Symphony of the Brightest Star

by Frozen In Flight

When Yuri wandered off after spotting a Red Eyes, he didn't expect to be saved by a complete stranger as well as Flynn. What's with the man who uses a red and a blue sword? Abandoned. Last chapter is notes / unconnected bits i had already written

29. Notes and Finished

Lost motivation for this, but I had decent enough notes going on that I might as well share, eh?

If anyone wants to do a take on this / continuation , link this story + mention me as inspiration / the start of it. But, again, I'm very unlikely to keep working on this.

First off:

Lloyd = 36. 21 when entered Great war, turning 37 soon. Left to travel. Did basically nothing other than look around for 10 years. Stopped aging at 30, took the nine before to get to 25 from 20 physically. Uses Fire, Ice, Lightning, Earth, Light, Healing. Other elements cause him problems. Knows Don, Alexei, Raven/Schwann/Damuron, other War Knights (Only vaguely knows Duke). Full angel, no sense of touch, reaction from hot/cold, healing has to wait for half a minute before it kicks in. Might have been seen in important moments in past. "Strike Brigade", lead by Lloyd and all but official. Alexei moved him through ranks to almost level a Captain, despite Lloyd being a "hired sword" and not a knight, but he functioned almost the same. Alexei still wants him to join knights properly, 15 years later.

Flynn's dad = Finas. Died disobeying orders to withdraw while protecting Lower Quarter(Flynn).

Yuan Yormgen.

Kratos frozen somewhere? Sounds good.

Noishe finds them after Ghasfarost Tower thing. Turns into egg thing during against Nan + Tyson. Makes Lloyd freak out. Karol required to stop Nan Death. Yuri head tilt.

(1) We decided that Kratos's grandfather was half-Elven(So he had a tiny aptitude for Mana before Aionis ingestion) ... and to make Kritya just about perfectly balanced 'half-Elven', despite their full-Elven ear appearances, so they live on average to 500 rather than the full 1000. Because the game doesn't tell us things like that. D: Stupid lack of information.

Sometime when Flynn joins. Lloyd recognizes his name, knew his father. Yuri and Flynn recall Fedrock's Funeral, and a brunette, red-coated stranger, as well as a time when they were children and Finas was alive that they'd seen him. Ceazontonia.

Lloyd's Angelus sphere absorbed Mithos. This is exactly as bad as it sounds. Lloyd needs a local equivalent to Origin to return to Symphonia-era/world. not sure which it is yet. Decided it was going to be Ba'ul, which means he's gotta wait out Judith's life span at the very least. But, eh, he's an angel, he can wait.

And actually, I have a few chunks of things that were written, but not tied together by plot yet, so with those notes aside, here's the rest of what I had.

On their way out of Yormgen after meeting with Duke, losing their Clear Ceil Crystal, which apparently was (or however it's spelled), Lloyd suddenly stopped short at the sight of a man in (whatever those robes look like), with blue hair under a hat.

"Ka-Fai!" Estelle blinked as Lloyd suddenly drew both of his blades and lunged at this man. "What the hell have you done this time?!" He brought both his blades down on the blue haired male, who was of even height if one didn't count the twin-blades unruly hair. A turquoise flash in the
bluenette's palm and all of the sudden Lloyd's mismatched blades were caught on what only could be described as a massive double bladed claymore that looked at least as heavy as the man wielding it... in one hand.

"Nothing!" The man snaps back, shoving the twin-blade off him to defend again. "It's you attacking me!" His hat fell off to let long blue hair fall to his waist.

"So, Lloyd. You going to tell us how you know him so we can decide if we're going to join you or not?" Yuri asks, tilting his head as he watched the two men ... purposefully stalemate.

"Yuan here has tried killing me and mine ... four or five times?" Lloyd says calmly over the clashing of his blades on this Yuan's one.

"For your information, Botta and the others at the Temple would only have beat you into submission if you had not fled. They were only there to dispatch the guides and the Chosen." Yuan says, jumping back from rapid set of slashes to try getting one in on Lloyd, who rolled and struck back.

"Yes, well she's my friend." Lloyd retorts, slashing at Yuan. "That counts as 'mine'."

"He's not telling you that I've saved his ungrateful ass three times." Yuan
calls to the Guildsmen and Imperials. "Or-"

"Twice simply so you could kidnap me as blackmail to try to get my father to let you kill him." Lloyd snaps back.

"I wasn't going to let him stay dead for more than a few seconds." Yuan has
the tone of complaining, catching Lloyd's grimace, and glanced at the party. "Oh."

"Yeah." Lloyd swiftly disarmed Yuan of his strange blade and knocked the man onto his ass. "'Oh.'"

"Monster!" Tison abruptly turned from attacking Yuri to Noishe, the green and white dog-like creature flicking his ears up and his bright brown eyes wide.

"Leave him alone!" Lloyd shouts, but he had to bring his blades together to stop Nan's giant ring from hitting him, and Noishe whined, backing away from Tison as the fist fighter moved in on the dog. Noishe yelped as Tison attacked, red staining his fur as he tried to back away. Lloyd let out a noise of pure anger, and Karol flinched away from him, missing a strike on Nan, as Noishe was backed against the cliff face.

"C'mon, you stupid monster!" Tison shouted, striking again. Noishe yelped, then his fur ruffled and he tried to double his size, long claws unsheathing and baring his fangs in a menacing manner. Tison only laughed, and Noishe yipped as he was knocked aside.

"Leave Noishe alone!" Lloyd shouts again, but Tison moved in for the kill, and there was a flash of light with Noishe's howl. Tison straightened, grinning, as there was no Noishe anymore. "Noishe!" Lloyd snarled it, and all the sudden there was a dark aura about him. Black seemed drawn to Lloyd, although they could still see the now furious twinblade clearly, and it was coupled with the feeling that they should run, far, far, far away. Tison whirled about, his half covered face fixed on Lloyd as Karol scrambled away, as Estelle froze and stared. Rita lost her spell in a gasp, Raven nearly dropped the arrow he was fixing to the string and Judith turned to stare as well as Yuri. Red runes flicker into life about Lloyd as his now rather red eyes fix on Tison and he slowly advances.

"Fire Dragon Rampage." Lloyd didn't shout it, didn't scream it, didn't bellow it like he'd been yelling and shouting for the Hunting Blades guildsman to leave his pet alone. His voice was flat, cold, and filled with rage. The runes flickered and spun and launched into the sky as Lloyd stared at Tison.

"W-what?" Karol falls to his knees, holding his chest. Estelle's breath became gasps, and Raven wavered. Tison's mouth was in a jagged frown as he took a step back, and Nan was frozen, staring at Lloyd. While visible motes of pale turquoise formed and flitted about, a sound like an insane teenage boy cackling barely reached their ears.

"Why isn't it red?" Rita was also holding her chest. "This much Aer... Why isn't it red?! Where's the Krene?!" She tried to take a step and nearly fell.

"Who's laughing?" Raven looks about. Judith backed into the mouth of the cavern where Ba'ul was evolving, while Yuri stayed put and watched Lloyd. A deafening bellow resounded from above them, a roar of anger and rage and wild fury, and a beast fell upon the ledge where they fought. Karol yelped, falling over backwards as Estelle sank to her knees and Yuri raised an arm before his face at the wave of heat. Raven also covers his face and Judith shifts her spear so that the blade covered her face a little.

"AAAAAH!" Karol screams, scrambling back after he sat up and saw the dragon. It was red, roiling red and oranges as the air wavered around it and its back flamed.

"I...I've never heard of a spell... like that..." Rita gasps, staring at the beast as it spread wings that were more ash than flame and roared again. Lloyd stood by its hind legs, his eyes on Tison. He said nothing, just stared at the hooded man and the dragon lowered hits head to be level with the guildsman.

"I'm not gonna let a giant salamander ruin the pride of the hunting blades!" Tison shouts, lunging to try to kick up through the dragon's jaw. It didn't work, the flames letting his leg pass and lighting him on fire.

"You don't know me. So, I'm going to tell you." Lloyd watched Tison as the dragon turns and bats him into the cliff face. "When I get angry, I go through stages. I get loud. That's stage one." The dragon's wings spread and washes more heat over them as Tison gets back up and attempts to knock its head back. Again, he kicks flames, and comes out with them clinging to him. "Then I get violent. Fists only, until I go to swords, or if it's against a monster. That's stage two." All Lloyd did was turn his head so he could keep watching Tison as the Hunting Blade's guildsman kept attacking a spell that simply made fire shape into a beast. "There's stage three. Cold anger. I get quiet." And he was quiet, speaking in a calm voice with rage only visible through his reddened eyes. "The final stage is stage four. You're not on stage four. Stage four is when I stop caring and blow up the surroundings, then leave." From Estelle to Yuri, they stared at Lloyd as his spell smashed Tison back into the cliffs again. "Congratulations. You skipped straight from stage one to what could be called three and a half." The dragon pinned Tison and roared in the hooded man's face, then vanished into wisps of flames that rose for the sky. "I'm not going to level the mountain, but you aren't going to walk away from here." The Hunting Blade's Guildsman had enough time to push himself back up, his skin blistered where visible through his burned coat, before Lloyd was before him. Lloyd didn't bother with swords, knocking Tison toward Nan with a well placed foot, before runes flit about him again. His eyes didn't leave Tison as the black aura about him stays strong, appearing to eat the glowing runes at moments.

"I'll show you the true meaning of Divine Justice." Lloyd's words were hollow, and the words 'divine justice' mocking, as the red runes gather on his blades and he casually flicked the Flamberge into the ground with the last pair of words. A large seal of red spread from the ground and flames burst up, almost like the Eruption spell but localized in cracks about Lloyd. Karol yelped and recoiled from the heat while Tison screams and Nan tries to scramble back out of the flames. "I'll show you the true meaning of Divine Justice." The same chant, but the runes that flowed about him were pale blue white, and the blade they gathered on was the Vorpal Edge. 'Divine Justice' didn't carry the feeling of a released spell, or a spell name. "Falcon's Crest!" He flicked the Vorpal Edge down, and a matching seal of pale blue spread on the remnants of the Divine Justice seal. Instead of fire, jagged shards of ice, most as tall, if not taller than Lloyd, erupted from the ground. Nan screamed, because Lloyd had walked closer and she got caught in the spell, while Tison didn't seem to have enough air to do so. Another color of runes surrounded Lloyd as Falcon's Crest faded, a brilliant white that made the runes hard to stare at. Estelle shivered, while Rita stared at the sheer amount of Aer gathered. "Light of the Heavens." Lloyd started another chant. "Let fall-" Karol pushed himself to his feet, and ran toward Lloyd.

