Chapter 5: Trial or Error

Lloyd, standing on the tips of his toes, scanned the huge crowd for Meru's blue haired head.  The girl had gotten separated from him soon after they had first entered into Bale.  It appeared as if everyone in all Basil were present for the trial, along with the entire Tiberoan army.  Masses of people flooded the street and taverns, and Lloyd was beginning to fear that the little winglie might have been ran over by one of the many carts.  "Meru!  Meruuuu!" Narneel snorted behind his owner, tossing his head in annoyance yet keeping a watchful eye out for his friend and companion.  "Where the bloody hell is she, I told her to stay with me and to call if she was separated!"  Lloyd fumed out loud, drawing the unwanted attention of those around him, he scowled at the humans and continued on his way, plowing through the thickening crowd like it was the snow on the trail to the city.

"If I were Meru, where would I be?"

"Right behind you, idiot."

Spinning, Lloyd was met with a frowning Meru and an indifferent Lellian.  "Where have you been!? I've been looking everywhere!"

"Lloyd, I've been right behind you the entire time you've been screaming my name and making yourself look like a complete madman!  What Were you doing!?"

"I don't know what you are talking about, you were separated as soon as we got into the city!"

Meru growled and grabbed Lloyd by his cloak, dragging him through the crowd to a large fountain in the courtyard outside the castle, shoving him onto the stone bench and sitting herself down next to him.  "Listen, Lloyd, as soon as we entered the city your started looking around like you couldn't find or see something, apparently me.  I tried getting your attention but you ignored me!  People were staring at you like you were the black monster!  Then, suddenly, you just snapped out of it!"

"But I couldn't find you!"

"I was right there Lloyd, either you're starting to hallucinate or, well, I don't know!"

Lloyd was visibly disturbed.  He had no reason not to believe Meru, as she had no reason to lie to him about something so serious.  "I…I don't know either…oh by the gods!"  Lloyd's head dropped into his shaking hands, moaning out a "What the hell is happening to me?"  Meru hesitantly hugged the older mans shoulder and promised that they would find out what was going on, just trying to give him comfort in any way.  She really couldn't understand what was going on inside the Winglie's head and didn't know how he even coped with the problems thrown at him. 

"Hey, come on, lets go find a room and then we'll relax for a bit, ok?"

Nodding in silent agreement, Meru pulled Lloyd to his feet and took the lead of Lellian's and Narneel's reigns, following Lloyd to a tavern inn called 'The Setting Moon'.  "I know this place from when I used to stay in Bale sometimes, it's cheap if you have something to do with city business because it is the closest inn to the Castle."

"Oh, well, I would think it would be expensive then."

"Well, the place is funded by the castle and they made an arrangement with the owner so that their guests can stay here for a less amount than regular guests."

"That makes sense, will we get the cheap rate?"

"We might, since we have these passes to the trial they might let us, just hope whoever we speak to does not ask a lot of questions."

The younger winglie seemed to agree and followed Lloyd inside after fastening their runner's reigns to a post outside the building.  Lloyd asked the girl to wait in the lobby while he went and talked to the hostess standing at a small ornate podium by the stairs.

"Hello, and welcome to the Setting Moon Tavern and Inn, how may I please you?"

"I'm looking to rent a room for two nights, three days."

"All we have left, sir, are our suites, our rates are four-hundred gold for the times you spoke of, they come with breakfast and dinner included and a fabulous view of the castle."

"Four-hundred gold?  Isn't that a bit over priced?"

"I'm sorry sir, but with the Tiberoan army taking up so much space without paying we've been forced to up the rates for regular guests just so we can afford to stay open."

"Well," Lloyd fished around in one of his leather pouches fastened to his silver belt and pulled out the passes given to him by the soldier from the road, "I have these, I'm here for the King's trial, I know you give discounts to those for government business."

