Conflictions of the Mind
-Chapter Thirteen-
I Will Follow


A boy tries hard to be a man
His mother takes him by his hand
If he stops to think he starts to cry
Oh why


Patience wasn't one of Pronyma's strong suits, yet she knew how to wear it well.

In the shadows she lurked.. in shadows she was cloaked, and she hid, watching. Waiting. The news of the attack on the Iselia Ranch reached her quickly, after all.. she knew what to be prepared for, and yet she had expected so much better..

Her initial reaction had been disappointment. Yet not surprised. Kvar, Rodyle, Magnius.. they had all fallen as well.. so losing Forcystus in this way really was no surprise..

The Renegades were finished with examining the area, after ensuring the stability of the seed; Lord Yggdrasill had been right, about how that would work out.. it was amazing, really, how this wheel turned.

She was merely here to observe.. to wait for her opportunity to study the remains. In person. She was the only one left who would be able to.

Perhaps there would be no need for action.. the fools seemed to be clearing out. Soon the Desians would infiltrate their numbers, and all of their efforts would surely be in vain, if she had her way. Though the purpose for the Desians on this side had long run out, had they not?

And yet.. surely the rumors couldn't have been true? Yet it had to be, if the Renegades had seized control of the ranch, then the Desian Hero Forcystus had fallen to those second-class sabotagers, leaving her as the last of the Grand Cardinals.

"Hah!" Pronyma shook her head as she removed herself from her hiding place at last. The control room was empty; likely not for long. She hovered in the air for a few moments, until her gaze found the strange gap in the floor, and an idea struck her. She moved towards it silently, peering over the edge, considering. It wouldn't take too much time to investigate this..

She lowered herself carefully; the inside of this structure was dark, yet the drop not as endless as it would have appeared. So strengthened by an exsphere, few could survive this drop.. and yet.. Pronyma frowned. There was something here; a trace, a scent, of something.. she followed it; this trail.. and found herself at the bottom. A tunnel, a decent sized crawlspace likely for emergency purposes. It was wider than it seemed; perhaps built for those with certain bulk. It had clearly been used recently, for there was a lingering scent of

(blood? mana?)

familiarity that still seemed fresh. Truly only those with heightened senses could pick up such things..

Even so.. a scrape here, a lock of hair there.. it had been a long time since she had set herself to such a menial task as tracking.

Suddenly, a hand reached out from behind and grabbed her arm. The grip could have been stronger, though she sensed a weakness, therefore did not struggle, though did yelp slightly at first in her surprise.

If she hadn't focused her energy on tracking.. heh.

In the tunnel, they continued on, until they could both get to their feet and pass through a secret exit that must have been long unused.. cool wind greeted them as they stood out on the grass under the shadow of the cliff wall. The sun was setting, with the last red lights of it being enough to see with, barely. Derris-Kharlan was still clearly visible overhead.

And now they faced each other.

"You.." The tone of voice was amused, a smirk forming on his lips. The green-haired warrior was looking quite haggard, even for one a few hours after a battle, several cuts and bruises were visible on his face and dried blood was on his clothes; it was this that she had sensed. "I did not think we would meet again."

It was her turn to smirk, after regaining her composure, using her power to again hover in the air. "...Well. If it isn't Forcystus.. the Desian Hero. Reports of your death were greatly exaggerated, I see.. Which is more than I can say for the others."

"While my death will come from battle, Pronyma, this was not the one to stop me." Yet the smirk faltered; clearly he had taken a lot of damage.

The woman scowled. "You are on your last legs even as you breathe now, if you choose to die in this fashion, when you could just as easily live forever. Let me say this to you, at least: I am still in favor with Lord Yggdrasill. The others have fallen and paid with their lives for their deceit, unfortunately not from my hand, which would have been but sweet had I known their plots to unseat me. As the only surviving member of that alliance, were you with them, or against me, and my position?"

"What business is this of yours?"

