Another chapter on time, miracles happens. Thank you for the review and favorites. Glad to see people reading this old story.

Now, to the chapter.

Chapter 55: Chosen of Tethe'alla

As they sat in the Crimson Chamber, awaiting their fate from the king, Lloyd reached one importance conclusion. He hated the Crimson Chamber.

He liked the color red...okay he loved red, but this was too much. Everything in the room was red. The curtains, the drapes, the bed sheets, the pillows, the carpet, the rug, the furniture, the pictures, and even the wood were a tone of red. Really the only thing that weren't red were the plants. The fact that he blended into the room so well that he could almost be invisible also ticked him off.

Why was this room so freaking red? Maybe it was so when they killed them they could hide the bloodstains without bothering to clean up the mess.

"They're making us wait a long time," Lloyd grumbled. At this point, he wanted to leave just so he could see other colors again.

"They may be preparing to kill us," Raine warned, voicing what everyone was thinking. "To them, Colette is an obstacle."

Genis frowned and looked worriedly at Presea. She stood close to the door, not moving since they got there. "If things turn out like that, what will become of Presea?"

Lloyd sighed. He felt bad for dragging her with them, but they had no choice. "We'll have to find some way to let her escape."

Genis walked over to Presea. "I'm sorry for dragging you into this, Presea."

Presea didn't response, nor gave any physical acknowledgement of Genis' existence.

At that moment, the door opened. The Pope, two armored guards, and Zelos entered.

Lloyd eyed the guards carefully as he put his hand on one of his swords. This was too much muscle for a simple talk.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, travelers from Sylvarant," the Pope spoke, although he didn't sound apologized.

"So you read the letter," Lloyd stated in an even tone, standing up.

"You want to use Tethe'alla's technology to save the Chosen from your side, right?" Zelos asked, looking for confirmation.

Lloyd nodded. "Colette has lost her soul. She'll lose her life as a human if she stays this way." Or anything resembling a living being, he wanted to add.

The Pope's expression was unsympathetic. "But as long as the Chosen lives, our world teeters on the brink of destruction." With a gestured, the two guards approached Colette with their axes raised.

"It's just like Raine said!" Genis shouted, taking out his kendama. Although, it was dangerous to cast spells in these close quarters. Even a simple fireball could set the palace ablaze.

Lloyd readied his swords. Still, he didn't want this to end in bloodshed. If he killed any of the guards, they would lose their chance to saved Colette forever. "Wait, please! Listen to what we..."

"I don't want to hear it!" the Pope cut off as he gave the signal to execute Colette.

They brought their axes down and Lloyd was about to jump in. However, that proved unnecessary. Colette came to life and shattered the giant axes with her chakrams like they were made of glass. She then pushed the knights away with a burst of mana, sending them stumbling back.

Lloyd could only stare in awe. No wondered the Renegades refused to touch her.

The Pope growled. "Damn, they can't even scratch her!"

Zelos laughed at him. "See, I told you. They have exspheres. Of course they're powerful."

Genis was mildly impressed. "You're not as dumb as you look."

Zelos gave the young elf a death glare. "Impudent little brat..."

"What would you say to making a deal?" Raine asked, attempting to calm the situation before someone was killed.

The Pope looked at her, eying the Professor carefully for any deceit. "A deal?"

"Colette lost her soul because she was being reborn as an angel in order to save Sylvarant. But as long as she does not become an angel, Sylvarant will not be saved," Raine pointed out.

"I see, so if we save the Chosen, Tethe'alla will be saved as well," Zelos concluded.

The Pope stared at her in disbelief and suspicion. "That means you'll be abandoning Sylvarant."

Raine folded her arms and her glare hardened. "I don't care."

Lloyd turned to his teacher in shocked. He couldn't have heard that right. "Professor! What are you saying!?"

"Our priority right now is to save Colette, is it not?" Raine stated, using her cold logic.

Genis dropped his head, not liking what they were being asked to do. "But…abandoning Sylvarant…"

Lloyd lowered his eyes, lost at what he should do.

He wanted to save Colette more than anything. After everything she gave for their world, she was going to die to revive a false goddess. They couldn't allow that, no matter what.