The woman took the passes from the Winglie and examined them carefully, "These are genuine, I've seen many false ones in the past few days, poor souls truly thought they were real and claimed they purchased them for a very high rate only for them to be frauds.  They will get you a discount," the woman faltered as if some revelation had come over her.  She leaned in close, locking her eyes with Lloyd's as her voice took on a soft nearly inaudible tone, "You're here to help the king aren't you?"

"Excuse me?"

"Yes, you must be, the only people I've seen with these passes are Tiberoan officials, which you obviously are not, you know he's innocent, that he'd never kill Princess Emily," the hostess stopped to chant out a blessing for the woman's soul, "You're here to help him aren't you!"

"I'd rather say nothing on that subject," Lloyd's face had gone pale and cold, was he that obvious?  He thought he had done a good job of keeping a low profile and not being taken suspiciously.

The woman flushed slightly and nodded her head hastily, pulling away like she had been burned and stammering an apology, "Yes, these are things I should not speak about, they may hinder your cause.  The rates for a room would be two-hundred gill, for special guests only."

The tight chain that had wrapped it's self around Lloyd's chest loosened and he handed over the money gratefully.  Before leaving the day before for Bale Shana had approached Lloyd with a large sum of gold, claiming that the money would be put to better use saving Albert than giving them a more than comfortable living.  She made him promise not to open the bag until they were a half days journey away from the cottage, telling him sternly that the money was now his and if he tried to return any of it, it would only end up melting in the hearth.  When he had reached the time frame Shana had specified and opened up the heavy pouches, he had found more than sixty thousand gold inside.  Meru had nearly fainted from the huge amount and Lloyd found himself staring and smiling like an idiot at the brown leather pouches in his lap.

He closed the pouch and made sure it was bound tightly to his hip so that no pick-pocketers could grab a hold and run with it.  The woman tuned to a wall behind her and opened one of the many slots, pulling out a set of keys.  "These two are to the locks on your room door," the woman separated two gold colored keys from the set, "and this one is to a safe located in the room, you'll need to look around for the safe because they are in different places in every room.  Enjoy your stay and good luck!"

Lloyd "Thank you'd" politely and had her direct him to the stables where he could house the runners, returning to Meru with his mood lightened.

"Ya got us a room I take it?"

"Yes, here, give me the saddle bags and supplies and I'll go up to the room and get things situated, will you take the runners to the stable?"

"Sure, that's fine!" Meru pulled off her pack, tossing it to Lloyd, and then proceeded to pull off the saddlebags from the runners, tossing those also to a now full-armed Lloyd.  "See ya in a bit!" Meru ran off with the beasts, darting around a sharp corner into a short alleyway leading to the stable.  Lloyd glanced around before heading inside with their supplies, taking the steps up to the sixth floor and, after fumbling around and trying to juggle not only luggage but the keys, managed to open the door to their room and collapse on the bed.

~          *            ~

            Meru ran behind Lloyd trying to keep up with the older winglie, his strides were longer and faster than her own as he ran, causing her to get caught behind moving masses of people as he expertly dodged their constantly moving forms.  "Lloooyd, wait up!"  A whined plead called out above the crowd, only to be returned with a "We're late already!  You let me over sleep again!"

"That's your fault!  I'm not you're living breathing alarm clock for Soa's sake!"

            "Meru!  You left for breakfast without me and didn't even bring me back a mug of coffee!"

            "So! I was hungry, and you were all dead to Endiness in your bed!  You don't need coffee! It stunts your growth!"  Meru finally caught up with Lloyd as he slowed down in front of the courthouse, panting her exasperation and annoyance.

            "I'm not the one who's half the size of her own weapon."

            "Agh! You bastard!"

            "Shush, we're going inside alright?  Don't be loud, and, well, just don't talk in general alright?  I want this to go well."

            "Yeah, yeah, just don't make me mad or it might be me up on the stand for murder rather than Albert, and let's just say you won't be around to save anyone!"

            Lloyd glared harshly at the girl growling 'Who's the immortal one here?' and proceeded to pull out the passes given to him, he handed one of the pins to Meru and placed his own above his heart, then together, the pair of Winglies approached the guards outside the door.