Pronyma tilted her head. "Do you wish to die here? You have no allies. The filthy Renegades have captured your base, and soon they will discover your presence. Considering everyone thinks you are dead already, there would be no qualms about having you killed."

"Even you?" His voice sounded amused, though his eyes were dark, glittering.

She folded her arms, turning away from him in the air. "In the state that you are in right now, it wouldn't take much to finish you. Myself, if it comes to it; for am I not now the stronger?"

"You wouldn't."

Pronyma turned back to face him, tilting her head to the side. "You disbelieve me?"

Forcystus had an unreadable expression on his face. "I don't know. While you are a completely changed being.. still far from perfection as you are.. unseating you was never part of my intention."

The sky flashed overhead. The clouds were back, thunder overhead, wind once more. Pronyma fingered her scepter in her hands before striking it down to the soft earth below. "Well?"

"Magnius and I held an alliance of our own.. though I never approved of his barbarian methods.." The smirk returned faintly, "While Kvar and Rodyle were always at odds at deciding which one of them would replace you. Neither were truly fit to rule at our Lord's side; your role was far above one of managing the production of exspheres.."

Pronyma smiled, then, allowing her feet to touch the ground. "At least you are no liar. Give me your hand, Forcystus. I will have you healed.. Our Lord might be disappointed with you.. though hopefully not so much to see you dead."

"You'd do better to let me go on my own. Or were you that bored with your position at the top of the tower that you chose to seek me even as death calls to me?"

The smile turned into a wry smirk. "My exact orders were to track Lord Kratos' movements. It just so happened that you were next on his hit list. Considering how he participated in the deaths of your comrades... are you honestly surprised?"

"..I'll resign my position if I must.. though I will see those filthy humans taken care of.." His dark eyes glinted dangerously. "They are the cause of these problems."

"I'm sure that our Lord will handle things pertaining to that little group. You're better off having yourself healed before attempting anything rash.."

Forcystus smirked, though his eyes remained dark. "We shall see."


The morning had come, with the pale dawn bringing light to the Eastern sky; and the sky was blue again. Cruxis worked quickly to reestablish the illusion.. so that the previous day hopefully was but a distant memory after the monstrous tree was destroyed to the survivors.

Even though they were currently settled in a safe place, it didn't prevent Regal Bryant from again being the first to wake, or so he believed, at any rate; he usually was an early riser. While they were traveling he often prepared breakfast for his companions and had it ready before they awakened.. this time, like others, that task was not upon him, as their Dwarven host already informed them that he would prepare their meals.

It was a comfortable place, really; at least with this night's sleep he managed to catch up on his thoughts.. particularly the ones which were most disturbing to him.. had it only been a week since he revealed the truth about his connection to the Lezareno company? Having the past resurface in such a matter only reinforced his belief that what he did to Alicia was murder..

...But murderers were usually cold-blooded. What he did, was a deed of mercy.. yet Alicia told him to let go of those feelings..

To Presea, it would always be murder.. he was surprised that she even accepted him joining the group after all was said and done.. neither she or Genis seemed too happy with this decision, though the latter would not let go his feelings of dislike..

Even so, after arriving here, the first thing that he saw, besides this comfortable cottage, was the grave. Lloyd had told him about his mother, yet he had not expected to see the tombstone right there outside the boy's home. Anna.. Alicia.. they had passed from this world, due to the actions of those they loved.

The former, at least, had left her mark on the world, by leaving a son.. Regal never had that opportunity with Alicia; not that he considered himself father material. He wondered if, had he a child of his own, would he have still imprisoned himself, trusting the child to someone else to raise?

He usually didn't deal in what-ifs, though this one thought weighed heavily on his mind for hours, before he shook his head and decided to focus on the future. Which, right now, hung in the balance of whether or not they could find a way to undo the mess of having two worlds.. Regal sighed and shook his head once more. The past, present, and future..

Too much thinking was never good either, yet there never seemed time for it..