But could he really abandon his home? His dad, Noishe, along with all the people from Iselia was there. And what about people like Pietro who suffered by the Desians' hands, Clara who was still wondering the world as a mindless monster being chased like a wild beast by so-called adventurers, and Luin that was utterly destroyed? Or the victims in the Ranches who were being tortured and turned into exspheres even as they stood here. Victims like Marble and Chocolat. Victims like Kilia and Dorr. Kilia, specifically, still haunted him since she was murdered in her own bed by a monster who took her form.

Was he really going to abandon them? Did Colette truly mean more than the world to him? Then all those people he met on this journey?

He looked at Colette, trying to find the answer. That was when the truth hit him like a cold slap in the face.

Truth of the matter was, there were no right answer. No matter what choice he made, someone was going to end up the loser.

If they left Colette like this, she would fade away, leaving her at Cruxis' mercy. They would use her to revived Martel and Tethe'alla would suffer the same way Sylvarant has for centuries. He didn't know this world, but he wouldn't wish that on anyone. A false peace wasn't peace at all.

Perhaps...it was best to 'abandon' Sylvarant for now. At least until they could find a way to saved both worlds. He was certain that Colette would respect that. No matter what he chose, he had to stick to it. No matter how much it sucked, he couldn't be indecisive.

"Alright," Lloyd spoke. He could only hoped that he made the right choice.

"Is it okay to decide something like that so easily?" Genis asked, hating all of this.

"Right now, the most important thing is to save Colette. That's why we came all the way to Tethe'alla, right?" Lloyd asked, getting some strength in his voice. "We came too far to turn our back now."

Raine was impressed. Slowly, Lloyd was losing his hesitation. It's been hard on him these last few days, but he was steadily growing into his role as leader. She didn't like placing so much on him since he was still young, but they had no choice. She maybe the oldest in the group, but she couldn't be the leader they needed.

She knew he could do it. Throughout the Journey of Regeneration, they had seen what Lloyd could do when giving power of authority. That was also why Colette trusted him.

Zelos also gave Lloyd a particular look.

"Is there internal discord?" The Pope asked.

Lloyd looked directly at the man. "No…we'll do as the Professor suggested and make a deal. Please tell us how to save Colette."

Zelos leaned causally against a nearby wall. "Say, Pope. If these guys don't go back to Sylvarant, then it doesn't matter if they're alive or dead. They can't complete the regeneration ritual. So I'll go along and keep tabs on them. That should be fine."

The Pope obviously didn't like any of this. "If you insist, Chosen One."

"Then, you'll save Colette, right?" Genis asked in a hopeful voice.

"Well, we'll do what we can, anyway, I swear on my name as Zelos, the Chosen," he assured, using his charm.

"I'll give you permission to travel Tethe'alla, but only under the Chosen's observation," the Pope was quick to add.

Lloyd sighed. Great, a babysitter. Then again, these people wanted to execute them not even five minutes ago. "I guess we don't have much of a choice. Okay, that's fine."

Zelos slapped his hands. "Then it's settled! I'm going to go get ready, so can we meet up later? Maybe in an hour or two."

"Where do you want to meet?" Lloyd asked.

Zelos pondered the question for several seconds. "Hmmm. How about the Martel Cathedral?"

Lloyd nodded. "Alright."

"Then, Chosen One, please report this to His Majesty," the Pope said.

Zelos nodded. "You got it." He gave wide smiles to all the ladies. "See you later, my gorgeous lady, cute Chosen, and tiny rosebud," he gave a bored glance at Lloyd and Genis, "oh, and you servant boys.

Genis growled. "Servant boys?" Before he could counter, Zelos and the Pope had already left. "Damn, I hate that guy. Do we really have to travel with him?"

Raine rubbed her forehead. "We have no choice. That was part of the condition of them not killing us."

"Like it or not, we have to tolerate that guy," Lloyd said with a huff. Although, he now understood why Sheena couldn't stand her world's Chosen. He just wasn't...likable.

"Well, we now have two hours to burn," Genis said before sighing. "If I've known this would happened, we could have done our shopping now."

"Well, we can get something to eat in town," Lloyd suggested. "I mean we haven't eating in hours."

"That is a good point," Raine said. "But what to do about Presea?"

Genis blushed and walked over to the young girl. "Uhm, Presea, do you want to eat with us?"