            The guards examined the pins with a great amount of scrutiny before allowing them to go inside the courthouse, one of them, a knight of Basil, smiling thankfully at the two, his red auburn hair seeming to glow with excitement.  Lloyd thought uneasily to himself that maybe the young knight knew what he was planning to do just as the hostess at the tavern did.  He banished the thought before it took too much of a hold over his outwardly calm appearance and led Meru to a pair of seats located about three quarters of the way towards the front stands.  Soon after they sat down, the general of the Tiberoan army stepped out to a large podium and cleared his throat, an eerie silence passed over the room as the man looked down at the gathering.

            "We're here today as witnesses to the trial of King Albert of Basil, accused of the crime of murder against his own wife, Princess Emily," the man lowered his head and whispered a blessing, the rest of the court room following.  "He was judged and found guilty in Tiberoa and will now be tried in his homeland of Basil, as is only fair."

            Lloyd snickered to himself and shock his head, receiving a harsh kick and hiss from Meru in response.

            "Bring out the accused!"  The general turned towards one of the decorative wall hangings as it was pushed aside, a pair of Tiberoan soldiers leading out a disgusting looking Albert.  He was covered in grime from head to foot, his clothing torn and ragged and hair matted with soot, mud, feces, and clumps of other undistinguishable objects.  His face was drawn out and tired, the once pale skin now brown with dirt, his tall frame hunched and stumbling across the marble floor and hazel eyes closed in either pain or from being caked with mud and grime.

            Meru gasped, her stomach flipping at the mere sight of her good friend.  She squeezed the sides of her chair as her eyes filled with tears, the shock of seeing the once handsome and graceful king now beaten and broken too much.  Her reserves of happiness ran dry at seeing such a terrible sight, she didn't think any man, let alone Albert, could look so horrible.  If the others only knew.

            Lloyd, even with not knowing the king as personally as the others did, had spent a great amount of time as the Hooded Man and the young Albert's advisor and knew that this was not the king loved by his people and the former Princess Emily.  This man was not a man at all but just the abandoned vessel that the spirit had fled from.  Lloyd had to turn away and set a flaming glare on the Tiberoan general, now even more set in his cause to flee with Albert.  In doing so, he had missed the shocked look spreading across the kings face as his eyes opened and leveled to where Meru and Lloyd sat, not paying attention to the soldiers now shoving him roughly into a seat placed before the podium the general stood at.  His lips parted and mouthed the words, 'Meru' and 'Lloyd', his hazel eyes sparking with a happiness not seen there in months.

            "King Albert," the words hissed out of the generals mouth, "do you confess to the murder of the beloved Princess Emily, confess that you coldly, brutally poisoned your own wife and left her to die a slow agonizing death in your own bed chambers?"

            "No."

            "Confess now and I promise a quick execution, private and not in front of your own people."

            "I will not confess to something I did not commit."

            "I'm giving you an easy way out!"

            "I am refusing it."

            "Very well then, this trial will proceed."  The general hissed at Albert, sitting down in a leather chair raised above the others.

            Another man approached the king, his face hard and unemotional as his violet cape swung about his ankles, the crest of the house of Tiberoa was sewn to his tunic and he leaned towards the king.  His nose upturned at the smell of the man and Albert looked away, his brow furrowing as his heart sank.  "King Albert, where were you the night you found Emily dead?"

            "I was in the Library, reading."

            "How did you find your wife then, if you were in the Library?"

            "I, sensed her, something was wrong, and so I went back to the castle to aid her."  The man's eyes closed as he resisted the urge to cry out, the visions flooding back into his mind of her dead, lifeless body laying on the floor and he not able to do anything. 

            "You sensed her you say?  That seems far fetched does it not?"

            "So does being able to speak to the stars, wouldn't you say?"

            "You dare insult Tiberoa! Let alone the deceased Princess herself!?"