"Don't! Stop!" Karol jumped on Lloyd's back and Lloyd stopped casting.

"Karol!" Estelle yelps, as Lloyd half turned his head and grabbed onto Karol's back, intending to rip the boy from his grip. Karol clung as best he could, but when his head came into Lloyd's view, the cold, furious expression that had come over the brunette twin blade's face froze, and faltered. The insane teenaged laughter hitched to a stop as well, complete with a muttered 'ruin my fun' as Lloyd stared at Karol, and the runes dispersed with the black aura. The feeling of a predator vanished, as well as the feeling of thick Aer, and Repede barked, drawing Yuri's attention off his guild leader and Lloyd. Yuri moved to his canine friend while Lloyd stood still.

". . . Karol." Lloyd said quietly, his red-brown eyes on the small guildmaster. "... Estelle. Rita. Raven. Judith. Yuri. Repede. Noi-." As his eyes flicked over his companions and he completed, he froze again. "... He killed Noishe." Lloyd's eyes flicked over to Tison. "I'm going to kill him."

"No, Lloyd, stop!" Karol clung to Lloyd's hands as the twinblade's focus returned to violence.

"No, Karol, I'm going to kill him!" Lloyd's voice was rising. "Tell me why I shouldn't? Tell me why I shouldn't avenge the death of my life constant?" but the twinblade wasn't moving. Raven seized the chance.

"Whadd'ya mean?" He didn't particularly like being the subject of a powerful mages angry gaze.

"Noishe has always been there." Lloyd almost snarls it, but almost shouts it. He looked torn. "He was my father's first, and free before that. He has been there all my life but for the five years of the great war and the ten after it." And his eyes went back to Tison. "And that stupid human took him away!" he snarled human, there was no other way to describe it. "It wasn't his time!"

"Explain that." Rita guessed what the old man was doing. Yuri shifted rubble carefully next to Repede, looking about for what his dog had caught scent of.

"Noishe was Arshis Protozoan." Lloyd ground out. "The first life form. Single celled, Aquan fish-form, Aeros flying form, Arshis to run faster than the wind. Fenrilra, his next. Finally, a human to fight evil. He wasn't supposed to die!" Lloyd pulled Karol off him, picked his blades up and moved to finish off the barely moving Tison. Yuri beat him there.

"He's not dead." Yuri stood before the angered twinblade, holding his coat about something round.

"Niflheim, he isn't."

"He isn't." Yuri shoved an egg into Lloyd's arms, knocking the blades aside. Lloyd dropped them, his expression turning to startled confusion as he shifted his arms to better cradle the egg. The green and white, faintly violet streaked egg.

"Run now." Judith tells Nan and Tison quietly. "Next time, we might not stop him." The two Hunting Blades take her word, and Nan helps Tison flee while Lloyd sinks into a sit, and cradles the egg to his chest.

"Oh no! Everyone, take cover!" Estelle held up her hands to create another barrier to protect them from the Hoplon Blastia as it was a bit too late to hug the cliff face, but Lloyd darted before her, his blades crossed in front of his chest. Noishe trilled, circling back past them.

"Guardian!" the brunette man shouts, a large weaved green bubble forming about him and taking the brunt of the golden blast. The bubble became solid, blocking Lloyd from their view. "nghgh... Field...!" Lloyd sounded incredibly stressed as he choked out the last bit, but a bright white seal erupted under the party, forming a dome over them and sending the Blastia's strike away. Estelle yelped as the Flamberge went spinning past her, Karol dropping to the ground as Vorpal Edge spun his way, cracks sounding from within the bubble as the Blastia shot vanished, then the light of the white shield Arte.

"Is everyone okay?" Yuri asks, looking about. They'd sunk half a foot into the ground, Lloyd still hidden in his shield Arte.

"I'll live..." Karol says, staring at the solid green bubble, sunk about half a foot more into the ground. Noishe returns, trilling, circling about each of them in turn then the green bubble.

"This time the old man looks a little worse for wear." Rita points out that Raven is pale and shaking toward the back edge of their depression. Judith walks over to the green bubble, touching it lightly.

"Hey, old man, wanna sit this one out?" Yuri asks. "We can go on ahead."

"If ya leave me behind, there ain't anyplace for me to go." Raven straightens, his eyes turning to the bubble.

".. Do you think air can get in through this?" Judith asks, tapping the bubble.

"Lloyd!" Karol yelps, recognizing the fact that the twin-blade was not outside it, rushing over to put his hands on the bubble too. "Open it, Lloyd!" It sounds like it's solid of some sort of material as something on the inside thumps into it, then it vanishes. Lloyd's pale and shaking, kneeling on the ground and pitches over after the support of the Arte vanishes, his eyes shut.

"Lloyd!" Estelle gasps, noting that his arms were in a horribly impossible position, limp and lumpy in a way they definitely shouldn't be, noticeable though his coat. "You're hurt!"

"I'm... fine." Lloyd gasped for air, before he coughs wetly. "Ah, damn. Figure out the... balance for spells... and then it's not good enough..." he coughs again, spitting to the side Estelle wasn't kneeling at and groans. "Shit, I busted a rib..." the spit on the ground was red. "Or.. three..." He definitely sounded a little wheezy there.

"I...I don't think I can heal this... I... I think you punctured a lung..!" Estelle clutches her dress as she stares at Lloyd's twisted arms as the man coughs wetly. "You... you shouldn't have done that!" Estelle insists. Noishe circles them and manages to give a sound far more like a whine than anything else he'd given.

"Hey, let's move out of the way before that Blastia charges up and attacks us again." Rita says, watching Lloyd then the Hoplon Blastia.

"Y-yes, against the cliff face.." Estelle stands again, letting Yuri figure out how to grab Lloyd to pull the other swordsman to the cliff. Yuri notes that Lloyd's curiously silent despite the fact that the movement had definitely jostled his ruined arms, and that the small, green-white and a bit purple dragon-creature wasn't frantic with worry.

"Someone mind... grabbing my swords?" Lloyd asks, blinking slowly as he spits more blood to the side. "Crap, it's all dark..."

"... Sure." Yuri says softly, using his gloved hand to grab the hilts of the fire and ice blades, the rest of the party silent as they watched what was likely the end of the twin-blade.

"W-what hurts?" She might have noticed the way Lloyd hadn't reacted to when Yuri moved him, and now he blinked roughly in her direction.

"Nothing." Lloyd couldn't see their expressions by the way his eyes looked, but he must have sensed something because he grinned weakly. "I'm... probably in ...shock, the way you're... all talking, so I'm ...probably really ...hurting, but... can't tell...?" Estelle gritted her teeth, then put her hands out, trying to heal Lloyd.

"Estelle..." Karol says softly, watching the princess sadly.

"Hey, hey..." Lloyd mutters, looking in roughly her direction before closing his eyes again. "Didn't that ...big bird say not... to use your power? Besides..." Lights flicker about him, both Estelle's golden Healing Arte, and this turquoise they'd never seen before. Lloyd shrugs his arms forward.

"Ya sho-" Raven stops, and the rest stare as Lloyd moves his arms perfectly fine, using them as an aid to get up, the man standing without a wince, then pulling a stunned Estelle to her feet. Noishe circled him.

"...That should have taken years to heal." Rita whispers. "If you could even heal that at all... If that wouldn't have killed you..."

"My body takes care of itself." Lloyd says dully, not looking at any of them as he retrieves his blades from Yuri's startled grasp, Noishe settling on his shoulder. "You can chase me away with pitchforks and torches after we take care of this ... occupation that's going on." Lloyd doesn't look at any of them as he sheathes his blades, his arms fully functioning, but he spits blood off to the side once more. His expression was completely blank as he stared at the ground, wiping his mouth off once. "If you want me out of the guild, I'll leave that too." Karol flinched as he realized that Lloyd was talking to him, and Lloyd silently moved ahead. "It's recharging. We should move. They've still got a clear shot at us." Lloyd mutters, before continuing on.

"A-are you... okay?" Estelle asks hesitantly, catching up to a few paces behind him. Lloyd doesn't look at her.

"Yes." He says. "There's no pain. Everything's a bit washed out, but other than that, I'm fine. I didn't realize it was that bright."

"There's... no pain?" Estelle was still pale from the sight of the damage.

"Never was any pain." Lloyd mutters, carefully cutting down a monster. "There never is any pain."

They rang the bell, and Judith summoned Ba'ul.

"You can just leave me here." Lloyd isn't looking at any of them still, firmly staring at the ground. "I'll walk somewhere."

"... The knights will catch you." Estelle says, gripping her skirt.

"If I don't want them to, they won't." Lloyd shrugs, turning to walk down the hill.

"Hey, aren't you in the guild?" Yuri asks, shifting his weight as he watched the twin-blade.

"If you don't want me in, then I'm not." Lloyd doesn't turn back around.

"That's a bit bad for business, don't you think? We had a guild-member quit in the middle of our first job."

"Then say I was K-I-A." Lloyd says sharply, his hands forming fists at his sides.

"That's even worse." Yuri points out. "We took on a job too hard and let a comrade die."

"..." Lloyd just stood there.

"Stay with us until we finish the job, then you can do what you like." Yuri says.

"Yuri..?"

Shortly after defeating Yeager, they found themselves with another door blocking their way, one much like the one that held the Leviathan's claw guild master.

"Careful." Yuri shoved the door open and started in, before stopping. A dead red-eyes was at his feet, sharing dismembered corpse space with a pair of the larger fish-men, a squid-monster, and one of the crabs, as well as a knight. Ragged gasping breaths were barely audible, then they stopped.

"What...?" Estelle stared at the floating motes of thick Aer, the blood on the ground, and the knight corpse half way through the room. And the man who shoved another off a pair of glowing blades. The breathing hitched into life again, then gone. There was a crumbled pile of rocks near an edge, ones of a dark blue color rather than the pale color of Zaude's material.

"Lloyd!" Karol calls, but Raven grabs onto the guild master's shoulder.

"Careful." Raven says quietly. "Somethin's off." Lloyd was bloodied, trails of red that stemmed from nothing, their wounds already healed, and splatter patterns from those he'd slain. His clothes were torn, like he hadn't focused on fighting defensively at all, and his armor showed shiny lines to prove that it was possible to land a hit. A collapsed chair against one wall, blood stains and a pair of lines from a Blastia that connected to under Lloyd's ragged coat.

"What's with this Aer?! There can't be a krene..." Rita stares about. "Judith, is there a Hermes-"

"No." Judith says, watching as Lloyd let his blades fall to his side, half turning toward them.

