"No!"

Genis ran forward and kicked the dirt where his best friends had disappeared. "How could this happen?! Lloyd… Colette! Mithos…"

His shoulders began to shake. He sensed his sister coming up from behind and turned fully into her embrace.

"We must go after them," Presea stated. "Dirk was putting the finishing touches on Lloyd's key crest. We can leave straight away."

Regal disagreed. "I know we're all flustered because of everything that happened. However, we need to recoup our strength. We flew all morning, it's almost evening, and we haven't had dinner yet."

"That's fine! We can't leave Colette and Lloyd with them!" Sheena yelled. Her fist came up and pounded into an open palm. "And besides, I've gotta teach that stupid Chosen a lesson! I can't believe him…"

Was that promise to defeat Yggdrasill and watch the cherry blossoms a lie?

She supposed she had never really known him, after all.

The thought hurt far more than she thought it would.

"No, Regal is correct." Kratos stepped in, ready to tank their antagonism. "You should all rest for at least a couple of hours before we break into Derris-Kharlan."

"It's your fault!" Genis stood glaring at Kratos, shining tears still dripping down his cheeks.

"Genis!"

"No, Raine! If he's supposed to be your son—if you're supposed to be against Cruxis—how could you have attacked us in the Tower of Salvation?! How could you have let Colette sacrifice herself? How could you have let Yggdrasill just take Lloyd's key crest!"

Kratos flinched.

"That's enough, Genis."

"But, Sis—!"

"No. I am as equally aggrieved by Kratos' actions and omissions as you are. But this is not the time for laying out our grievances." Raine glanced up; her icy eyes burned into him.

This was not the end.

He bowed his head.

"Let's go inside," sighed Yuan, walking past him, but halted when Presea blocked the way.

"Not so fast," she said.

Yuan's eyebrow twitched again. "What am I supposed to say? Sorry?"

Sheena scowled. "Well, shouldn't you be? Maybe if you hadn't wasted our time trying to take Lloyd hostage, we could have figured this all out and stopped them from being taken."

"Tch."

Kratos strode away from the others, his feet almost automatically taking him to the one he loved.

"Anna… I'm so sorry. I couldn't protect him again."

Flowers, surprisingly bright in the dusk, rested on the cold, unforgiving stone.

He stayed there for so long he lost track of time; the moon was inching up the sky by the time he pushed the front door open.

"Dirk."

The dwarf nodded but said nothing. Instead, he turned and rummaged around his pantry.

Kratos raised an eyebrow. Surely the others would have informed him that he did not need to eat after he had not turned up for supper. "Can I help you?"

A bottle thudded onto the table along with two tankards. "Ah hear ye don't hafta, but the drink's a good way o' bonding among men. Always has been, always will be. Raine mentioned ye can still taste, at least. And Ah've been saving this one up for a while."

Kratos suppressed a snort. That woman had an excellent memory. "Very well. I thank you."

They both took a long draught of the alcohol before speaking again. "They told me everything that happened outside."

"So you know." He closed his eyes.

"Yep. Yer Lloyd's father. Heh. Can see it."

"I don't deserve him," he muttered.

"This ain't what it's about. It's not about deserving." Dirk took another swig. "Martel knows Ah couldn't deserve Lloyd. But he came into my life, and Ah'm thankful for that. Doesn't mean ye should have been separated from him, though."

"It's my fault. I should have looked harder. I should have checked all around the forest. I should have found him."

Kratos' mug had remained untouched since the first swallow.

"It's too late fer that."

He gave a mirthless chuckle. "Yes."

"But ye've found him now. So forget about the years ye lost and concentrate on the time ye had and will have," Dirk told him.

"How could I forget?" he said through clenched teeth. "I lost my will to fight after I lost them. I went back to the very man responsible for their deaths. I did not even attempt to avenge them."

Dirk shook his head. "Ah don't care about vengeance. An' that was in the past. Dwarven Vow number nine: Fall down sev'n times, stand up eight."

"You've raised him well," he said. "Far better than I could have."

"He didn't need me much ta become the man he is today." He cracked a prideful grin. Kratos' eyes lowered to his hands, stained with Anna's blood.

"I see. Yet he grew up happy here, with friends, and fourteen years of safety. All I could have given him was a life on the run."

Dirk wrinkled his nose, stroking his bushy beard. "Maybe. But Ah think he still woulda been happy. Don't underestimate a child's resilience."

That was true. Kratos had been surprised at how much Lloyd could take as a toddler.

"All this nonsense about deserving and not deserving? Ah don't deserve to be my parents' son; ye don't deserve to be Lloyd's father, but ye are. That's part of who ye are. So we just do our best to live up to it. That's all. Isn't that what Anna would have wanted?"

