It's been so long since I originally came up with this story…I had so many things planned for this late in the journey that now that I'm here, I'm like, 'sh*t how do I actually do this?' lol, well anyway, hope you like
They left Kate behind them in the ruins of Ozette, all of them oddly silent. The revelation about Kate's parentage had left them discussing some things; half-elves, the tree, acceptance, rejection… Lloyd was convinced in his own view of it, that everyone had the same heart, so what else should matter? The others didn't seem quite as confident, but what else could he say that he hadn't already said? It was best to direct their attention to the task at hand: Shadow's temple.
The blue candle did exactly what it was supposed to, and they made their way through the threshold into Shadow's temple.
"Something feels weird," Genis said as they entered the main building. "The mana is…off."
"Yes," Raine frowned. "I can't quite put my finger on why, however. Lloyd? Do you feel anything?"
It was weird that Raine was looking to him for his opinion, a few months ago something like that would never have happened. A lot had changed since then, he supposed he shouldn't be surprised.
"The mana? Um…" he frowned. "You know I don't think I really sense it like you guys do. I mean I feel…things, but I don't think it's mana- or not just mana? I'm not sure, you know?"
"Still, if you have any input, it might be useful," Raine nodded.
"Okay…um…"
He tried to focus. There were undead monsters like the forest, it made his skin crawl, but that wasn't what he was trying to pinpoint. Shadow was the spirit here, right? Shadow, Shadow…he felt a sense of familiarity for sure, but not enough to give him any-
"Uh, what the hell is that?" Zelos spoke up.
Lloyd nearly tripped over his feet, Colette grabbing his arm and pulling him back into a stable position. He turned his attention to the object of the group's attention: something that appeared to be a black blob.
"This mana…is this a spirit?!" Genis yelped, surprised.
Something in Lloyd clicked.
"Shadow?! What the hell happened to you?!" he dashed forward, crouching in front of the blob. "You're just- a blob."
The blob bounced up and down, almost agitated, managing to make a sound he could only describe as a 'blorp'. Thought it didn't speak, Lloyd felt a wave of agitation himself and let out a huff.
"Yeah yeah, you don't have to give me attitude," he said, getting to his feet. "So…five parts? Can't be far right?"
"Is it talking, Lloyd?" Sheena asked, confused.
"Er- he's not, not really, I just kinda know," Lloyd shrugged. "But yeah somehow he got split into five parts, they're all in the temple somewhere. So I guess it's not really Shadow, just a part of Shadow."
"Spirits can be split?" Raine rose a brow.
"Yeah, looks like it-…oh shit I didn't think about that," Lloyd went pale, "Can I get split? I mean I've got a body so probably not but what if like- my head gets lost or something- why are you guys ignoring me?"
The rest of the group was talking amongst themselves, eying the fragment of Shadow.
"So we'll have to get all the parts together," Sheena said. "Does that mean he'll go back to normal?"
"I doubt that alone will do it," Raine frowned. "We'll probably have to get them together at the altar, that's where the mana should be the most concentrated."
"How do we get them to come with us? I mean I guess Lloyd can just ask them to." Genis added.
Lloyd pouted, sitting down next to the blob as they talked.
"How did you get split though, really?" he eyed the blob. "I didn't know that could happen…"
Unsurprisingly, the blob didn't respond, merely jiggled. Lloyd frowned, combing through what memories he had. A spirit getting split? A fragmented spirit…maybe the mana was unstable? He looked around the temple, frowning. Maybe- the mana links? Maybe since all the others were broken, the link between Shadow and the light spirits was straining to make up for it? Yeah….yeah that made sense, after all, Shadow was anchoring all of Tethe'Alla by himself now, while Luna and Aska split the burden between the two of them.
"We'll get you back together," he said. "Don't worry."
He attempted to pat the blob, but his hand went right through it. Lloyd winced and pulled his hand back, hastily apologizing. The blob jiggled in response, along with a wave of gratitude. Lloyd smiled gently, getting back to his feet as the others finally redirected their attention to him.
"So let's go find the other parts," he said. "Shadow's altar is the deepest level of this place, we'll have to get them all there."
"I still don't understand how a spirit got split into parts," Raine frowned, obviously frustrated.
"Oh, I think I figured it out," he shrugged, "I'll tell you on the way."
"It still feels so weird when Lloyd explains things to us, instead of how it's always been," Genis smirked.
"Shut up, Genis."
As they traversed the temple, Lloyd explained his theory to the others. Raine was absolutely fascinated by the idea, as he expected, but they didn't have too much time for her to linger on it. They managed to collect the other fragments of Shadow after navigating both the temple and annoying puzzles, and readied themselves to head deeper into the temple.
"All right! Come on, guys, let's go!" Lloyd said. "We've got all of them with us!"
"Yeah, hopefully we don't lose any on the way down," Genis nodded.
"We'll just have to keep an eye on them," Raine said.
"Yeah, c'mon guys! Larry, Curly, Moe, Bob, and Blobert!"
His companions shared a moment of silence.
"What?" Genis asked.
"Well they're not technically Shadow, so I thought they needed their own names," Lloyd shrugged. "So…those are their names."
The blobs stopped jiggling, still as stone, as if offended by the notion.
"…No?" Lloyd pouted.
"I think it's cute, Lloyd!" Colette chirped.
"Too bad Shadow doesn't think so," Genis smirked.
"I guess Bud was annoying spirits way before he was annoying us, guess he has more practice," Zelos laughed.
"I hate all of you," Lloyd pouted.
The Shadow fragments jiggled.
"You too! Shut up!" he snapped, his ears turning red with embarrassment.
"Oh I just have to know what they said," Zelos grinned. "C'mon Lloyd, spill it."
"No!"
They had a good laugh at his expense, which he didn't mind, not really. What he did mind though was the twisting feeling in his gut, that something was wrong, but he couldn't place it, so dismissed it for the moment. They had to do this, after all, he'd think about it later.