"Move!" Yuri shouts, grabbing Estelle and Karol and jerking them to one side as Repede barked and headed in the opposite, Judith already darting away and Raven catching onto Rita to follow the Krityan. Lloyd slashed through nothing, keeping his footing on the bloodied ground and the corpses.

"What the hell?!" Karol yelps, flailing. Lloyd straightened, turning for them as Yuri let go of the princess and his guild master. "Lloyd!" The twinblade's expression was only half there, his eyes in two different stages of focus, one blank, without a pupil, the other simply unfocused. He moved a bit like a broken puppet.

"Kid, he's been in the hands of Alexei for the past couple days." Raven says. "Who knows what happened. I'm sure the princess can tell you that Lloyd's probably not all here right now."

"As if his face didn't tell us that." Yuri says, watching the twinblade. Lloyd stood there blankly, his eyes half on them and more staring in their general direction. Before the other three doors, more corpses lay strewn in various states of whole-ness.

"I think we need to get ready for a fight." Judith says, pulling her spear from where she stored it and crouching.

"Rita!" Raven indicated the Blastia. "See what's goin' on with that! We'll keep 'im off ya!"

"Why can't we just try to cut the lines?" Karol asks, nervously hefting his weapon.

"Don't be an idiot." Rita snaps it a little half-heartedly. "It could kill him. Don't actually mess with stuff you have no idea what it does." She looped her sash about her neck and headed to the Blastia. Lloyd wavered a little, giving a choked-off gasping like noise, then taking a half-step back and revealing himself the source of the gasped breathing.

"Lloyd!" Estelle checked herself from running forward.

"Ru.." Lloyd's voice was weak, but it was definitely him who gasped out a partial word. He was trembling, wavering a little forward then rocking back.

"Lloyd?!" Karol yelps.

"Careful." Judith cautions. "Estelle showed some signs of consciousness as well, but that didn't stop Alexei from using her to attack us."

"But he's not here right now!" Karol points out.

"Move!" Yuri shouts again, as Lloyd's wavering vanished with all awareness to his face. The former knight ran in and blocked Lloyd's blades with his, his fist flicking out to strike the man's jaw, the only real place that was without armor. The twinblade took a step back, before half turning for Rita.

"No ya don't!" Raven spun in, his bow already a blade as he struck with Around and Just Like Dancing.

"Snap out of it, Lloyd!" Karol yelled, rushing in to just knock the twinblade away from Rita with his oversized weapon. With the speed difference between Lloyd and Karol, the man broke away from the small guild master and shouldered into Raven, the archer sent tumbling back by a ghostly lion's head.

"So...y..." Lloyd gasped out, even as he wavered, then lunged for Yuri.

"Don't hit 'im with Light!" Raven shouts, firing off Love Shot to heal himself, and startling Estelle out of casting.

"W-why?" Estelle hurries away from where Yuri and Lloyd were clashing. "Did you Magic Lens him?"

"No, I just fought alongside him once. Before I was Schwann." Raven explains, getting back up. "Light aids his healing, Dark burns him. And, well, when he was himself, he'd go after anyone he noticed casting."

"O-oh." Estelle stood back, ready to flick out healing if anyone needed it, but Karol and Raven were pulling that off, with Love Shot and Nice Aid Smash, and the occasional Guardian Field from Yuri.

"What the hell is wrong with this?!" Rita shouts, glaring at the display before her. "These formula, they're warped! They aren't even- no, wait... That's a Strihm, and that looks a bit like Fleck... Rockra.. Sandor, Laytos, Kaon... Alexei, how dare you! Ailus, Chrocs, Nhosing...(1)!" Motes of black formed about the small mage.

"Rita?" Estelle calls, while Yuri swaps with Judith to take a breather.

"Alexei was trying to influence Lloyd's Bodhi Blastia into becoming a Hermes!" Rita says, as the pattern on the floor glows black as well. "He shoved all these formula into this Blastia, and ran it to Lloyd's!"

"So Alexei tried to do what he did to me 'n Yeager, to Lloyd." Raven grimaced.

"Judith!" Rita flicked her sash about, creating the bubble of spell formula about her. "Chop those cables off as close to him as you can!"

"Right."

"Will that get Lloyd back to being Lloyd?" Karol asks, healing Yuri and Judith as Raven ran in with his bow turned blade.

"I don't know." Rita says. "O gathering flames of darkness, treat our dear guests to the strains of your terrible song... Bloody Howling!" Lloyd froze in place in the center of the dark spell, allowing Judith to dart in and slash through the lines connecting him to the Blastia. Rita pulled the core free of the Blastia, pocketing it, as Judith returned to being carefully away from Lloyd while the spell dissipated. The twinblade still stood, but his face now bore streaks of dark violet, and his expression was vaguely pained.

"Lloyd...?" Karol asks hesitantly.

"Move!" Again, Yuri caught the plan of Lloyd's actions quickly, darting in to catch Lloyd's blades on his own again.

"Magic Lens him!" Rita orders, starting up a low-level Dark Spell, a little unwilling to hurt a team-mate but as, or more, unwilling to let one hurt her other friends.

"I think it's broken." Karol reports, looking through at Lloyd.

"Huh?" Raven asks, shooting arrows to keep Lloyd back while Yuri, Judith and Repede mobbed him.

"You know how it gives whatever you Lens a 'level', right?" Karol asks, peering through still.

"Yeah, a 'challenge rating'.(2)" Raven nods a little.

"Well, Lloyd doesn't have one." Karol reports glumly. "Right where it should be, there's this little pained face. Two little arrows pointing in, and a line between and kinda under them. No number."

"So, in other words, we're in trouble." Rita comments. "Great. Violent Pain!"

"Well, Raven was right. Says not to use Light, and that Dark's a good way to knock him about." Karol reports.

"Who loves ya, baby?" Raven uses Love Shot a couple of times in a row. "Hey, Yuri, didn't Lloyd teach you something? Back in Zaphias when he first had that problem."

"Oh, right." Yuri eats an orange Gel. "Rita! Estelle! Get him to stay still. I need to be in contact for a bit for this to work..."

"Bloody Howling and Angel Ring." Rita tells Estelle. "Your spell might heal him, but it'll keep him in place all the same."

"Right." Estelle nods. "Come, O silver light..."

"O gathering flames of darkness, treat our dear guests to the strains of your terrible song..." Rita chants, forming her sphere about her.

"Angel Ring!"

"Bloody Howling!" Lloyd tried to run from the Bloody Howling, but Angel Ring caught him and held him within the bounds of the dark spell. Yuri darted in, and grabbed the center of Lloyd's coat like in Raging Blast.

"How'd it go again...?" Yuri frowned, but thought quickly. "Child of winged ones, your power is bound nor controlled by any. If you would not lead yourself, then take my words." Yuri thought for a moment, then decided to finish that Raging Blast as the dark spell about them finished. "Snap out of it!" Lloyd was knocked back, falling for the first time the entire fight.

"What was all that you just said?" Estelle asks, casting First Aid on Yuri.

"He told me to." Yuri shrugged, watching Lloyd. "Said it meant nothing, really, but since I couldn't really use magic, that was the way to do it."

"'Child of winged ones'..." Rita shakes her head. "Weird."

"Ha!" Lloyd suddenly shouts, as the flitting turquoise Aer vanishes, and is replaced by a slower flowing amethyst. "Take that, Irving, I win!" Lloyd's Material Blades' glow dimmed as they fell out of his hands.

"Not to go rainin' on any parades here." Raven drawls, holding his bow ready. "But isn't Lloyd's last name 'Aurion-Irving'?" Lloyd gets to his feet slowly, a little stiffly.

"... Yeah. It is." Yuri frowns. "Which means..."

"..If he just referred to himself as 'Irving', and that he had won, who's he really?" Judith asks.

"Now, I wonder..." Lloyd looks at his hands, a smirk on his face under half-closed eyes. "Does that still work?" Lloyd starts to flake a part, getting a cry from Estelle as his form shrunk.

"What the hell?!" Rita shouts, eyes searching for a formula. Before them, instead of by-face-mid-twenty and by-word-thirty-six, Lloyd stood as a preteen, his face rounder but still marked with dark violet black. His clothes changed, too, although the theme stayed the same – red coat, red gloves, black pants, red boots, but the red was brighter, and the black pants were more of a very dark grey.

"Hmm." Lloyd's voice also changed, apparently back to the pitch it held as a preteen, but the tone was... wrong. "Looks like even though I'm at the controls, I'm still not really here..." Lloyd mused, before glancing off to the left. His smirk turned into a moderately cruel grin. "No, I don't think I will, Shadow. It's been seventeen years since I've been able to walk about on my own, and I plan to do a little more than walk." As Brave Vesperia and Princess stared at him, the boy-Lloyd-who-wasn't-Lloyd gave a rather insane laugh, his eyes still watching to the left. "That was little more than a handful of minutes, in both that Forest and that ruin, and you know how short a year can be, let alone something within a day." With a cruel, crazed smirk on his lips, Lloyd-but-not turned to watch the guild and imperial.

"What the hell is goin' on?!" Raven demanded.

"Oh, Damuron, it's rather simple." Lloyd-but-not said, ignoring the flinch the archer gave at the name. "It's like you and Schwann. Or perhaps Schwann and Raven..."

"So Lloyd has a psychopathic alter ego?" Yuri drawls, frowning at the boy twinblade. "How do you feel about that?" Not-Lloyd's eyes darted over to the left and he frowned again.

"I told you, I'm not going to do that." A flicker of anger crossed his face and he stomped a bright red foot. "And do not call me that!"

"Who the hell are you!" Rita demands, flicking her scarf back into her hands.

"That doesn't matter." Not-Lloyd surveyed them again, and Estelle noticed something.

"His eyes are blue!" Estelle gasps out, and Not-Lloyd smirk became a grin. A malicious grin.

"Shall I play with your friends, Lloyd?" the boy twinblade asked the air to the left of him, the amethyst Aer stirring a little faster. He gave a short laugh, again crazed and cruel, and it continued as his eyes fell to the softly glowing mismatched blades. "I wonder if my Right is valid again..." Not-Lloyd picked up his blades, and the air shuddered. A soundless vibration shook the room, making them feel as if something had gone 'Thud' without it actually doing so. All of the amethyst Aer flowed back into Boy-Lloyd as he gave a short wail. Petal light fragments of light flitted about the boy-Lloyd as he was sent back, and the body that hit the ground was Adult Lloyd, with his torn clothes and scratched armor.