Noticing that Dirk was awake already, Regal smiled at him in greeting before rising to his feet to stretch his legs. The girls were all sleeping upstairs, as Lloyd had been generous enough to give up his bedroom, while the guys were bunched into one area.. he had to step over Zelos to reach the front door, though a shadow passing by the window caught his attention, and it made him turn his head to count the remaining sleepers on the floor. Lloyd was curled up next to his father's bed, which left Genis..

"Damn," He muttered, pondering the situation; the boy likely was feeling restless, and since everyone was asleep, it was better to let them rest; he was already awake, so he'd follow him.. he glanced over at Dirk. "I'm going to join Genis out for a walk. We'll be back."

"All right. Breakfast will be ready when ye'h return." The Dwarf replied from his chair, apparently crafting something at the table. The night before, he had even taken requests for several different versions of eggs; he struck Regal as being a very caring individual. Which he found strange, for a dwarf.

Regal nodded before he slipped out of the front door.

Genis was standing at the far end of the front path that led to the forest, staring out at it. Regal hesitated, waiting to see what the boy would do; and to his surprise, his head turned around for just a moment, though his gaze was directed at the second floor, before turning back around and stepping off into the surrounding area.

Regal stepped outside then completely, letting the door close as he prepared to follow Genis, from a distance, at first. He couldn't say he was wholly surprised by his behavior, though believed it best if he observed for now.. he'd be ready to step in if the boy got himself into any unnecessary danger, though really, there wasn't any time for this sort of thing..

Genis wandered down the path to the forest rather miserably, kicking a few small rocks out of his way. The night had been entirely too uncomfortable; perhaps the only saving grace was the conversation that he had with Colette; she at least, had told him of her own problems.. and while it made him blanche, he could truly appreciate her bravery for putting up with it for so long..

It also gave them a good reason to head back to Altessa's. He was missing his friend very much; if there was anyone he wanted to talk to about this, it was Mithos.. because they were so alike, and he wouldn't try to control him, like Raine would.. and he would be able to have an intelligent discussion about it, unlike with Lloyd... he felt that right now, it was best if he avoided speaking to his best friend, lest he lashed out at him for no real reason..

He tightened his hands into fists. But Raine had deserved it; if she hadn't been so selfish, he wouldn't be in this situation..

"Aahh!" While he had been kicking the smaller rocks, this one was lodged firmly in the ground, and he ended up tripping over it. He struggled to regain his balance, wincing as he could almost hear his sister's lecture in his mind.

Thankfully his knees didn't seem to have any additional injuries; though as he was considering his health, a small group of monsters took it upon themselves to surround him and attack.

He had a kendama with him; one of the devil arms, the Disaster. He felt it served his mood well enough.. and he stumbled slightly, the unholy weapon nearly slipping free, though he grabbed it in time.

Wielding it was most of the problem, given the way his hands were bound, though he soon realized that he could attempt to wield the weapon with two hands.. and maybe, he could channel the mana through the cuffs instead of trying to cast it himself.. yet even thinking these thoughts took time, and he could only deflect their blows by trying to block them with the weapon as he tried to figure out what to do.

"Eagle fall!" A deep male voice rang out, and a figure dived into the fray. The monsters pestering him quickly fled as the newcomer took out a few of them with that one attack.

Genis stood there shocked for a few moments, then turned his glare towards Regal. "I.. I could have taken care of them myself!"

"You are correct." Regal spoke calmly.

Genis stared at him. "Then why did you.."

Regal stood up, meeting the young boy's stare. "You could have. Instead you stood there for a good ten minutes while letting them hit you. I figured you needed a bit of a wakeup call."

"That is not true!" Genis snapped, blotches of red appearing in his cheeks. "I.. I was.."

"I do not see why you feel the need to be so defensive." Regal's voice was still calm, and it only made Genis feel the more angered. What right did this man have to follow him, take a battle from him, and then patronize him? Even if he wasn't doing exactly that.

Genis tucked the kendama away. "Why are you here?" He demanded.