As always, Presea didn't speak, but she did nod her head.

"Well, let's get going before they change their minds or something," Lloyd said, finally leaving the eyesore known as the Crimson Chamber.

Presea lead them out of the castle since no one memorized its layout.

After asking around, and getting far more rude remarks than necessary, they finally found a place to eat that was within their budget. It was a quaint little bistro near the bottom of town.

The area was nowhere near as fancy as the upper town. Instead, the area reminded the group of Sylvarant, except a little dirtier. It was actually amazing how the quality of Meltokio dropped the further one went down in the city.

"Sheena wasn't kidding when she said that even the bread is expensive around here," Genis said as he ate his sandwich. "Although, this is a good sandwich."

"Yeah, even the food taste better in the flourishing world," Lloyd mused as he ate his beef stew.

"More mana means better crops and healthier livestock," Raine said, sipping her tea. "There are fruits and other vegetables that has gone extinct in Sylvarant because of the mana shortage."

Lloyd looked into the sky. "Professor...you can sense mana, right? How long does Sylvarant have before it runs out?"

Raine was surprised by the question. "I honestly don't know. It will not die right away since Colette broke the Seals. So, Sylvarant is in no immediate danger."

Lloyd sighed in relief. "That's good."

"But... Sylvarant will fade away if nothing is done," Raine quickly added.

"Yeah...I know," Lloyd whispered. "That's why, once we save Colette, we must find a way to save both worlds."

Raine put her teacup down. "Lloyd, we may have to accept the possibility that there is no way to save both worlds."

Lloyd shook his head. "I won't believe that until we try every possible option, no matter how loony it is. We owe it to the people of Sylvarant."

"I agree," Genis spoke up. "I mean, we can't give up on saving both worlds before we find out anything. Like, how did this system came to be and how did this Yggdrasill guy even create two worlds."

"I agree," Raine said. "I just think we should not get our hopes up. We may search for years and never find a solution."

"Maybe so... Maybe we will fail and end up saving nothing," Lloyd concurred as he stirred his stew. "But until that moment comes, I won't give up."

Raine smiled. "You're so full of determination."

Lloyd chuckled. "I don't think I would have survived this long without it."

Genis laughed. "That's Lloyd, as stubborn as an ox."

"You're here too, so just as stubborn as me," Lloyd pointed out.

Raine looked at a clock that was on the bistro's wall. "It's closed to two hours. We should start heading for the Martel Cathedral."

Lloyd nodded as he finished the last of his stew. He glanced at Presea who finished eating a while ago. The girl didn't eat much.

Colette just floated closed to the table, getting several odds stares from some passerby because of her wings.

He briefly wondered why no one noticed that Colette was floating. He supposed if you didn't look at her feet, it wasn't that noticeable. And the wings were the biggest draw so no one was looking down.

In any case, they were off to the cathedral. Since they actually knew where they were going this time, it only took them fifteen minutes to reach it. When they entered the church, it was mostly empty, saved for a familiar red-haired figure relaxing in the seat, one priest, and a guard standing by door on the far side of the room.

Zelos smiled when he saw them enter. "Yo, Lloyd! You're finally here."

So he did actually remembered his name. "Ah…Zelos, right?"

"Yep, yep. I am the great Zelos Wilder. But you can just call me Zelos," he formally introduced himself.

His laidback demeanor was just off-putting. Even at his worst, he was never this...relaxed. It especially felt noticeable since they didn't have Kratos who always kept their feet on the ground.

And there he goes thinking about Kratos.

"We're going to be traveling together for a while, so, um…let's be friends, mmmkay?" Zelos said, sensing the mood of the group. He quickly realized that he wasn't popular.

Genis sighed. "He sounds like he doesn't take anything seriously."

Zelos chose to ignore him. "Let's see, putting aside the two guys…" he stared at Raine, "this gorgeous beauty is Raine, right?" He looked towards Colette. "And then this cool cutie here would be Colette." He turned his eyes towards Presea. "And then who's this little one?"

"Presea. She helped us sneak into the castle," Genis said, daring him to say something vulgar about her.

Zelos seemed mildly surprised. "The little one isn't from Sylvarant?"

"Ozette," Presea answered.