"...What the hell was that?" Rita asks, her expression flat lined as she flicked her scarf about a little. Yuri jumped as Noishe wriggled free of his shirt and took, wobbly, to flight. The small dragon circled the downed swordsman, and Lloyd blinked awake.

"'Lo, Noishe." Lloyd groans. Noishe gave a little trill, and dropped onto the twinblade, earning a grunt.

"Well, his pet seems to think its all good." Yuri points out. "And he was hiding the entire time with mini-Lloyd or when we first got in here... So it should be safe." Yuri headed over to watch the twinblade.

"Sorry." Lloyd stays prone, scratching Noishe. His face was marked by violet still, and close up, they looked like burns.

"You're hurt!" Estelle kneels by him, casting First Aid. Lloyd blinked slowly, but the burns didn't vanish.

"Hello Estelle." Lloyd gave a slightly pained smile, as the motion stretched his damaged face, the burns that must have continued where he was covered. "Nice to see you're doing well." Estelle gave him a small smile back, but stopped in confusion.

"You're not healing!" Estelle notices, growing flustered and trying again with her hand directly over his face.

"Huh?" Lloyd blinks at her hand, then became a little thoughtful. "Oh, right. Dark spells." He grinned at them, which again looked painful. "Must look horrible, huh?"

"Very funny." Rita raises a hand to whack the twinblade, but changed her mind. "Why aren't you healing?"

"The 'burns' inflicted by Dark aligned . . Aer can only be healed by Light aligned." Lloyd recites, his pause having gone unnoticed, but the blinking from those not a Blastia researcher had him explaining further. "The Dark-charged Aer is clinging to me. It irritates my skin, looking like dark purple burns. Light aligned Aer is the way to dispel the dark, or I just wait until it fades by time."

"So I can go like this..." Yuri flipped his blade in his hand and stabbed the ground, his healing Arte activating with a swirl of blue-white runes and light.

"Nice." The twinblade studied the seal upon the ground as wisps of dark violet left him.

"So, wanna talk about your evil inner you?" Karol asks.

"The one that made you young and blue eyed." Estelle adds.

"Which is kinda creepy on ya, just ta let ya know." Raven drawls.

"He did what?" Lloyd gaped and Noishe trilled. "That ass!"

"Exp-lain-a-tion please." Rita insists.

"Ahh..." Lloyd watched them for a moment, then his gaze slid off to the left. "You realize that Alexei's deciphering Zaude while you're interrogating me, right? Can this wait until we stop him from changing the map?"

"Fine." Yuri says after a moment. "After we take care of the crazy commandant, you get to explain the blue-eyed Lloyd who calls you 'shadow'."

"That brat." Lloyd hissed as he got to his feet, tugging the cables out from under his armor. "I am so asking Origin to actually kill you off." They politely pretended not to hear Lloyd's muttering.

"Can you at least explain the bodies, then?" Raven asks. "I don't wanna feel like there was something else in the room as well."

"Oh, that was me." Lloyd tells them, picking up his blades and looking them over. Their glow picked up again. "Not sure exactly how he did it, but Alexei managed to control me enough to give me an order." The twinblade decided his blades were clean enough and found his sheathes and their belts. "Kill everything in the room after he was gone."

"How does that exp-" Karol blinked. "Oh."

"So, they tried to come in...?" Judith asks.

"Yes." Lloyd replies, flashing them a small smile. He didn't look entirely proud of it. "And a few who didn't run as fast as their commandant."

"I see." Rita frowns at the twinblade as he checked his pockets, making sure his stuff was all where it should be. There were feathers on the ground.

"Oh, that door is locked." Lloyd glances over at the princess, who was looking at the door to further in Zaude.

"Huh?" Estelle blinked back at him, as he straightened his torn coat with a slightly despairing frown.

"Alexei had some knight take a glowing orb, and booked it out while it was locking." The twinblade trailed off, looking thoughtful again.

"Great, so we have to go search for a shiny rock." Karol groans.

"Remember which way he went?" Yuri asks.

"Right there." Lloyd points toward one of the dead knights. When they stared at him, he blinked. "He didn't run fast enough."

"So.. you killed him." Estelle frowned.

"I was bound to kill everything in the room." Lloyd shrugged. "I managed to keep enough free will to decide which to kill first."

"Lloyd, ya mind cleaning the blood off yer face before we continue?" Raven scratched his chin. "Yer startin' ta scare this old man."

"Blood... on..." Lloyd repeated, before frowning and blinking with realization. "Oh, oh! Right." The twinblade found a canteen and set to cleaning his face, at least, of blood. Yuri retrieved the glowing orb from the slain knight's pack.

"Where does that need to go?" Rita asks. "There doesn't seem to be a spot for it in the door."

"Uh..." Lloyd frowned, thinking again. "... Up there." He indicates the walkway across the room above them.

"That's real helpful." Raven frowns. "It looks like we need ta head other ways anyway."

"We do have a flying pet." Karol points at Noishe, who blinks and trills at him.

"He's not a pet, he's a friend." Lloyd tells the guild master. "And he might not be able to carry it."

"Flynn?" Yuri turned about, hearing armor rattling behind him, but didn't expect the orange haired knight to stab him with a dagger. She dropped it shortly after, but the deed was done. Yuri staggered back, right to the edge of the shrine, and Sodia gasped.

"What in the name of Niflheim did you think you're doing?!" Lloyd shouted, his voice angry, then any further swearing cut off as his coat went over his head, and the wind rushed in Yuri's ears as he toppled over the edge. Estelle, Karol, Rita, Raven, Repede and Judith stared as Lloyd rapidly shucked off his boots, coat, pants and then armor.

"What are you doing?!" Estelle demands, then eeps as the twin-blade shoved his mismatched blades into her arms, leaving his armor by Raven.

"Hold these. Water's horrible on them. And I'd rather not sink." Lloyd darted past Sodia, turning around to run backwards and point at her. "Keep an eye on her!" he says, reaching the edge.

"What?!" Rita demands.

"Lloyd-" Raven starts, but Lloyd cuts everyone off.

"Yuri's in bad enough shape not counting hitting the water and the shock that'll do, salt's horrible in that concentration, I refuse to not do something. Please don't hate me." With the last whispered phrase, Lloyd fell backwards off the edge of the tower, a bright turquoise-veined-with-gold glow surrounding him. Estelle was the last to the edge, hampered with Lloyd's blades, but even she could see the massive wings of bright turquoise light that spread from Lloyd's shoulders and propelled him faster to the dark spot below him.

"... What?" Flynn breathes.

"... Wings?!" Karol yelps. "Lloyd's got wings?! How can Lloyd have wings?!" Karol clutched at his head. "Humans can't have wings!" Noishe trilled as he circled, and the small dragon dived after the glowing streak that was Lloyd.

"C'mon, wake up. Healing-" the voice cut off with water. "Undine hates me, I know she –" Yuri was held by Lloyd, who had his hand firmly over Yuri's stab-wound, and both of them surrounded by a brilliant turquoise light.

"... Wings...?" It hurt to speak, but that's what it looked like. Hell, it hurt to float.

"Ah, go..." Lloyd's head went underwater again, and he spat some up. "Yes."

"...So you can fly."

"Don'.. alk." Lloyd glowed minty green as the chill ran through Yuri. Well, a chill that wasn't the water. "I... o master healer... Only sur...ce healed."

"Can't you fly?" If he had wings, then he could fly. What was with being in the water?

"I'm water logged." Lloyd says sourly. "I can't ...t them away, ca... that'll feel horri... but I can't get out either." Yuri, despite feeling horribly chilled, decided he should move to help the sinking Lloyd. His hand moved through the brightest part of the turquoise light, and he hissed in pain, Lloyd sinking under with a burble.

"...The hell...?" Images flashed over real life in his eyes, but vivid enough that it was real rather than him bleeding in the water. People, then darkness.

"... My room?" Yuri blinked, grimacing as his gut still pained him. "Why...?" A turquoise glow from the corner reminded him of the brief moment of lucidity in the water, and he tried to jump up and look over. Pain in his torso stopped him from jumping, but he managed to look into the corner. Lloyd was there, looking miserable with his shirt off, arms crossed, and his wings loosely folded about him. They looked feathered from this distance, despite being bright turquoise with gold veins, and the tips were split at the 'wrist' part. "...Wings..." Lloyd looked up, his red-brown eyes lit up with the glow about him, before looking away.

"You're awake." Lloyd mutters.

"So you really did fly after us at Ghasfarost." Yuri mumbles. "That wasn't just sarcasm."

"...Yeah." Lloyd doesn't look at him, hunched up in a ball of miserable.

"... So, were you serious about us being too heavy?" Yuri asks, tilting his head.

"... No." Lloyd flicks a wing, water dripping from it. "... I'll dry your place later." Yuri attempts to sit up, hissing with pain.

"...Didn't think she hated me this much." Lloyd gets up, and hesitantly, pulls Yuri the rest of the way into an upright position, his wings carefully spread out of reach, bending in ways their bird like appearance shouldn't have allowed. That close, his wings didn't look like they had feathers but vague smears like them, and he could see his ceiling through them, even if it was all a cloudy turquoise. He pulled away as soon as Yuri was against the wall, moving to sit in the corner again.

"...You've lived rough. She's probably some noble's child." Lloyd says, half curling his wings about himself again.

"... How did you know that?" Yuri blinks, glancing at him, watching as Lloyd looked away again. "I don't think you and Flynn've had much chance to chat."

"... You touched my wings." Lloyd says slowly. "They're... my soul, supposedly...Memories, I've got some of your memories."

"... You know everything that's gone through my head?" Yuri asks, a little alarmed.

"...No, no." Lloyd looked up, startled. "Only bits. You and Flynn grew up here, in this town, in this area, you're an orphan and his dad a knight, you both joined the knights, but their ways disgusted you and your mind set didn't meld, so you returned to the lower quarter after the man who more or less kept you in died. Ahh... you've probably got some of mine running about in your head too." Yuri tilted his head back against the wall.

"... This guy, in purple, with dark red hair. You're fighting him. A blond girl, you're watching her fall still. A red haired man, in... pink." Yuri grimaced. "He's talking with you, and he's angry. A little albino kid, with a toy, a Kendama, but..." Yuri blinks at Lloyd. "That's a big spell." Lloyd gave him a grin-grimace.

"Yeah. My memories." He actually looked a little relieved.

"So, who're they?" Lloyd scratched his nose, looking away again.

"My dad, Kratos Aurion. Colette Brunel. Zelos Wilder. Genis Sage." Lloyd mutters. "Friends I haven't seen in fifteen years."

"Genis was the kid you were talking about back in Caer Bocram." Yuri notes.

"... Yeah." Lloyd looks off again.