Regal was unruffled. "Pardon my inquisitiveness, but shouldn't it be you who should answer that question?"

"I.." Genis sighed. It was a good thing this wasn't Lloyd, though perhaps it would have been easier. "I had to get away, that's all! Just for a little while before we set off again. Everyone was sleeping, anyway."

"Breakfast should be ready when we get back." Regal replied quietly. "Though your animosity towards me is duly noted.."

"Look, if you think that just because I have these things on my wrists that it makes me any more like you, you're wrong! I have nothing to say to you, okay?" To his surprise, the Duke smiled. "What? What is it?"

Regal shrugged. "You are so quick to anger.. when you seemed so controlled last night, while you were venting away at your sister. Or did you think that no one noticed that?"

Before Genis could reply, and he was about to, with his hands clenched into fists, a scream from deeper inside the forest caught their attention. They looked towards the direction where it came from, then back at one another. "...Um.. we should.. investigate that, shouldn't we?"

"Be careful."


The sky was blue again, as Sheena stared up at it from the second-story window. She sighed a little, shaking her head. The illusion was back, though it wouldn't erase the memory of the comet from the previous night; and she had such a clear view of that sky from her Rheaird..

"As if anyone will forget what they saw yesterday." A voice remarked dryly from behind her.

"Heh.." Sheena turned around. The others had woken up; Colette was wiping the sleep from her eyes, and Presea was silently rolling up the spare blankets. It was Raine who had spoken; she was leaning against the wall, her expression unreadable. "I wonder if Tethe'alla saw the same thing."

"We won't know until we get there.. though I'm concerned about the damages in Sylvarant. We should probably leave here as soon as possible." The half-elf's gaze went to her hands, as she flexed her fingers slowly.

"Yeah.. maybe. I think we should help everyone we can here, first.." Sheena looked over at Colette, who was now speaking, and had risen to her feet. "..Even if I'm not really a Chosen anymore.. I still owe them that much, right?"

Sheena put her hands on her hips. "You don't owe anyone anything. This was my fault.. as much as Lloyd would like to say otherwise."

The blonde girl opened her mouth once more to speak, when footsteps from outside the door stopped her. "Are you all awake, my hunnies? Lloyd and his dad are dishing up breakfast.." He opened the door.

"Zelos!" Sheena snapped. "Do you have no qualms about anything at all?"

He shrugged slightly. "They sent me up here to inform you about breakfast, that's all. Which will get cold, if you decide to lecture me." He winked at her, before glancing at Colette, and his expression sobered. "Oh.. yeah. I need to talk to you for a second."

Sheena blinked. "First you have the audacity to burst in here and then.."

"Go eat, Sheena." Colette said quietly, as Presea and Raine silently moved past Zelos to the stairs. Sheena shook her head, and after giving Zelos an annoyed look, followed the other women.

Dirk was setting out plates on the small table. Lloyd and the others were nowhere in sight; Sheena guessed that they had taken their food outside to eat. She was concerned, however, at the lack of open conversation. Little talk from Presea was unsurprising, though Sheena had felt that the girl was starting to open up, at least before the mess with the giant tree, and now it was as if a door had been closed again.

The sound of a closing door caught her attention, as Sheena glanced up from her plate of crisp, fried bacon and eggs over easy. Raine had apparently slipped out, giving no notice to either of them. "Don't know what's been going on with her lately."

"..Sheena?"

Sheena blinked when she realized that Presea had spoken to her, and she quickly turned her head to face her. "..Heh.. I thought that you had stopped talking to me."

Presea shook her head. "I.. apologize. There have been many things.. occurring, and I needed some time to put things into place."

"Hmmm." Sheena dug into her eggs with her fork. "Well.. it's okay. We've all had some things to think about these past few days.. not that I really know what's been happening with you all while I was gone. Lloyd only notices things when he thinks they directly effect him, so he hasn't really given much of a good.. reason to why you're all acting so.."

Presea titled her head to the side. "We were separated for approximately fifteen hours."