Yes. A thousand times, yes. But obstinacy ran hot in his blood (and Lloyd had inherited it).

Fourteen years ago, Kratos had forfeited his right to be called a parent by neglecting to search long enough, far enough, hard enough. Now, he was trying to take it up again.

He drained his tankard and stood. It was time.

"Thank you, Dirk."

For saving my son. For raising him as your own. For being the father I could not be.

"Nah, Ah'm just doing what Ah can." He stood as well, cutting an imposing figure despite the height difference, and pressed the new key crest into Kratos' palm. "Now, git out there and git our son back!"

"Of course."

It was late—in both senses of the word—when they left for Derris-Kharlan.

As they flew, pushing their rheairds as fast as their bodies could bear, Sheena reflected.

Lloyd was gone again. So was Colette. Two people who didn't deserve the problems piled onto their shoulders, but took the burden anyway, and cheerfully.

The couple had fought the night before—about what, she could only take stabs at, but it was probably related to the quarrel about key crests that morning—and the atmosphere in the morning had been so awkward Sheena thought she might have screamed in frustration. Even Zelos had been more serious than the norm, though he had played it up with the usual antics.

It was enough to convince Sheena that she had no place there, with Lloyd. At least, not romantically.

Then Colette had approached her, hands folded in that peculiar, nervous way of hers, her face crestfallen.

Sheena had wanted to sigh when she heard the story. Figures they'd quarrelled because they were worried about each other. She had set about doing her best to put Colette straight.

"But… I'm nervous."

"That's fine. Everyone is when we need support. But it's always better to ask your friends than go it alone. Trust me, I know."

"Heh… You're right, Sheena. I don't know if I can be strong like you are."

"What are you talking about? You're plenty strong. I caved under the pressure of Mizuho's expectations—you took on all of Sylvarant's and did a way better job than I would have, for sure."

"You sound just like Lloyd."

"Wha…? What's that—I mean, no I don't!"

"Teehee, I think you do. Neither of you is afraid to help others. Neither of you bat an eye when you say you want to change the world. Me, I don't know how… I only know how to do what I've been told all my life."

"That's… You're free now. You can choose your own path."

"It's okay. I've chosen to walk by Lloyd's side for as long as I can. And even if he doesn't want that, I'll follow him to the ends of the earth. I believe in him. That's my freedom. I think… I've always been free. Free to love. That's why I let go of him the first time, because I wanted everyone to live happily. Even if I die, even if my body becomes Martel's—I'm still me. Colette is Colette. Right?"

"Colette… Yeah, you're right. I can't say I understand yet, but I think you're right."

It was funny how she had tried to teach Colette but in the end, had been the one taught a life lesson.

She had seen them on the balcony earlier in the day: heads close together, hands touching, eyes content, words only for each other's ears.

"You know, if you keep gazing after what you don't have, you'll miss what you do."

Perhaps one day she could move on. Maybe one day, she would no longer be bound by a past that brought naught but pain.

No, that wasn't true. This path she had chosen for herself had given her all that she needed. It was only that the one whom she might have wanted to share it with might not be due the trust she had given.

Sheena found herself wanting to sock that traitor. Her face grew hot. It was hard to breathe. How could he have led them all on like that? When they had gone out to look at the snow, talked about winter turning into spring, white into pink—had it all just been a front?

She remembered his eyes that night. Melancholy and tranquillity in an undefinable ratio. She didn't want to believe that had been faked. She didn't want to believe that he really didn't care for Lloyd or Colette. For her.

She had been starting to think she was getting to know the real him. Maybe even fall—

Sheena didn't know anything anymore.

Enough of that.

They had questioned—grilled, really—Yuan about all these secrets they hadn't been privy to since Kratos had been outside at his wife's gravestone and no one had had the heart to intrude. Sheena was still reeling from the amount of information that was still being withheld from them, and cross they hadn't been told. Would have been pretty useful if they had known all this earlier!

She understood that Kratos wasn't able to let on that he was helping them because he was being watched. The irrational, protective side of her was incensed that he'd let them believe that. She was incensed that he would point his sword against them. Against Lloyd. Of all people, his only son!

She understood that Yuan wanted the seal on Origin lifted, but she was outraged that he'd stoop so low as to threaten Lloyd. (Like she could talk, having agreed to kill the Chosen of Sylvarant for the sake of Tethe'alla's continued affluence. Or her own acceptance, if Sheena was feeling particularly vicious.)

She understood that Zelos had been playing all three sides (well, two now), but she was indignant when Yuan kept tiptoeing around Zelos' betrayal.

Then, too, both he and Kratos had mentioned that there was one last item they lacked to forge the Eternal Ring, but neither had said what it was nor how they would acquire it, only that it would be taken care of. This late in the game, Sheena couldn't wrap her head around their ambiguity.