"... Book." Yuri spots the green covered book next to his pillow. Lloyd looked was staring miserably at one wing.

"... Do you have any towels?" Lloyd asks.

"Have the blanket." Yuri shifts over to the pillow, grabbing the book and kicking the blanket off toward Lloyd.

"...Thanks. That Duke guy left it."

"..'The Child of the Full Moon'?" Yuri reads while Lloyd begins the curious act of trying to dry wings that weren't solid. Somehow he ended up with a wet blanket while Yuri read aloud the interesting bits. Which wasn't that far in. "...'The leaders of the ancients possessed an innate power, and were called the Children of the Full Moon. The Shrine of Zaude received their lives and power. It sealed the Adephagos away, saving the world'." Yuri reads.

"... Sounds eerily familiar." Lloyd mutters, still working the sodden blanket over, and through, his wings. "'And the Hero Mithos created a pact with the Goddess Martel upon the holy ground of Kharlan to seal away the Desians, saving the world'." He says it a bit sourly, the blanket falling through his wing as he swore.

"You have awakened." Duke opened the door before Yuri could question Lloyd's strange quotation.

"So you're the one who pulled us out of the water." Yuri blinks at the white haired man over the book.

"I didn't know they would absorb the water. I've never tried a water-rescue before. And I never r-." Lloyd cut off his mutterings as he worked the blanket through his wings.

"... Can you not just fold them away?" Duke asks, watching.

"No. I'd get all the water in them, in me... and that'd be more miserable than this." Lloyd moves like he was shaking his wings.

"They go inside you?" Duke blinks.

"I've never seen a ... wing-bulge, or anything to his back..." Yuri notes.

"They're made out of my life's... Aer. Or my soul, or whatever." Lloyd hunches up almost defensively, his wings curling about him. "They don't exist until I want them to."

"..." Duke eyed the winged male, before walking to the other side of Yuri's bed and picking up the blade. "I couldn't afford to have this sword lost to the sea forever." Duke says in explanation, standing by the window.

"Okay..." Yuri says, putting the book down and tilting his head. "I still owe you my thanks." His eyes fell to the book. "... So the Shrine of Zaude was powered by the lives of the Children of the Full Moon?" Duke nodded slightly, before glancing back at Yuri.

"Humans brought forth the Adephagos, and lead it." Duke says. "Consider it... atonement." Lloyd makes a mildly angry noise, returning to attempting to dry his wings. "The few remaining Children of the Full Moon, together with the Entelexeia, decided on how the world would be. The Imperial family are their descendants."

"So that's how the Empire started." Yuri mutters, watching Lloyd absently. "And that's why that sword – the key to Zaude – will prove a true Emperor."

"As long as Aer is used, no one can oppose the Adephagos." Duke looks out Yuri's window rather than watch Lloyd and his frustration. "For it is born of Aer itself."

"... You wanted to stop the Adephagos, too." Yuri notes, watching the white haired man. "That's why you were going around calming all the Aer krene, right?"

"Correct." Duke doesn't look at either of them.

"By yourself. All of them?" Lloyd asks, raising his eyebrows as he gives up, dropping the sodden blanket with a squelch.

"Why didn't you ask for help from the Empire or the Guilds?" Yuri asks, still propped up against the wall. "You could have stopped Alexei if you'd done that."

"I have aligned myself with the Entelexeia. I have no intention of coexisting with humanity." Duke tells Yuri. "What's more, the masses of humanity will never come to any accord."

"Pessimist." Lloyd mumbles.

"... So what are you trying to do?" Yuri asks. "The Adephagos was too much even for that ancient civilization."

"There is a way." Duke looks back out the window for a moment longer, then turns for the door.

"You say you despise humanity, but what about us? Aren't we human?" Yuri asks. "Why did you give me Dein Nomos? Why did you cooperate?"

"You were the only ones who even attempted to communicate with the Entelexeia." Duke says. "That is why... Never mind. It is done."

"Aren't you human?" Lloyd looks at the white haired man, who turns to meet Lloyd's stare.

"Are you?" Duke retorts, gaining a flinch from Lloyd, who dropped his gaze to the ground, his wings drooping but curling about him again.

"..Wait, what are you going to do?" Yuri asks as Duke turns his attention back out the door.

"I will protect our world – our Terca Lumireis." Duke walked out, shutting the door a little.

"Hold on..." Yuri attempts to stand and clutches his gut as pain flared. "Damn it."

"... No... I'm not." Lloyd mutters weakly, putting his face in his hands as his wings curl further about him. "Not anymore..."

"... Lloyd, you're a good guy. A bit crazy, but good all the same. Who cares if you're human, Krityan, Entelexeia, or whatever it is you are." Yuri grunts.

"... Angel." Lloyd mutters.

"Again, whatever it is you are. Give me a hand before I fall over." Yuri says, frowning at him.

"... Sure." Lloyd gets to his feet, pulling his torn shirt over his head before his wings carefully fold at his back and he supports Yuri gingerly. He still glowed, however. Lloyd helped him outside, the dark haired man hissing with nearly every step.

"... Can't you heal more?" Yuri asks as they stopped for the fourth time on the stairs down.

"... No." Lloyd says, looking at something else. "I'm not good enough. My school-teacher could... but I haven't seen her, too, in fifteen years." Yuri started down the stairs again.

"How about your glow? Can you dim that?" Yuri asks, hissing a little.

"... I can try." Lloyd mutters, half-closing his eyes. The glow wavered, then grew brighter.

"... That didn't work. You're brighter." Yuri points out with another hiss.

"... Sorry." Lloyd paid more attention to the real world, and his back dimmed back to its original glow.

"Where's your stuff?" Yuri notes the lack of armor on Lloyd.

"Estelle and Raven." Lloyd says, watching their feet. "I would have sunk even better with it, and really didn't want to work on maintenance afterward. Salt." They crossed in front of the inn.

"...Take a break here." Yuri says, tugging out from Lloyd's help to lean against the wall before the stairs up, holding his side. "..." Lloyd was staring ahead, his head tilted before he smiles a little weakly and steps back. Yuri heard something shortly after that, a bark. A rather familiar bark as barks went.

"What's wrong?" and a rather familiar voice. "Oh!" to the top of the stairs came a rather familiar female and familiar one-eyed dog. "Yuri...?" Lloyd backed up, looking firmly at the ground.

"Estelle?" Yuri blinks, using Lloyd's light to help recognize them. "Repede...?"

"Yuri!" Estelle yelled it happily while Repede barked with just as much joy to his... doggy face as Estelle had to hers. They hurried down the stairs, Estelle jumping onto Yuri, who struggled to catch her as she laughed, hugging him.

"Ouch, hey hold on a sec." Yuri protests, Repede rubbing against the back of his knees while Estelle tried to crush the air out of him.

"Yuri, it's really you, right? You're not a ghost or something?" Estelle pats him, glancing behind him. "Oh good, you have a shadow." She didn't seem to register the fact that the light was turquoise or the brown haired man behind her was casting it.

"Yeah, I'm living!" Yuri says, gasping a little. "And yeah, that hurt!"

"Thank goodness, I'm so happy." Estelle released her tight grip on him a little to make it a normal hug. Yuri twitched a little, before gently putting his hand on her shoulder, worming his right into the hug to hold his wound. "... Oh!" Estelle noticed, and pushed him into sitting on the steps, standing beside him. "Repede just rushed out, all of a sudden! I was so surprised." She cast her healing spell, and after poking himself, Yuri took the hand away.

"Thanks. I'm fine now." Yuri pats himself a little, giving only a tiny wince, before relinquishing the hand to Repede so the dog could scratch himself.

"Is that wound from... when you fell from Zaude?" Estelle asks, sitting next to him.

"Huh?" Yuri blinked. "Oh, yeah, I guess so."

"I can't tell you how happy I am." Estelle says, looking at her knees. Yuri caught Lloyd's eye, and the man gave him a weak smile, heading back up the stairs to Yuri's room at the inn.

"They thought they should do what they can. Even without you a..." Estelle trails off.

"Yeah." Yuri says, looking ahead.

"Because we knew... we knew you were alive." Estelle looks at her hands again. "Even Flynn took ships to look for you so many times... Because ...Lloyd had gone after you, and we know that he's very ... tough, after the forest, so he... would be there, and he'd have found you...Even though his Noishe came back alone..." Estelle choked a little, trailing off.

"I'm so sorry. But thanks to you, I'm all fixed up. Lloyd's not that great of a healer." Yuri looks away, before blinking. "Speaking of Lloyd, do you have Lloyd's gear?" Yuri asks after Estelle mastered her breathing. Estelle blinks at him.

"Lloyd's here?" She asks hesitantly.

"Yeah. He's up in my room." Estelle looked a little torn.

"You should still rest today. I'll help you back up." Estelle says. "Rita, Karol... they can all wait a little longer to see you."

"... As you wish." Yuri accepts her help back up to his room, although now it was just stiffness. Estelle stopped, staring in the door way at Lloyd's flared wings as the man worked the soggy blanket through them again. Lloyd spotted her, and smiled weakly, curling the appendages back about him again.

"... Lloyd?" Estelle asks from the doorway.

"... Yeah." Lloyd hunches in the corner, his wings curled about him as if he was trying to hide behind the transparent wings. And as they were pretty much transparent, all it did was cause him to look turquoise and a little blurry.

"You really have wings..." Estelle breathes, watching them.

Lloyd shifts uncomfortably, moving his large wings back behind him. "If... you don't want me here... I'll go somewhere..."

"Lloyd, it's the middle of the night." Yuri points out, sitting on the bed. "You'll be seen. And think of the panic that would cause." Lloyd flinches, his wings folding about him like extra arms.

"... Right." Lloyd mumbles, hunching up.

"At least wait to leave until you can put them away." Yuri points out.

".. You can't put them away?" Estelle inches closer. Lloyd blinks at her through a wing.

"Not right now." Lloyd says. "They're... water logged. I'd be sicking up water for hours yet if I put them away..."

"Oh..?" Estelle tilted her head. "They're not... real?"

"They're real." Lloyd whispers, a bit bitterly. "Just not... solid. They absorbed more water than you can put in a person, so I'm trying to dry them off..." he nudged the soggy blanket with a bare foot.

"So..." Estelle tries to figure out a polite way of asking.

"I'm an Angel." Lloyd mutters, guessing what she'd ask as he puts his head in arms. "Something more and less than what I was."

"Angel?" Estelle asks, tilting her head.

"..." Lloyd looked firmly at the ground.

"If you don't want to talk about it, it's fine with me." Yuri announces, leaning against the wall.