Zelos reeled back like she said she crawled out of the sewer. "Ozette! That village out in the boondoc…ah, I mean, out in the forest!?" He quickly composed himself. "Oh, that's so sad. You're being used by these uncivilized barbarians."

Lloyd glared at him. "Who are you calling an uncivilized barbarians!?" He had taking enough of this talk just walking around the city.

Zelos gave him an easy smile. "Hey, hey, hey, don't get mad. Especially after all the trouble I went through to contact the Imperial Research Academy for you."

Lloyd felt his temper eased. Maybe this guy wasn't such a douche after all. "Not bad, Zelos."

Zelos puffed his chest out, obviously very proud of himself. "I know. Using the Research Academy requires permission from the king, but when the great Zelos speaks, His Majesty listens."

Genis rolled his eyes. "Since you're going to be keeping tabs on us, I'd certainly expect that much."

Zelos glared at the young boy. "You're an obnoxious brat, you know?"

"Going to the Imperial Research Academy is fine, but can we have you free Presea?" Raine asked, glancing down at Presea. "Surely you don't need to keep tabs on her as well."

Zelos waved his hand. "No, the Imperial Research Academy and Ozette are both on the continent across the sea. So we can just drop her off when we go."

"I…I agree! That's a great idea!" Genis stuttered over his words. He could feel his heart beating faster at the mere thought of Presea traveling with them.

Lloyd turned towards Presea and knelt down. "Is that okay with you, Presea?"

"Yes," she answered bluntly.

Lloyd nodded at Zelos. "Okay then, where should we go?"

"To Sybak. It's on the other side of the Grand Tethe'alla Bridge. It's northeast of here," Zelos said before sighed and rubbed his head. "Unfortunately, we won't reach Sybak until another two days after crossing the bridge. So...I will have to camp out."

Genis also groaned. "I was hoping to sleep in a real bed today."

"Luckily we stocked up so we can go at any time," Raine said.

Lloyd smiled, feeling real excitement for the first time in a long time. They were closed to saving Colette, he could feel it. "The Imperial Research Academy. I'm getting excited just thinking about it! Let's go, everybody!"

He led them out of the church and soon out of the city.

Strangely, although he wasn't too surprised, Zelos was just fine letting him lead. He seemed perfectly happy standing back and flirting with Raine and Colette. It was for the best. The guy seemed too irresponsible to be in any leadership position despite being the Chosen.

The walk was for the most part peaceful. Genis kept trying to talk to Presea, who remained as quiet as ever, while Zelos silently observed them.

"Well then, I'd like to take this opportunity to decide everyone's nicknames," Zelos suddenly announced an hour into their travel.

"What are you talking about all of a sudden?" Lloyd asked. He almost hated to ask.

Zelos was grinning ear to ear. "You can call me, 'Mr. Zelos'. Presea will be 'Little One'. Colette is 'Miss Angel'. Lloyd is, 'Hey You', and Genis is 'Brat'."

Lloyd winced. 'Hey You' wasn't even a nickname. That was something you called strangers.

Genis also wasn't amused. "Gee, you must have spent a long time thinking up Lloyd's and mine."

Zelos didn't seem to understand sarcasm. "Don't mention it. And then, Raine will be, 'Gorgeous Ultra Cool Beauty'."

Lloyd chuckled. Okay, that was kinda funny. Seemed Raine got another member to her fan club.

Raine side-eyed Zelos. "I don't want to be called something like that!"

Zelos tilted his head. "Huh? Then, 'Her Highness'."

"Oh no, we're definitely not calling her that," Genis said, earning a glare from Raine.

"Zelos...can't you come up with something a little more normal?" Raine asked.

Lloyd gave her a smile of pity. "The Professor is the Professor. What else would she be?"

Zelos mauled over Lloyd's words. "Hmm? Hmmm... Professor...that does have a nice ring to it. The bewitching female teacher." He laughed, obviously liking the nickname.

Raine sighed in defeat. "Oh, fine, whatever, I don't care any more."

Zelos was giggling like a schoolboy. "Okay then, 'Professor Raine' it is!"

"Whatever," Raine sighed.

"Well, at least it's a name and not a call," Lloyd said in a light tone.