This entire situation made her want to tear her hair out.

And Lloyd was an angel now. An honest-to-goodness, full-blown angel. Or—he had been before if what Yggdrasill said was to be trusted. He had the wings, the strength matched only by Colette and the seraphim, and the soullessness.

Colette would be like that, too, soon. Replaced by Martel. Yggdrasill's sister. Mithos' sister.

She couldn't believe he had been under their noses the whole time.

Betrayal hurt.

It hurt almost as much as Kuchinawa's had. She ached, knowing that when she returned to Mizuho, he would not be there. He hated her. So many in Mizuho hated her. But Sheena was not about to let that stop her.

And then the image of cherry blossoms falling on an empty rug burned into her mind.

They dismounted their rheairds for a quick snack and to recover from the long flights. Sheena rubbed her arms ferociously, the wind as biting as it had been in Flanoir.

Yet there was no white. The dirt was brown, hardy grasses yellowed and brown, crunching underfoot instead of soft, almost soundless steps in the fluffy snow.

Sheena shook herself hard. She couldn't keep going around in circles like this. She needed answers.

So she marched up to Kratos, in full view of everyone else, and said, "I just don't get it."

"What in particular, Sheena?" asked Raine. "There are a great many things I would like to investigate."

"Well…" She trailed off for a moment, caught off guard by Kratos' open face. He looked like he was… grieving. For Lloyd, she guessed, though she had to wonder how he had hidden Lloyd's parentage from them during their travels together if he was going to act like this now. "First off, what is Yuan even doing? He muttered something about mana transfers and ran off. He could at least help us out with this attack."

Kratos shook his head. "I do not know. He is grasping at straws, as far as I'm concerned."

"Then you have an idea as to what he's up to?"

"Perhaps. I do not wish to say anything further as it is not concrete."

Her jaw tensed. "Fine. Then why are you refusing to tell us what materials are needed for the Ring of the Pact?"

Kratos' expression shuttered, returning to its unflappable state. "I was not. It requires aionis, sacred wood, and adamantite."

Genis gasped, his anger forgotten in the moment of a scholar's discovery. "Aionis! So it's real! And I was right!"

Kratos inclined his head. "It is the constituent we lack. I am given to believe it can only be found on Derris-Kharlan now, in a highly guarded vault."

"How are we going to get it, then? If both you and Yuan no longer have jurisdiction there, you will be unable to gain access," Presea pointed out.

"Astute," he observed. "However, you have no need to concern yourselves. I have made a wager and I believe it will pay off. Even if it does not, I have alternatives. There is too much at stake for future blunders."

Blunders.

"If you didn't find out that Lloyd was alive after all this time," Sheena started haltingly, "would you still have turned against Mithos?"

A telling silence ensued.

She found herself chortling—and it quickly turned into all-out laughter.

"Sheena."

She stopped abruptly at Regal's touch.

"Yeah, I know. It's a bit much to expect that he would have done it just for the worlds. Right? Just like the rest of us, selfish and thinking only about our own skins until Lloyd came along to show us we could fight for something outside of ourselves. Just like Zelos is now."

That wasn't it. That wasn't all of it. Of course, she had been striving for something bigger than herself; yet, sometimes, it felt like she was merely convincing herself that it was so.

"I think you are simply hungry, Sheena," said Presea.

She took the excuse and ran with it. "Yeah. Yeah, I am."

Mealtime had been a sordid affair. Upon incessant haranguing, Kratos had finally told them what had happened to Lloyd in Welgaia.

He was reclining on a seat; his attention was fixed on the live data being gathered by the machine. Lloyd lay within the glass, his glassy eyes staring upward.

Wait.

Had Kratos seen a flicker of life in that empty gaze?

Then Lloyd's exsphere began to glow.

Incredulity shifted and forgotten, Kratos stood abruptly, nearly overturning the chair he was sitting on. Was it truly evolving now?

If that was so, the Angelus Project was far closer to completion than anyone had suspected. Although Mithos had kept insisting that it was a Cruxis Crystal to Lloyd to arouse his fear, it had been betwixt an ordinary exsphere and a mature Cruxis Crystal at the time—else, he would have already received his wings and some of his senses would have been at least partially numbed. Granted, it was much stronger than most and its growth was quick. Now that his key crest had been removed, its development had been allowed to progress at an exponential rate.

Before him, mana gathered densely about Lloyd while within, it churned. The pressure of angelic mana was incredible. It brought faint recollections of times long ago and times just passed.

He was witnessing the birth of a new angel.

Kratos could do nothing but stand and watch as mana pulsed in the exsphere. Its brilliant light began to grow and fill the room.

The glass shattered.

Lloyd began to float. Blue gathered at his shoulder blades.

And great wings burst from his back.

They sat, silent as they listened. Cold dishes lay in laps.