"... I'd rather explain to everyone at once..." Lloyd says softly, his wings folding about him. "So I don't have to say it all twice... Simply said... I'm not Human, Krityan, or Entelexeia, or any combination of them."

"I see..." Yuri says.

"... I'll go back to the castle." Estelle says, going back to the door. "I'll be back in the morning!"

Yuri woke and saw that Lloyd was in exactly the same spot, position, and angst level as he had been the previous night, sitting in the corner of his room with his wings wrapped around him and looking utterly miserable. Repede was curled up before the bed.

"Morning." Yuri says, sitting up. Lloyd blinks at him, his wings unfurling like they were stretching.

"... Morning." Lloyd mumbles. "Estelle's coming up the stairs." His wings furl about him again. Yuri blinks, getting up and quickly washing his face. Once he was done, there was a knock at the door.

"I'm up." Yuri calls, and Estelle peeks around the door, before shutting it behind her. "Sorry for worrying you." He scratches Repede's ears, to which the one eyed dog barked.

"... I couldn't fly." Lloyd says, as way of his own apology.

"We were stuck on top of Zaude. We couldn't get down. And we couldn't go down the way you two did. But Flynn and all the rest of the Knights managed to help us." Estelle says.

"Huh. Sounds like everyone had a pretty rough time." Yuri says, fishing in his dresser for a new shirt.

"But we're all safe now." Estelle beams. "All of us. I'm so happy..." Repede barks.

"The Aer Crisis, Duke, the Adephagos..." Yuri says, changing. "... Need one?" Yuri offers a shirt to Lloyd, who looked up.

"... Do they close all the way in the front?" Lloyd asks. Yuri sizes Lloyd up, then looks at himself.

"They do on me, they might not on you."

".. I'll see." Lloyd takes the shirt and turns to face the corner, changing.

"... We've still got a mountain of problems to deal with." Yuri notes.

"...Just take things one at a time. Unless there's a way to take on all three at once. That usually's good too." Lloyd says. "... And first off... anyone have a needle?"

"... Nevermind, just use your tattered one." Yuri reclaims his shirt and Lloyd puts his torn one back on, grimacing a little as he shifted it. "... actually, use it as a coat. It might hide those." Yuri indicated the glowing patch on Lloyd's back. When Lloyd wore it that way, it did help hide his wings. Until he moved his arms just so and the impromptu coat tightened across his back and they were completely visible again.

"... note to self, no reaching far." Lloyd mutters, standing. Now ready, they head outside and to the lower quarter fountain plaza. Yuri stopped, turning about and looking at the sky.

"Alexei unleashed something terrible." Yuri notes.

"... Not the Demons of Niflheim, but that looks pretty nasty all the same." Lloyd mutters.

"I'm tired of all this 'freeing the world' nonsense." Yuri declares.

"Just what is the Adephagos?" Estelle mutters.

"Who knows? A catastrophe. It can't be anything good." Yuri says, frowning. He sighs. "Guess I get to fight a big one this time."

"It certainly is. So you're going after it?" Estelle asks.

"Bigger they are, harder they fall?" Lloyd asks.

"It doesn't look like I'll have a normal life if I don't." Yuri points out.

"A normal life..." Estelle whispers. "For everyone. That's why we fight."

"Yeah. That's enough, right?"

"Yes. It is."

"... Give them the chances you're without." Lloyd mutters. "Sounds good."

"I thought I heard a familiar voice!" An old man calls. "Oh, it's really you!" Several lower-quarter folk and Hanks walk up to the trio and dog.

"Hanks! Everybody!" Yuri smiles a little.

"Don't go taking that young lady around everywhere." Hanks chides. "She must be tired."

"What do you mean?" Yuri asks, before connecting a possibility. "Estelle, were you using your power?"

"She fixed up every wounded person who came back." Estelle didn't even have a chance to say yay or nay before Hanks spoke. "We're all in her debt." Yuri frowned at her back as she turned back to the lower quarter folk.

"If there is anything else I can do, please let me know." Yuri glanced about, before back to Hanks, noting Lloyd shifting uncomfortably.

"Nice to see the lower quarter's back to normal."

"It'd be perfect if only that thing in the sky weren't there." Hanks says.

"Don't worry, leave it to Brave Vesperia." Yuri says, smirking.

"There you go again." Hanks sighs. "Just how are you going to close up that hole in the sky?"

"..." Lloyd studied the hole in the sky, tilting his head birdlike.

"Hey, if anyone can do it, Yuri can!"

"Yeah! He never makes promises he can't keep."

"That's far enough!" A rather familiar voice shouts.

"Now you?" Yuri asks, as Lloyd draws back behind him. "What do you want?"

"Heh heh heh. I say, take a look at this." Adecor moves closer, and hands Yuri a poster.

"Huh?... A warrant?" Yuri notices a very familiar drawing. "... For me?!" Adecor backs off as Lloyd peeks over the wanted man's shoulder.

"... Just Yuri?" Estelle asks.

"I say, a knight's duty is to apprehend the unlawful." Adecor says, Leblanc and Boccos joining him.

"So I'm the only one with a bounty on my head?" Yuri glances at Estelle, then Lloyd. "Nobody else?"

"That has nothing to do with the matter at hand!" Boccos snaps.

"Ahem!" Leblanc cuts off Boccos's baby rant. "We have a proposal. Return to the knights, and this all goes away." Lloyd was staring at them, quietly, but Leblanc's attention flickers to him as well. "This goes for Lloyd Aurion-Irving as well, although it would be joining for him."

"What?" Yuri snaps, while Lloyd stared blankly.

"Someone high up is making a fuss about leaving you to do as you please." Leblanc says, before looking at Lloyd. "And your strength is something best watched. So..."

"You'd feel better putting the reins on me." Yuri notes.

"Now you've got the idea." Leblanc says, nodding slightly. Yuri looks down for a second, but he wasn't able to reply

"... I won't be caged!" Lloyd snaps suddenly, his fists firmly at his sides, but shaking. "I won't be some... lab rat for you!" The Schwann Brigade, Estelle, Yuri and Repede stared at Lloyd as he shook. "I won't be anyone's pet murderer!" His wings spread wide, flared up so they made him look larger than he was, which was helped with the sheer unusualness of his appearance and the bright turquoise glow that surrounded him like an Aura. Yuri ducked quickly, avoiding getting touched by one of the split wing-tips as the Schwann Brigade backed up, townsfolk crying out at Lloyd's large wings.

"Hey! Schwann!" Yuri shouts, looking off toward the entrance of the Lower Quarter from outside the city.

"What? Where?" While the Schwann brigade turned about, reacting with salutes, Yuri reached over and slapped Lloyd upside the head.

"Calm down, book it!" Yuri hisses, turning toward the noble quarter. Lloyd furls his wings after Estelle started to run, Leblanc catching sight of the still glowing male.

"Hey!" Leblanc turns partially. "Wait!"

"So long, everyone!" Yuri shouts, heading into middle quarter.

"T-take care!" Hanks shouts. The four pounded up the stairs, reaching the more idyllic middle quarter.

"Let's go! Arrest that man!" Leblanc's shout reached them as Yuri paused for breath, bending over.

"This hill's pretty brutal." Yuri gasps out while Estelle straightens, Lloyd looking awkward for his lack of reaction, still with a faint tremble to him.

"Those knights are amazing." Estelle mutters.

"They are... tenacious." Yuri agrees.

"..." Lloyd says nothing, hunching up on himself again.

"... Oh." A mildly familiar female voice drew their attention to right, as a blue haired Kritya walked over. Lloyd instantly shied behind Yuri, for all it didn't help much as the brunette was the taller.

"Hey! Judith!" Estelle waves.

"Estelle, I just came to get you." Judith says. Yuri walked forward, leaving Lloyd standing awkwardly.

"Where's Rita?" Estelle asks, following Yuri with Repede, Lloyd watching his feet more than anything else.

"Rita's in Aspio, putting together all her research. Noishe is with her." Judith says. "You'll come too, right?"

"Yeah, if you don't mind me catching a ride." Yuri says, shrugging.

"... If you don't want me gone." Lloyd mutters, keeping his attention firmly on his toes.

"Then let's go." Judith smiled at the lot of them as her acceptance of Lloyd.

"Sorry to make you worry, Judy." Yuri says. Judith stops in her walking ahead.

"... My heart was about to burst from worrying so much." Judith says.

"Yeah, right." Yuri mutters, but he was smiling.

"Hey, I really mean it." Judith tilts her head.

"Waaaaaaait!" A familiar voice shouts. Leblanc was heading up the stairs after them.

"Not again." Yuri mutters. "Just once! Just once, I want to take it easy when I leave some place." Yuri complains. They started running again, following Judith to a familiar white and blue beast with a boat. As Ba'ul took off, Yuri watched the knights and townsfolk stare in shock.

"Goodbye, Knights!" Yuri calls cheerfully from the rail.

"Get back here!" Leblanc gets over his shock to yell at the ship. Estelle watched the sky from under Ba'ul as they left Zaiphas behind.

"... Seeing the Adephagos just there, in the sky... it's horrible." Estelle says, looking at the rippling shift in the sky.

"...Yeah." Yuri watched as Lloyd moved to the bow of the ship, his arms raised to the wind. "To think that the catastrophe from the legend was hidden up there all along..." Yuri says. Lloyd's wings flickering open wide, and his head tilted back into the wind. "That's creepy." He points at it, very pointedly in the other direction than Lloyd.

"It just showed up in the sky, out of nowhere." Estelle muttered. "All the people must be so worried..."

"Likely." Lloyd says, head tilted back still from the wind of Ba'ul's fight. "It's a big change from the norm..."

"I'd rather see what we're up against than let it grow out of control somewhere hidden away." Judith announces.

"Your spirit is amazing, Judith." Estelle says.

"It might be a good thing to have the danger right out in front of us, though." Yuri notes, looking past Lloyd at the rippling sky. "It'll bring together people who'd never get along otherwise."

"Yes..." Lloyd folds his wings to his back, stepping back onto the deck with his hair even messier than the normal due to wind, and his eyes fell back to the deck.

"When you can no longer deny the Adephagos exists, all that's left is to face it." Judith says.

"You're right." Estelle nods. Yuri notes Lloyd almost-sulking off to one side, and wanders over to him.

"You love flying that much?" Yuri asks, watching as Lloyd folded the wing he'd stuck out back to his back.

"Yes." Lloyd whispers, hunching his shoulders. "... I don't know how to explain it. But yes, oh yes."

"It's not bad on the ship." Yuri agrees.

"... No offense to Ba'ul, but this is nothing like flying." Lloyd says fervently.

