how he could join in on it.

He noticed Yuan and Lloyd were standing a few feet apart and shouting at each other. Some of the others had gathered to watch. Athan sidled up to Elpida. "What's the problem?"
"Yuan's making Lloyd think up a plan," the small woman said, sounding impressed.

Athan watched Lloyd yell, "I don't know!" The monk rubbed his chin. "Looks like Lloyd's resisting it very well."

"Lloyd is Lloyd," she said philosophically.

Athan gave her a light push on the shoulder, then watched.

"That's your plan? A frontal assault?" Yuan asked coldly.

"Yes!" Lloyd grated at him.

"And can you tell me how it will work?"

"We split up! Some of us go to free the prisoners, and the others go after Joseph!"

"Is that it? You won't use any scouting or a distraction?"

Genis turned to Sheena. "Didn't you say the Exsphere mines are being extracted from the sides of the hole left by the Giant Tree?"

The ninja nodded. "Yeah, they are."

Genis looked around at the group. "We could collapse the sides of the hole. We'd destroy the Exspheres, and it'd cause a major distraction."

Yuan nodded grudgingly. "That's not bad. But the rest of it is just as bad as making it up as you go along," he said, turning back to Lloyd.

Lloyd gritted his teeth. "What should be we be thinking of."

"The people who make up the teams. You should send one group to go free the prisoners. They will go in first and draw in most of the guards. They'll likely go through heavy fighting. Then the last group goes in to find Joseph and deal with him."

"A double distraction," Raine said, nodding. "Joseph will have minimal guards left by the time he's attacked. I can lead the team that releases the prisoners."

"I'll destroy the mines," Genis said.

"And I'll deal with Joseph," Lloyd said. He couldn't quite meet Yuan's gaze. "It's...a good plan, Yuan. Thank you for your help. Will you help us?"

"I'll help destroy the Exspheres," Yuan stated. "Joseph isn't my concern, and you should be able to easily kill him." The angel looked up at the sun. "We should strike early in the morning tomorrow."

"It'll take an hour to get there by Rheaird!" Lloyd protested. "We'll be up really early!"

"Then all of you should get sleep now," Yuan said as he began to walk away.