"He's really an angel now, isn't he?" sighed Sheena, her face creased in anxiety. "Just like Colette."

"He's in there somewhere," Genis said. He hunched into himself.

Kratos could not respond.

After dinner, Raine stared into the fire while the younger pair scurried about, distracting themselves from their friends' absence and the recent revelations with camp chores.

"So that's what you needed adamantite to craft… and why you were asking us about sacred wood," she pondered. "The puzzle pieces are falling into place."

"Adamantite? How did you know?" Kratos looked at her askance. An expression she had seen on him all of once: when Lloyd had demonstrated his extremely limited attention span. In retrospect, Lloyd had reacted the same way upon discovering his new companions' oddities, with the same slight furrow of one eyebrow, the other arched—but he would usually laugh it off soon after, unlike Kratos.

"Kate told us. Lloyd said it's for sharpening crafting tools, and we put two and two together."

"I see…"

"Indeed. I found myself somewhat surprised that Lloyd knew that, but it's quite straightforward, once I considered it further. It has to do with crafting."

"Lloyd grasps quickly what he sees as relevant to himself." In him, Raine saw the same faint pride she had for her brother.

"Hm. I suppose that's true. He isn't slow; rather, he requires adequate motivation. He improved leaps and bounds under your tutelage."

"Protecting the Chosen was his driving force."

Raine gave a short sigh. Was he intentionally being obtuse? "His main one, yes. But it was also to impress you. You know he looked up to you a lot. It was impossible to miss. That's why your betrayal—even pretended as it was—hit us so hard. You took Lloyd under your wing, and we trusted you because of that."

Kratos' face grew darker as she spoke, remorse evident on his features, but she could not stop herself. She was pained, too, on behalf of her student—and, if she could be so bold, her friend. "I have known him for many years now, and he has never respected anyone so much as he did you. Besides Dirk, of course. I am ashamed to have allowed it to happen under my watch, and I am still not convinced that I was right to.

"I wouldn't like to see him hurt again. It has happened far too often on this journey. Especially with Zelos just now."

"Neither would I." Kratos stood smoothly, his expression blank, and walked to the edge of the camp to take up his sentry shift.

"Wow, Raine, you really hammered home the guilt."

Her head turned to Genis dropping to the ground beside her. "That was not my intention. I simply wished to remind him of his culpability."

He snorted. "Yeah, I think you did that and more." Then he shrugged. "Well, now I don't feel like yelling at him, since you said all that. He looks like a kicked puppy. Um, actually more like a big kicked dog."

Raine did not know whether Kratos' demeanour resembled a dog at all, let alone a kicked one.

"Sis?"

"Yes?" Her brother's face wavered in uncertainty.

"After we get Lloyd and Colette back and bring down Ygg… Mi… Cruxis, what's gonna happen?"

Her eyes softened and she let slide his slip up. "That's up to all of us. Mithos wants a world without discrimination, and so do all of us. The onus is on each one of us to make it happen through the right avenues. Hence, I've been considering travelling across the world once it's been reunited to convince everyone."

"Huh…" Genis looked down at his hands. "When we were still unknowingly leading Colette to her death, I thought we'd be welcomed back to Iselia and I could attend Palmacosta Academy, thinking everything was fine. The world would be perfect. Mana would be abundant and we wouldn't have to worry about anything."

He shook his head. "How idyllic. And then, when we found out about Tethe'alla, it was a whole slew of events where I barely even thought of the future because I didn't know what was going on in the present."

Raine frowned at her folded legs. "Once Palmacosta is rebuilt, I'm sure you can learn there."

He shook his head. "No, I want to come with you. I… Hearing what happened with Mithos and his sister… I want to be with you. I still don't know how I'd react if what happened to Martel happened—I hope I can accept… I don't know if I can!"

Genis buried his hands into his face; the fat tears rolling down his cheeks spoke of pain too considerable to bear. She held him close as he began to hiccup.

"Shh," she said, and crooned a lullaby that she had loved years ago and had passed that fondness to her five-year-old brother. Mindless of the eyes of their companions attempting to give them privacy, she rubbed gentle circles into his back. Eventually, his sobs began to subside.

She was afraid that this was far too much for a boy in his early pubescent years to deal with. However, circumstances had thrown them there, and they had to make the most of it. For who else would fix what had been rent asunder if not them? Too many atrocities had been committed, too many allowed by people who were in the position to put an end to their suffering and yet turned a blind eye. And besides, Genis had risen to the occasion and excelled.

She was so proud of him.

Finally, Genis' voice was steady enough for him to say, "I don't know how I could deal without you but… I want to cherish my days with you, with everyone I love."

Raine smiled. "Then let's."

A/N: Constructive criticism. Do your worst. Uh, I mean best. Yes.