            "No, I only make the point that you say that sensing that the woman you love is in danger is considered far fetched but yet you believe without a doubt that listening to the stars, celestial being located far off in space, it an everyday occurrence."

            "Blasphemy, only to support the fact that you are guilty!  I have no other questions, I think the King speaks for himself."

            At that point, as the man tuned away, a large boisterous boom shook the room and sent guards running through courthouse doors flung open.  "General, s-some thing is assaulting the city!"

            "What are you talking about?  What thing?"

            "A monster sir, but, huge, the size of the Queen Anne!"

            "A monster the size of a battleship?  Boy! Do not make up stories, handle this yourself, we are in the middle of a trial!"

            Another boom sounded, closer this time, sending chunks of soft marble tumbling down on the people in the court room, people were now clambering from their seats and racing towards the door way, trying to get out into open air where things could not fall on their heads.  "Sir, we really need your help!  Our weapons don't harm it and magic only has a tiny effect!"

            The general turned to Albert, we will continue this later-"

            Suddenly, the whole roof to the courthouse was tore off, the head of a massively huge Virage appearing in its place.  The being roared a high pitched wail and sent a beam of energy down into the middle of the room, people and marble being thrown in all directions.  Heads cracked against stone while bodies were buried under the falling rubble.  The general and soldiers ran out of the courthouse, through walls and over screaming bodies, Meru and Lloyd clambered over to a gaping Albert.

            "Albert!  Albert!"  Meru shook the young king as he slowly set his gaze on the girl.  "Come on Al, we gotta get out of here now!

            "…Meru…?"

            "Yes, it's me, come on! We're getting you out of here Al, we really gotta go!" Meru pulled desperately at the young king's sleeve, her pleading eyes searching Albert's stunned hazel one's.

            Lloyd gently pushed Meru away from her friend and, grabbing Albert by the chin, forcing the man to look into his eyes.  "You remember me don't you."  Albert, as if stung, drew back and hissed involuntarily.  "Good, you want to know what's going on, why I'm not dead?"  The king nodded again, the sting not leaving.  "You best decide to cooperate then and get yourself the bloody hell out of here.  We're risking our lives for you, alright, but know that I will not hesitate to leave you behind right now for those Tiberoans if you do not move!"  With that, Lloyd harshly shoved the young king towards a gaping hole in the courthouse wall, the three stumbled towards the crevice, the lighted opening dimmed by the floating particles of dust and broken stone.  As they stepped through the thick stone  fissure, Lellian and Narneel galloped up to Meru and Lloyd, snorting and bellowing happily.  The presence of the Virage had undoubtedly frightened the two runners into a frenzy and for them to see their companions, not only safe, but close by, was a great relief.

            "Hey Lellian!  You alright girl?" Meru scratched the beast behind the ears and rubbing her forehead.  "This is Albert, I told ya about him remember?"  Meru flinched as a large blast of energy shot shards of stone into the alleyway they had entered.  The Virage, now some distance away from the former courthouse, cried out unhappily as the Basil army, along with the already present Tiberoan one, charged into the city.  Arrows and blades flew at the creature that was taller than even the castle.  They would do little good against a power like that.

            "Meru, come on, we're out of here now!"

            "What about the Virage?  Will it destroy the entire city!?" Meru glanced sympathetically at Albert who was watching the scene with water filled eyes. 

            "No, as soon as we're safely away the Virage will…well, it won't do anymore harm!  Now, let's go!"

            Lloyd grabbed Albert by the shoulder and leapt up onto Narneel, pulling the smaller and lighter king up behind him.  The man tried to scoot away as to not be so close to the Winglie but was only rewarded with a snarl and 'if you want to fall off and be left for the soldiers, I don't care.'  Albert gave up trying to stay clear of touching anything of Lloyd and locked his arms around his waist, Narneel bursting into a full gallop from where he stood, Lellian close at his heels.