He blinked. Now that he thought about it, Zelos' little stunt did make the atmosphere feel lighter. Since they came to this world, a feeling of melancholy had enveloped the group. Between Colette's current state, Kratos' betrayal, and being in a new world that regarding them as their enemies and wanted them dead, it was hard to stay happy for long. The feeling of abandoning their home also weighted heavily on all of them. Did Zelos do this on purpose? That would require him to be in tune with something other than himself.

"Looking at those two like this, don't they look kinda similar?" Zelos suddenly spoke up, knocking Lloyd out of his musings.

It took him a moment to realize that he was referring to Colette and Presea. They were both walking, well only one of them was actually walking, closed to each other. Both had blanked expressions and were focused completely on the road.

"You think so?" Lloyd asked.

He had noticed the similarities for a while. At least Presea talked and acknowledged their existence. She even helped them when it was in no interest to her own. Colette...she outright wasn't there.

"They hardly ever smile, you know? A girl's just not the same without a pretty smile!" Zelos declared.

Lloyd sighed. For the first time, he agreed with Zelos. "Colette can't smile even if she wanted to." He missed her smile, her voice, him just being in her presence. As she was...it almost felt like she died.

"Sheesh, you're such a depression guy," Zelos said. "All you do is mope."

"Lots of stuff happened and I have a lot of stuff to think about," Lloyd countered in annoyance.

Zelos waved his hand. "Maybe so, but having a pity party isn't helping anyone. You need to relax, and loosen up. No one wants a leader who's always inside themselves."

"What are you talking about?" Lloyd asked.

Zelos suddenly gave him a very serious look. It actually took Lloyd aback. He seemed like a different person. "You're not fooling anyone. I know you're the person they look up to. I noticed it when I first met you. You have an aura that gets people to follow you."

Lloyd's shoulders slumped. "I don't know about that. I just kinda fell into it."

"That maybe so, but you fit the role like a glove," Zelos said before returning to his light tone. "But my point is that since you're the leader, you have to set the mood. If you're sad all the time, it will bring the entire group down and I can't have sad hunnies."

Lloyd sighed. "Yeah, I should have figured it would go back to women."

Zelos laughed. "You're just too serious. You'll feel better once we reach Sybak. It is a wonderful city."

Lloyd looked at Zelos, feeling his natural curiosity returning. "Really? What kind of place is it?"

"Perhaps because the Imperial Research Academy is there, it's always been a city with a great passion for education and research," Zelos stated.

"That doesn't sound wonderful at all," Lloyd replied. That sounded like Genis and Raine's kind of place.

"Really? I think it sounds like a marvelous city!" Raine exclaimed, overhearing their conversation.

Zelos smiled. "Doesn't it though?" Heart seemed to appear in his eyes. "It's just packed with intellectual girls! That faint sensual charm of intelligent women...Mmmmm."

Raine let out a loud sigh. "I should have known."

"Yep," Lloyd said with some humor, feeling some of that lightness from before come back.

One thing for sure, the mood wouldn't get as gloomy with Zelos here.

The sun was low by the time they reached the bridge. As was the theme at this point, it was huge. It stretched across the sea to the point that they couldn't see the end. Unlike the bridges in Sylvarant, this one was made of steel and very well maintained. Soldiers surrounded the entrance making it seemed even more imposing.

"Who, that's a huge bridge!" Lloyd exclaimed despite himself.

Genis' mouth dropped. They put this much effort into a bridge? Just how rich Tethe'alla was?

Zelos gave wide grin as he stretched his arms out. "Listen and be amazed, bumpkins. This is the greatest drawbridge in the world. It connects the continents of Altamira and Fooji. Its control system incorporates three-thousand exspheres."

Genis snapped to attention. "Three thousand..."

Lloyd's previous excitement and wonder also dampened. Over two months ago, this would have amazed him. That there would be so many exspheres in the world and that they could be used in this way. Now... "Three thousands human lives," he mourned. Three thousands lives, sacrifice to make a bridge. The bridge didn't seem so grand anymore.

Zelos frowned at the change in atmosphere. "Hmm? What? What's wrong? What's with those faces?"

Raine stepped forward. Before Zelos accidentally hurt any more feelings with his ignorance, it was best to clear the air. "I suppose we'd better tell you." She took a deep breath. "Exspheres, like the ones used to operate this bridge, are created by using human lives."