".. You'll have to take me up sometime, then." Yuri points out.

"... Maybe." Lloyd mutters, hunching up.

"We're descending to Aspio." Judith calls. Lloyd makes a face, folding his wings tighter under the coat of Yuri's shirt.

".. It's in the dark." Lloyd mutters. "I am so screwed." he looked pathetically at them, still hunched up. "Do I have to come with?"

"Yes." Judith says, smiling.

They enter the City of Mages, Lloyd looking quite disgruntled as they left the sunlight and entered full darkness. And indeed, he was glowing turquoise.

".. Just walk near the lights." Yuri points out. Lloyd looks miserable, but he darts from light to light, eventually managing it without looking insane, or shifty. They reached the main circle of the mage's city when a cry rang out.

"Eureka!" From the northern end of town, where the shout came from, ran a red clad female.

"Oh!" Estelle recognized Rita. "Rita, Yuri is..." the mage darted past them and scholars alike without a glance, heading east.

"It seems like she's blind to everything but her research right now." Judith comments. Lloyd looks a little pale as he realizes something.

"... I can't really blame the people here for treating her like such a weirdo." Yuri says.

"... Please don't let her take me apart." Lloyd whispers, watching where the mage went with wide eyes. "I really don't think I'd be able to ... fix that..."

"... Hmmm... Maybe." Yuri says, watching Lloyd pale further.

"She looked so happy. She must have discovered something." Estelle notes.

"I hope so." Yuri says. "Let's go and see." Lloyd mutters something like 'do we have too', but keeps close with them as they've been attracting stares. They head east and into Rita's little cottage, finding the mage at the back almost attached to a bookshelf.

"Hmm..." They could hear her thinking aloud to herself as Yuri approached. "We should be able to calculate the force field stability coefficient. So..."

"Rita?" Estelle asks, as they are ignored for Rita to go to another stack of books.

"We could make a key formula." Rita mutters. "Efficiency is okay. Making a stable, non-dispersing piece should be..." A small green and white lizard lifted its head from its coil and watched Estelle, then trilled.

"Hey, Rita!" Yuri shouts.

"What?!" Rita snaps, straightening. "Don't bother me!" there was a second when the voice that had shouted. "... Huh?!" She turned around, looking over the group. "Oh, it's you... How did you get into..." she blinked, studying them again. "Wait, you're...?" More specifically, at the two males.

"Hi." Yuri waves at her. Lloyd attempts to smile. Rita stared blankly at them for a moment, while the lizard stood and flared wings shaped like a ray, rippling into flight with trills and croons in a speech like pattern as it circled Lloyd.

"Where the hell were you?!" Rita shouts. "I looked all over for you, you know... "

"Ahhh, sorry about that." Yuri says. "There were... difficulties."

"...Humph, well, whatever." Rita scowled at both Yuri and Lloyd, who refused to meet her eyes. "I don't have time to argue about that." She joined their little grouping. "I have something very important to talk to Estelle about."

"To Estelle?" Yuri turned to look at the pinkette.

"...I may have found a way to control the behavior of Aer." Rita says.

"Really?!" Estelle clasps her hands. "That's great, Rita!"

"I learned lots of things when I investigated Zaude. Like how we might be able to apply the techniques used there. However..."

"That is related to Estelle's power as a Child of the Full Moon?" Judith asks. Rita nods.

"We need to interact with the Aer to make it recombine freely according to a formula..." Rita says. "This is something only Estelle can do."

"If only I hadn't given Dein Nomos back..." Yuri mutters.

"... the ability... to interact with the Aer..." Lloyd mumbles. "... If I could contact Origin..." Lloyd grimaces, looking away from their stares. "... I need to find my dad." He sighs as the little dragon lands on his shoulder and wraps its tail about his neck and rubbed its head against his cheek.

"Did you meet Duke?" Estelle asks.

"Yeah." Yuri says. "He got us out of the water, saved us, I guess. Well, he said it was so he could recover the sword."

"That sword's different from the Child of the Full Moon." Rita says slowly. "I doubt it could be a substitute."

"But that control formula you used on Estelle..." Judith says. "That was to control the power of the Child of the Full Moon, wasn't it?"

"Yeah. So if we're going to control the Aer with this theory... we have to release the control formula on Estelle." Rita says.

"So ... If everything goes right, we control the Aer." Yuri says. "But if we screw up, the Aer will get even worse, and the world will fall to the Adephagos."

"... I... might be able to help." Lloyd says slowly, his eyes dropping to the ground as everyone looked at him. "If I find what I'm looking for, I might be able to help in the worst case scenario. I'd rather it not be necessary..."

"What are you looking for?" Estelle asks.

"Other than my dad..." Lloyd scratched behind an ear. ".. I really don't know how to explain..." He made a face. "Don't count on it."

"That's quite a bold plan." Judith notes.

"I'm sure it'll be fine." Rita says. "Estelle... Believe me. Lend me your power." Estelle remains silent.

"Are you scared?" Judith asks.

"No, I'm happy." Estelle looks at Judith. "I might still be able to use my power to help others. Rita, please let me know if there is anything I can do."

"So what exactly do we need to do?" Yuri asks.

"Well, I'm not completely finished working everything out." Rita says. "Give me a little more time."

"Okay. We'll go see Karol and Raven while you figure things out." Yuri says. Lloyd goes a little paler.

"Great!" Estelle says.

"I'll go too." Rita says. "I've got all the materials I need in my head. I'll let you know when I work it all out." She turned her gaze to Lloyd. "And you've got some explaining to do." She says. Lloyd remains pale, and inches behind Judith.

".. Once we're all back together." Lloyd says, looking away. "I'd... rather not have to explain twice."

"All right, let's go." Judith smiles.

It was night when they reached Dahngrest, much to Lloyd's discomfort, but he decided that this time, he'd have to do something other than dart from light post to light post. He quickly made a light, and lit it, and carried that to mask the greenish glow from about him. It was a rather good idea because Dahngrest didn't have any street-lighting. On their way to the Union Headquarters, they were nearly run over by a blonde.

"Damn it, why did I have to do it!" It was Harry, the Don's grandson and he ran past.

"That was... the Don's grandson, Harry... Right?" Yuri asks the air.

"Aaaah!" That too was familiar. They turned around, and spotted Karol. "Yuri!" Behind him was Raven. He ran up to Yuri. "...I can't believe you! You should've told me you were alive..."

"Sorry for worrying you." Yuri says for what must have been the tenth time since he woke up in Zaiphas. "But I'm back!"

"Well aren't you tough. Heh heh. That's my boy!" Raven says, looking a bit relieved himself.

"Thanks to Lloyd." Yuri says a bit firmly, and ignores the fact that Lloyd flinched from where he was trying to hide.

"We expected you back a bit sooner, truth be told." Rita says, frowning at the twin-blade. "You should have flown back up, rather than make us wait for weeks."

"... Sorry." Lloyd says, keeping his eyes on the ground. "I didn't know what would happen if I dropped into water with my wings out..." Karol inched away from the still barefoot twin-blade.

"About those-" Raven starts.

"Not here." Lloyd says, still not looking up. "Maybe the inn. Not here." He was hunching his shoulders up again, Noishe curled against his neck.

"We just saw Harry – did something happen to him?" Yuri makes an executive decision to change the topic.

"Ah, there's been just a teency bit of trouble." He rubs his chin. "The Union's kind of a ship without a captain, right now."

"So the people won't come together unless there's some kind of core." Judith guesses. Karol nods.

"Core...!" Rita yelps. "That's it!" Everyone turned to her.

"What's it?" Karol asks.

"I've got it!" Rita's thrilled with herself. "Apatheia. It'll work if I use Apatheia. So even if the Aer's stability coefficient keeps changing, if I connect it to one of those..."

"Hold on." Yuri cuts her off. "Forget the explanation. We wouldn't understand it anyway."

"Oh." Rita blinks. "Okay. The Apatheia we gave to the Don should still be around, right?"

"..That was Belius' Apatheia, the cyano ciel." Judith says, scratching the side of her face. Karol and Raven looked at each other confusedly.

"Rita's found a way to control Aer." Estelle explains.

"Really?!" Karol blinks. "Cool!"

"Do you know what happened to the cyano ciel after the Don died?" Yuri asks of Raven.

"Nope." Raven says, tilting his head. "But Harry actually might... Good timing, too." Raven smirks. "I was just about to take him back. Go to the Union headquarters. We'll be back there soon." Yuri nods, turning off toward the headquarters while Raven turned after Harry. Karol leads the way with Lloyd tagging along last as they enter the dark building. Several guildsmen stood against walls, their clothing marking them as from different guilds.

"... The atmosphere is kind of strange." Yuri notes.

"Yeah..." Karol looks sad. "The Union is falling apart..."

"'Cause nobody wants to step in ta take the Don's place." Raven says, joining their little group. "And the Don's heir ain't quite up to it." He turned around. "Come on, don't hang back, now."

"I was the one who led Grandpa to his death." Harry refused to look at them. Raven sighed, indicating Harry in a 'see?' sort of way. "Someone like me could never become a man like the Don was."

"Nobody's sayin' ya gotta become a man like the Don was." Raven says. "We're just saying you should at least show up to the succession meetings."

"Hey, do you have the Don's Apatheia?" Rita asks, drawing shocked looks from Karol and Estelle. "We'd appreciate if you could give it to us."

"Wow, that was quite a fastball, Rita..." Karol notes.

"Blunt and to the point." Lloyd mutters, shifting awkwardly.

"...That Apatheia belongs to whoever succeeds the Don. It's not given to outsiders." Harry says.

"What?" Rita asks, crossing her arms. "Well, when will they choose a successor?"

"I don't know. Don't ask me." Harry says defensively, turning and leaning against the half-wall that lined the walk to the Don's Room.

"That boy's a real piece of work." Yuri notes, watching him. "Who's going to protect the city if the Union isn't?"

"What? That would be our guild, of course!" One set of guildsmen shouts.

"Talking of who's guild?" Another set demands. "I know that you sent in your Clouds of Dawn members to Zaude!"

"The Union has never been outstripped by the Empire." The 'Clouds of Dawn' guildsman snaps. "We cannot sit here and risk falling behind!"

"I say it was imprudent." The second guild says. "It could have been taken as the Union's hostile act against the Empire."

"... I hate politics." Lloyd mutters, tilting his head so he could rub his temples.

"In that case, we would defend our honor on the battlefield!"

"And who will be leading the battle? The Clouds of Dawn? If the Don got wind of that he'd burst out laughing."