            The city was in shambles, the only still standing and unharmed portion on the once magnificent capital was the palace, which was now being surrounded by the first two knights regiments.  The Virage was approaching at it's own languid pace, crying out it's displeasure at the human weapons nicking it's hide for all to hear.  A large bladed boomerang squealed through the air, hitting the monster directly in the eye, causing the Virage to throw it's head back with an earth shattering, air pulsing bellow and a beam of pure energy that parted the clouds.

            Albert watched in fascination and silent horror as his city, his people, his soldiers were thrown in every which direction.  It was funny how these once two opposing people would only come together at a time like where death was unavoidable and lives were in danger.  Was another war in store for Basil?  Or would the feuding only end with his death?  The young king smiled sullenly at himself and looked away, Lloyd was tense and shaking, causing Albert to feel even more uneasy about what was happening to him.  Why was Lloyd, of all people involved in the Cascade Moon Trials, alive?  Why not Rose?  Or maybe she was and just no one knew about it.  Albert, the more he dwelt on that thought, grew to doubt it's validity.  Rose wanted to die, she had found Zeig, and with the destruction of Melbu Frahma, there was no more need for a Black Monster to stop him or the God of Destruction from being reborn.

            But yet, there were many others, good people, who died in the struggle.  Like Lavitz, why could he not be alive.  For Soa's sake, Lloyd killed Lavitz!  All the first knight of Basil did was protect lives, he gave his own for his cause, sacrificed himself for what he believed in.  Lloyd, in the end, couldn't even decide on what he believed in let alone which side he fought on.  Lloyd was a fool and he had been played as one.  His so called 'valiant' action against Frahma only made Albert sick, he had tried for glory, to make up maybe for what he had caused, and failed.  His life was taken as it should have been in place of Lavitz those years ago.  But now, against all laws of nature, he was alive!  Albert had been there, had watched with his own eyes, the man's body fade away to wherever souls go once their bodies die.  He had seen Melbu Frahma shoot that beam of energy straight through his armor, his chest.  He fully remembered the trickling sound of blood and the wheezing of breath, the sight of dead eyes staring into an empty space and the slight metallic scent that had entered the air at the time.

            "May Soa curse you Lloyd!  Why must you be alive!  This is all your fault, as it always is!  Not once will I receive any rest from you, even when you should be dead you still manage to cause me misery!"  Albert beat a half-hearted fist against Lloyd's back, his sobs muffled by the Winglies cloak as the king buried his head into it's thick fabric, trying to control the shaking spasms that came to overtake him.

            Lloyd frowned, keeping silent as to not throw the king into such a state that he might fall off Narneel.  He had hurt this man more than anyone else.  Lloyd remembered the day well, when he had taken the life of his best friend Lavitz.

            The trio continued to ride hard until dusk, when they finally reached the southern end of northern Serdio.  They were still a few days journey until they reached a point that Lloyd truly deemed safe as not having anyone picking up their tracks but they had made good time in the sunny weather.  The previously traveled paths had been cleared away to sticky mud by the Tiberoan army that had trodden there earlier that week.  Lloyd and Meru dismounted their runners at a large clearing with a shallow pool just off of it's eastern side, immediately going about the task of building a fire and preparing some much needed food.  Albert for a few moments time just sat.  He was still in disbelief over what was happening and none of them had spoken much of anything during the ride.  He played with Narneel's saddle encroachments and idly picked at the thick leather.  The beast snorted and shifted his weight, annoyed at the remaining weight on his back.  He too was tired from the ride and wanted only to lay down and rest as did Lellian and the two Winglies.

            "Come on, Albert, get off.  I believe Meru has something for you."

            "Really," the king dismounted and softly landed in the melting snow, walking over to where Meru sat on a rock rummaging through her pack.

            "Here, Al!" Meru handed Albert a heavy leather bag with a sinew drawstring around the top.  "Don't stare at it as if it were runner dung, there's soap, shampoo, conditioner, moisturizer, all that good stuff inside.  You're really dirty and, by no offense, smell worse than a Gigantos."