Zelos' eyebrows slightly inclined. He didn't seem as disturbed as one would expect by such a revelation. "Really?"

"Yes, we've only learned this recently ourselves," Raine continued. "The Desians in our world cultivate the exspheres by using humans to awaking them by extracting nourishments. They worked people like cattle in what they call Ranches."

"Ranches, huh?" Zelos repeated.

"They're horrible places. The people there are force to do work all day with no rest. And that's all it is, work. They don't build or do anything except pushed blocks or till dirt. They don't even get restroom breaks and are forced to go in their clothes," Genis explained.

Zelos winced and his face became visibly disgusted. It was the first real emotion besides annoyance that he has shown. "Back when the Desians ravaged our world centuries ago there were supposedly similar accounts. That's a pretty sobering story. Is that really true?"

"Do you think we'd make up something like that?" Lloyd asked angrily.

After a few seconds, Zelos shrugged and smiled. "Oh, well, even so, it's not like the dead are going to come back to life at this point. It's always best to look on the bright side of things!"

Lloyd glared at the man. How the hell could he just shrug off something like this? Didn't he understand the full impact of what he heard?

Raine gave him a similar look. "I can't tell if he's a positive thinker or just doesn't care about anything."

Lloyd was willing to vote on the later. "Since we're on the subject, you and Presea both have exspheres too. Does everyone have exspheres in this world? It didn't sound like it from the way Sheena talked about them."

Zelos folded his arms. "Nope, I got this from these guys who call themselves the Renegades. They distributed quite a few of them to Sheena and the Papal Knights and such."

"And Presea?" Genis asked as he glanced at her.

Zelos shrugged. "Beats me." He turned towards Presea. "Well, little one?"

Presea said nothing. She kept staring ahead at the bridge.

"She's so talkative," Zelos deadpanned. "Anyway, we should get going. If we hurry, we can cross the bridge before nightfall."

The group began their crossing. It was a little strange for the Sylvarant group to crossed this much sea on one bridge. This would've required a boat in their world.

Raine was extremely happy that she didn't have to ride a boat again. Three times was more than enough for one journey. In that way, she liked this world more than Sylvarant.

Although, for awhile now, this world didn't feel so...foreign to her. The names of the different cities and places in this world all sounded familiar. It was like a faded memory. The name of Presea's home sounded especially familiar.

"Ozette," Raine whispered more to herself.

"What about it?" Lloyd asked, overhearing here.

Raine was mildly surprised. She was certain she didn't speak that loud. "I have a feeling I've heard that name before."

Lloyd tilted his head. "You sure you aren't thinking of Colette?"

Raine stared at him. What was he talking about?

"Ozette and Colette sound kind of the same, you know?" Lloyd said.

The pure absurdity of what he said caused Raine smacked him across the head. Although, Colette and Ozette did rhythm now that she thought about it. Still, really how dense could he be?

Lloyd rubbed his sore head. "You didn't have to hit me!"

Raine walked ahead of him. Thanks to Lloyd, she lost her train of thought.

It took hours to cross the bridge. The time past slow too since the scenery was just endless ocean overlaid with the green steel of the bridge.

Genis was worn out by the time they reached the end. He was leaning heavily on his sister who was also tired. He wanted to stay strong to impressed Presea, who didn't look bothered at all by all the walking. It was like everyone except Raine and him had endless endurance.

"This bridge is huge," Lloyd remarked as he watched the sunset in the distance. He wondered if the sun was the same in both worlds. They did, oddly enough, share the same sky.

"Yes, the engineering is impressive. Something like this couldn't be built in Sylvarant," Raine said. Yet, why did it feel so familiar?

Zelos suddenly popped in between them. "Isn't it though? This here baby was built by a company owned by Duke Bryant, one of Tethe'alla's famous Three Dukes."

"I'd love to see the blueprints," Raine said.

"The main office building of the Lezareno company, the one that took on the design contract, is located in the city of Altamira. If you go there, you can probably see them," Zelos said.

Raine stiffened when she heard this. Now she was certain she heard that name before. "Altamira..."

"No side-tracking allowed!" Lloyd scolded. That last thing they needed was Raine to wonder off in Ruin Mode.

"This is the opposite of how this usually goes," Genis muttered. They had indeed entered another world.

After few more minutes of walking, they were finally off the bridge and on green plains again.