"So why don't you boys in Altosk throw your hat into the ring? Maybe then we'd see just how unpopular you really are!"

"This is ridiculous." Yuri snaps. "Continue as you please until the world comes to an end." He says it with patronizing sarcasm. "But don't bring up a war between the guilds. This isn't a joke." Unfortunately his words turned the two guilds toward them in anger. Karol took initiative and moved before the group of them.

"It's all right to be helped by your friends. Protect your friends and they'll respond in kind." Karol was scowling low. "That was the last thing the Don said to me."

"Karol." Yuri mutters.

"What? Who's this kid?" one of the Clouds of Dawn walks forward, looking down at Karol. Immediately after he said that, Yuri and Rita moved to flank Karol, Raven turning to watch and Lloyd standing behind Karol himself. The Dawn guildsman backs up as Karol looks down again.

"I can't do anything by myself, but I have my friends!" Karol frowns up at the guildsmen. "Because my friends are there for me, I can do anything! They're still there for me, even now. Why isn't that good enough for the Union?!"

"The boy is right." Raven says. "The best thing the guilds ever had was their ability to help each other." He glances to the right. "There is always a way to deal with things even if ya aren't some great big leader."

"The Don told you that from now on, you have to walk with your own feet." Yuri paused. "You know how to walk on your own feet, don't you?" the vocal Dawn guildsman looked down.

"You make it sound so easy, but actually-"

"Let's go." Yuri cuts him off. "I'm gonna get sick if I have to stay here any longer." And like that, Yuri turned and left. Lloyd looked over the guildsmen, then the party, and followed Yuri wordlessly.

"Hey, you, wait up!" Rita followed them, then everyone else. Once outside, Rita caught Yuri. "What about the Apatheia!" she demands.

"If you've got enough spare time to be hanging around those idiots, you'd be better off using it to think of another plan." Yuri says.

"Another plan... It's not that easy..." Rita points out. Lloyd stiffened, moving away, and Rita noted an approaching blond.

"... Here." Harry moved to the edge of their group, and threw something at Yuri.

"...Are you..." Yuri looked at the blue crystal the size of his fists. "giving this to us?"

"No, this is going to be stolen." Harry says.

"What do you mean?" Karol asks, clearly confused.

"...I owe you one." Yuri says.

"Get a move on before the others realize it's gone." Harry looks away.

"Ta what do we owe this generosity?" Raven asks.

"I dunno." Harry says, glancing at Karol before Raven. "Maybe it just left a bad feeling in my stomach to get lectured by a kid like that." Raven watches Harry return.

"Maybe there's some hope for that boy after all." Raven mutters.

"So now that we've gotten the Apatheia, what's next?" Judith asks.

"Next up, we're going to the Zopheir Rift. I'm going to use the inactivated Aer krene that's there." Rita says.

"The Rift? We're going someplace cold again? Mind if ol' Raven waits here?" Raven asks.

"You'd rather be cold than have the world be destroyed, wouldn't you?" Yuri asks. "Let's go."

"... and on the way, Lloyd's got some explaining." The twin-blade flinches at Rita's proclamation.

"... If I must." Lloyd mumbles, leading the way out of town with his hands in his pockets, Noishe crooning on his shoulder.

"... He's glowing." Raven notices while Yuri pockets the Apatheia. Karol shivers, but moves with them as they follow the twin-blade out of town and back to Ba'ul.

"..." Lloyd looked very twitchy as they settled in the cabin while Ba'ul flew. "... Sorry... for keeping things... but I hope you can understand why..."

"Maybe ya should just start from the top." Raven offers.

"...That would take too..." his eyes flick to the right. "Fine, a synopsis. Recap. Whatever you want to call it. I'm Lloyd Aurion-Irving, 37, an Aurion by birth, Irving by the man who raised me..." he rubbed the side of his head, looking away. "I was human. Nearly 20 years ago, I thought I was full human. But, a bit obviously, I'm not." His voice cracked a little, his wings moving as if to make his point. "... I'm something called an Angel." Lloyd mutters, hunching up, his eyes to the floor and his still bare feet. "... We're supposed to be a higher-race, than Krityan or Human. A race that dwells in the heavens, winged." His wings fold about him further. "...Most of us ...used to be another race..."

"Only most?" Rita asks, crossing her arms.

"... My father's one of the first Angels. The First, if I understand correctly." Lloyd mutters. "... He's a... rank, called a Seraph... I was going to end up being an Angel whether or not..." Lloyd covers his face. "... whether or not I went through the process. I wasn't just the kid who lived with an adopted father in the woods who never got sick... I was only partially human to begin with."

"If... you being different... makes it so only most..." Judith murmurs.

"...There are only five Angels... including me. Two Seraphim... Two Chosen... and they've taken to calling me the Luminary."

"Luminary... 'Any body that gives light, especially one of the heavenly bodies'." Estelle says as if reciting. "In that case, body refers to things more than people... But maybe they meant that you're a bright celestial being."

"...The other term for Angels is Life-Less Beings." Lloyd whispers weakly. "Because what we give up to ascend to being an Angel."

"... You're dead?" Karol yelps, jumping back.

"... I might as well be." Lloyd says, his face in his hands, a broken laugh escaping. "I have no sense of touch. I can tell no difference between something that should sear the flesh from my bones and something that should freeze the blood in my veins, nor do they affect me. I cannot sleep. I don't need it. I don't require any food or drink. It all tastes like a mouthful of ashes, and I can't even enjoy the texture, because I can't feel it." He was shaking, his fingers curling in his hairline. Everyone stared.

"... You gave up all that..." Estelle whispers, worried.

"So what did you get?" Rita demands. "If you gave all that up, you had to get something."

"..." Lloyd looks at his hands. "... I can hear far better than I should. That's why no-one startles me. I can see, again, far better than I should. And..." he got up, slowly, ignoring Karol's scooting back. "... Raven, mind holding onto Yuri for a second? It's easier to explain this way."

"Alright..." Raven turned to Yuri, who raised an eyebrow. "How do we want ta do this?"

"... Actually... just stand back to back." Lloyd was still sounding subdued. They shrugged, and did so. Lloyd hooked a finger under the collar of both of their coats, and with just that hand and it's two finger hold on both of them, lifted them both as high in the air as his arm would lift.

"Whoa!" Raven shouts, gripping his coat as his feet left the ground. Yuri's only note of his surprise was the widening of his eyes. Lloyd set them down, retreating miserably.

"... I didn't need to use my shoulder in Ghasfarost." Lloyd says weakly, sitting again with his wings sort of wrapped about him. "... I gained wings..." one waves at them. "... You... witnessed my self-healing. I also gained three spells... of an element known as Holy, or Angelic, for it isn't Light, but it isn't near anything else. Holy Song, Angel Feathers, Judgment. One party-booster and enemy-attacker, one targeted, one... large area..."

"... There's no such thing." Rita says, frowning. "Holy, or those spells for any case, don't exist."

"... I thought you'd put it together." Lloyd hunches up again. "I'm-"

"Not from Terca Lumireis." Judith says.

".. Correct." Lloyd mutters.

"That's not possible!" Karol yells. "You can't be from anywhere else!"

"Or are you from the Moon?" Raven asks, tilting his head.

"... What's the moon called?" Lloyd asks, as if he was seriously considering the possibility.

".. Luna." Yuri says.

"Then no." Lloyd shrugs. "I'm from... " He blinked suddenly. "... We don't have a name for our world anymore..." he mutters, and then glances off to the right. "... It was once called Symphonia. But then this ass ripped the place into its two countries, and left them that way for... four millennia." His wings rose with his hands. "Before you say it's impossible... look at me. I'm pretty damn close to impossible, right?" mouths closed, and Lloyd hunched back up. "...It nearly killed all of us... but we set it back."

"... If you're from another planet, how did you get here?" Raven asks.

"... I gained the right to the sword that allowed the previous user to split the world." Lloyd says, looking away. "It ... can also be used to bring people to other places... I used it like that once, so I'm guessing..."

"That it chose to dump you here." Rita says.

"In the middle of your Great War." Lloyd confirms. He blinks once, then looks away again. "The fact that I'm an angel... also explains why I'm still looking in my twenties. Our..." he scratches behind an ear. "The storyteller said that becoming an angel causes your metabolic clock to halt. All I know is that it's taken me nine years to look as old as I do now from twenty, and the remaining six, I haven't been able to spot any differences. Before that, up until fifteen years ago, I grew normally."

"... 'Becoming an angel'. 'Ascending'. 'Became the first angel'. 'Went through the process.'"Rita ticks things off on her fingers. "'Were another race before.'... Are you saying that Angels are created?"

"Yes... exactly that." Lloyd grimaces after a second, but pulled off his torn shirt and the shirt of Yuri's he'd been using as a coat. He had quite a collection of scars, most hair thin, although there were four that looked like the outline of a petal pattern across his torso, and a indigo crystal imbedded in his chest, right on his breast bone. On a fine chain was a gold oval locket; on a leather braid was the piece of metal he'd shown as his Bodhi Blastia.

"That's a core!" Rita shouts, jumping up.

"It's-" Lloyd barely had time to react before Rita jumped him, her hand swiping across the crystal to draw out the glowing pattern of a keyboard and a monitor of sorts, script flowing across it as she knocked Lloyd onto his back. Noishe shrilly trilled as he took off, circling. Lloyd's wings vanished into the floor, his words cutting off as if she'd knocked all the air out of him, his eyes going wide and staring while she pulled up information.

"... This doesn't have a formula!" Rita shouts, practically standing on Lloyd while she pulled up information, the twin-blade still. "No, wait..." she typed furiously, drawing things up and moving them aside. "It does... but it's butchered! How could anyone do that?! How can he use it!"

"Rita..." Yuri says slowly, watching Lloyd. "Lloyd's not breathing."

"Rita! You killed him!" Karol shouts, although he was still on the other side of the cabin. Estelle quickly moved over while Rita blinked, and stepped off the brunette man.

"His... face isn't blue or anything..." Estelle whispers, kneeling. "He's... just not breathing... He doesn't have pupils..."

"It's this thing!" Rita shouts, grabbing onto the crystal.

"Let... go... of...me..." Estelle recoiled as the harsh whisper came from Lloyd's mouth, the tone and inflection not that of the twin-blade. "You... stupid... human!" Lloyd's arm moved jerkily, as if a badly made puppet's limb, in a swipe at Rita, but the mage dodged. He pushed himself up with just as poor of movements, before glaring at them. His eyes were a cold blue, and the wings behind him were no longer turquoise but a pastel amethyst cloud. Noishe shrieked, but flew behind Yuri at a glare from those blue eyes.