            "Thank you, I think…"

            "Yeah, well, there's a little pond lake thing over there I guess you could wash in, and Lloyd and I also got you some new clothes while we were in the city.  We kinda figured by the rumors going around that you weren't being treated right over in the prison so we tried to help out.

            "Thank you again…and I'm sorry Meru, for putting you through the trouble of coming after me…though I still want to know what is going on."

            "We'll tell you as soon as you get un-smelly, ok?  We'll have dinner ready by then too!"

~          *            ~

            The sun was setting by the time Albert stepped into the cold pond, he had been able to peel away the majority of his caked clothing and thrown it in a pile next to the open leather bag of soaps.  He hadn't really realized the extent of his decimation of self hygiene until that moment.  He had known he was dirty, but not that filthy!  He was now grateful for the clothes Lloyd had tossed to him on his way to the makeshift bath, he really was in dire need of the garments.  Shrugging off the last of his previous attire, the forest-green cloak that was usually fastened to his shined armor, Albert went about at the task of scrubbing the grime away from his body.  It felt like paradise when he ran his soapy hands over his face, he could physically feel the dirt running off into the pond and squinted his eyes and moved his mouth and cheeks, the stiffness the dried dirt had caused now gone.  He continued the process on the rest of his body, legs, arms, chest, until satisfied that he had washed away most of the muck.  Albert dipped his head under that water, washing away any remaining soap suds, the cool liquid was welcoming as he had not been able to bathe in only Soa knows how long.  His hair was the next challenge.

            Albert had always taken good care of his hair, he was not obsessive over it, but he always kept it clean and generally untangled, though times like when traveling with Dart it had been inevitable that it would turn into just a tiny mess.  But, the state of his hair at that moment was beyond even a mess; it was more of a matted mass of hair and other foreign objects that had no right being where they were.  Albert attempted to run a few slender fingers through the strands but failed miserably, gritting his teeth as he inflicted sharp pangs of pain on his scalp.  Hopefully the shampoo Meru had given him would help somewhat and if not, there was always the option of cutting it, though that in itself made Albert cringe even more than at the pain the tangles caused.  Pushing those thoughts aside, Albert lathered up his scalp and scrubbed gently at the strands.  The white soap soon turned brown, and he rinsed and repeated the process over again about three times.  The state was better, and at least clean, but still tangled and uncontrolled, damned hair.  Albert frowned and pulled out a type of conditioner, adding that to the mixture of cleaning solutions and soon found that it was helping to cause a drastic change in the mats, his hair actually untangling and becoming closer to it's previous, more pampered state, thank Soa. 

            Stepping out of the pond, Albert dressed as quickly as he could.  The cold winter night air freezing against his wet skin, while the pond had been cool, it was shallow and the sunny day had warmed it beyond what was normal for natural springs of the season.  The new garments were grand, Albert observed, the pants a thick yet formfitting light brown leather and the boots similar to his old ones that were rat eaten and torn.  There was a tight undershirt made of a soft cotton and a forest green over shirt with a rectangular cut on the sleeves lined with fine gold trimming.  The shirt hung low and split angularly at his waist where a dark leather belt fastened, much like his previous shirt with its tails in the front.  Albert reached down to the pile once more and found wrapped up in the dark forest green and brown cloak, a set of light armored gloves and a chest plate.  The plate was finely crafted and shone in the rising moonlight, the shoulder guards were small, like his frame, rounded, and trimmed in gold like the shirt.  Albert slipped the armor on, followed by the dark leather gloves, and then fastened the cloak to the clasps present on the armor.  Everything fit perfectly, surprising Albert greatly; he supposed Meru had picked the outfit out as to it being in such his tastes and size. 

            Meru, who for some unknown reason was traveling with Lloyd.

            Albert frowned at this thought and made his way back to the campsite, destroyed clothes, armor, and all in his arms.

            "Hey Al!"