"We can stay here for the night," Zelos said once they were off the bridge. "Monsters don't usually attack this closed the Grand Tethe'alla Bride, so they won't be any need for monster repellence."

"We should have more than enough food to make good without hunting." Lloyd turned towards Presea. "Can you go bring some firewood?"

Presea gave a small nod before she walked off to do her task.

"Well, you guys are well traveled," Zelos noted.

"We've been traveling around Sylvarant for months," Genis stated. "At this point, we're all pretty seasoned."

"Well, everyone except you," Zelos mused.

Genis glared at him. "What?"

"I saw you how you nearly collapsed. You're not used to walking," Zelos teased.

Genis puffed his cheeks. "Well, excused me. Before the Journey of Regeneration, I've never walked so much."

"And Genis mostly rode my dog when he got really tired," Lloyd added.

Zelos stared at Lloyd. "Rode your dog? How big of a dog are we talking about?"

"Well, Noishe is twice as tall as me when he stands on his hind legs," Lloyd said.

Zelos' eyes widen in shock. "That isn't a dog! That's a horse!"

"I wonder if Noishe is okay? We left him back in Hima when we left for the Tower of Salvation," Genis said in worry.

Lloyd smiled. "He should be okay. I told him to go back home before we left. He maybe a coward, but he will make it back to dad's house for sure."

"I hope so," Genis whispered.

"Well, since the mood around here took a major dump again, I think I scoot the area," Zelos said.

"Scoot the area?" Lloyd asked.

"You know, making sure that there are no assassins or thieves nearby. I don't know about Sylvarant, but here, thieves could be hiding anywhere," Zelos said. "Especially since I am the Chosen. They're a lot of people who would give their teeth to get their hands on me. And most of them are men, unfortunately."

"Well...be careful then," Lloyd said.

Zelos casually waved his hand. "No problem. Be back before you know it."

He wondered off.

"I wonder if we should depend on him to scoot anything?" Genis asked.

"We do not have much of choice. He knows the land," Raine said as she unpacked their sleeping bags.

Lloyd sighed and rubbed his hair. "I still don't know what to make of that guy. He seems like the most carefree guy in the world and yet, he seem to have moments of brilliance."

"I think you're thinking too much about it, which is extremely odd for you," Genis teased.

Lloyd narrowed his eyes. "Be quiet."

Zelos made sure he was a good distance away. He wanted to make sure that no one would accidentally see or hear him. He would hate to have to terminate someone.

"So, you're finally alone," a voice said from the air.

Zelos leaned against a nearby tree. "Were you stalking us or something?"

"Hardly," Pronyma replied as she appeared in the shadow of one of the trees. "When you contacted us, we knew you would stop around this area given the time of day."

"I'm surprised, Pronyma," Zelos said. "Given that they had to break the dimensional barrier to come here, I would have expected Cruxis to have located them before they reached Meltokio."

"We knew that they came to this world, but we did not know where," Pronyma said. "Since we Desians cannot act openly in the flourishing world, my information networks are not as efficient."

Zelos chuckled. "Which is why you depend on me to be your eyes and ears, right?"

Pronyma snorted. "Sadly true. Since you are the Chosen, your connections in Tethe'alla reach far and wide."

Zelos smirked. "Glad to be of use."

"For the time being, continue to keep watch of them," Pronyma ordered.

"You are strangely patient," Zelos noted. "The Chosen of Sylvarant is right here for you to take, yet you chose not to act."

"There are still too many eyes on us," Pronyma said. "We have to capture the Chosen in a remote location so we do not give ourselves away."

"I see," Zelos before he smirked again. "Well, it should be fine. As long as I'm here, you don't have to worry about these children giving you any trouble. Just remember our deal."

"Of course," Pronyma said as she disappeared.

Zelos let out a loud snort. "What an unpleasant woman."

Regardless, he has been gone long enough. He couldn't raise suspicions among them yet.

He glanced at the moon before walking back to Lloyd and the others.

Zelos officially joins the party and takes Kratos' role as the mole. While Zelos was never personally my favorite character, still liked him, it was really run writing him. Showing both his goofy, carefree sids, his observance side, and him playing double agent. Should be fun going forward.

Until next chapter, please stay safe and healthy.