            "Hello Meru," Albert smiled at the happy girl glowing with excitement and firelight, he then turned to regard Lloyd, "Thank you both for the clothing, and…everything, I…well…"

            "It's alright Albert, you don't need to say anything, I'm your friend right, couldn't just leave ya to that general huh?"

            "I suppose, but still, it must have been a lot of trouble, I mean, well, I am quite confused as to how you managed."

            Lloyd grunted with a bemused grin on his face while shaking his head and kicking another piece of firewood into the growing blaze.

            "Uh yeah, 'bout that, I guess you want to know what's goin on huh?"

            "That would be nice," Albert inclined his head towards the older winglie.

            The silver haired winglie met his gaze with his own cool one, "I've been resurrected by the God of Creation, she has given me the 'gift' of immortality for my punishment, an eternal life on Endiness."

            "Eternal life?  Fascinating," Albert right hand went to stroke his chin thoughtfully, "and this is a punishment you say?"

            "Yes, well, it does not seem so as of yet but imagine in a few hundred thousand years from now, I un-aged and without peace, no rest, just life."  Lloyd looked into the fire, the blaze a lighter crimson than the shade his eyes had taken at the thought of immortality.

            "It is only right, after all that you have done, all the lives you have ended, one may look at it as living for those that you unrightfully destroyed."

            "Albert! That's not nice!"

            "I'm sorry Meru, but you of all people should know how I feel."

            "This is not just about Lavitz anymore, I understand how you feel about him but you know, Lloyd only meant good in what he was doing!"

            "I am terribly sorry Albert, for that…" the apology was soft over the roaring of the fire.

            Albert just watched the other man, thoughts jumbling through his mind; he could not give forgiveness, not yet, but in time maybe…

            "Anyway, I am capable of communicating with the God, and other things…most of which I'm not aware of yet."

            "Though those headaches and hallucinations are surfacing, side effects I was thinking," Meru suggested, turning to Albert.  "Yesterday when we were in the city, Lloyd hallucinated that I was nowhere to be seen when I was really just behind him, he even said Narneel was acting funny as he was.  We're not sure what was happening, but soon after, well, Lloyd kinda just passed out for hours on his bed, and when he awoke had a terrible headache, he threw up a few times and couldn't even eat dinner."

            "I suddenly felt better right before we went to bed for the night…and I had this recurring dream again, about a woman in a rose light."

            "That is all quite interesting and all, but I doubt you are traveling around for nothing."

            "Yeah, well, Lloyd's got this uncontainable urge to be reunited with the Dragon Buster."

            "Oh, yes, there's a good idea, put a deadly weapon back into the hands of an already deadly man.  At least your not a Dragoon anymore, that the spirit is with Dart," Albert acidly spat at Lloyd.

            Another sad smile stretched over Lloyd's features as he drew the indigo spirit out into the moonlight.  The orb pulsed happily at its owner, the light comforting to Lloyd as he stared at the familiar sphere.

            "I stand corrected," Albert then noticed the sullen look on Lloyd's face and immediately regretted being so harsh with the man.  He had obviously changed in many ways, Albert knew that from the moment he had saw him sitting in the courthouse.  "I'm sorry for being so rash Lloyd, I am just shocked by all that has been happening of late."

            "I understand, I can not imagine what it feels like to lose the one you love, you have my sympathy," Lloyd was whispering again.

            "Oh come on!  Enough with the sobbiness!  It's really great to see you Albert!" Meru jumped to her feet and leapt at Albert, pulling the slightly unwilling man into a tight embrace.

            "Y-yes Meru, I'm relieved to see you safe and well also!" Albert laughed as the little Winglie pecked a friendly kiss on his cheek.

            "Yup, and guess what! You don't smell all nasty anymore!"

            "Thank you…I think."

            Lloyd smiled at the two friends, it was somehow relieving to see the two reunited again, but made him feel once again an outcast to the tight knit group that had formed while fighting against him.  He turned back to regard his Dragoon Spirit once more, the indigo light humming to him in reassurance and affection.