"..Heh." The summoner took a few more bites of her food before thinking of a reply. "Well.. even so, it doesn't explain to me why Genis is acting the way he is, why Zelos and Colette are suddenly hanging all over one another, okay I'm exaggerating about that, but still.. there is something that doesn't make sense, and clearly something is bothering you.."

The small axe-user took a few bites of her food before replying. "I.. cannot tell you much about the others. Iselia is what is on my mind; it's similar to Ozette.. and that has been foremost of all of my thoughts as of late.. I barely heard you speaking to me at dinner yesterday because of it."

Sheena nodded. She hadn't been to Iselia yet, though after hearing a brief rundown of the events that took place from various sources, she had the feeling it really wasn't as nice of a little town that Lloyd, Genis and Raine had once believed it to be. "That's okay. I had a million things on my mind last night as well." Dare I wonder how many lives were lost because of this thing?

Presea accepted this, though lapsed back into silence. They were alone in the room now, as Dirk had apparently went upstairs to talk with Zelos and Colette, and Sheena frowned as she glanced towards the front door once again. "This is silly. Where is everyone?"


"Are you sure.. that you can't do anything to help her?"

Dirk shook his head. "As I said last night.. after I deserted the Cruxis, my skills began to decline.. I'm sorry that I couldn't be of more help."

Colette nodded. "It's okay.."

Dirk frowned a little. "Maybe you're better off asking that Dwarf in the other place."

Zelos sighed, but nodded. "Yeah.. Altessa hasn't been cut of from Cruxis for terribly long.. the sooner we get back to Tethe'alla, we can ask him, and get you back to normal, Colette."

Colette lowered her gaze as Dirk disappeared down the corridor and left the room. "Zelos.."

"It'll be okay. We already had a feeling that he wouldn't be able to do anything.. but we had to ask, you know?" He made a gesture towards the bed. "You should sit down, or something.. what we need to do now is tell everyone why we must hurry to Altessa's.."

She shook her head. "...I can't tell the others until we arrive at his house.. until we are sure that he can do something about this.." Colette sighed, looking up into his face with her teary gaze. "..False hope, you know? And.. I rather be sure that Sylvarant is entirely safe before we.. start switching worlds again.." She sat down on the bed, her gaze towards the floor.

Zelos lowered his head again as well. "..You amaze me, you know."

"Huh?"

"Well.. lets just say I'm kind of jealous. Because.. even though I was born a Chosen, I.. I don't really feel like one. The places that I've gotten to, it's not because I've had close friends or anything, you know? And yet.. if it came down to my body becoming all.. well.. crystallized, and if Tethe'alla had just been nearly destroyed.. I.."

"..You would choose Tethe'alla." Colette said simply.

Zelos stared at her. "I.. would?"

She nodded, slowly. "..You just don't think that you would.. because it's not happening to you. Maybe you didn't have it quite so drilled into you that you were supposed to become this savior.. that some day, you were going to become an angel, and save the world.. and be truly alone.."

There was a pause. Zelos could hear some movement downstairs, though that was about it; his attention was focused solely on the blonde.

Colette sighed, her gaze going towards the window. "..Even in the beginning of our journey, when Lloyd and Genis came along... I didn't want them to come, because I didn't want them to see me at the end.. because I knew it would be the end.."

Zelos looked back down, absently flipping his hair back over his shoulder. "I'm not you, Colette.. we grew up completely different ways. I don't know how differently you were treated from me.. perhaps because I grew up in a flourishing world, while you were supposed to be Sylvarant's true hope.. they had a reason to believe in you, you know?"

"I failed them, though.." Colette whispered. "Even if we find a way to get the system changed.. and I do believe in Lloyd.. it doesn't change the fact that this entire world believed in me and that I failed them... this is why I didn't want my condition healed when I was first becoming an angel.. losing my senses... the things that made me human... because.. I'm supposed to be a sacrifice.. some how, if we find a new end to this.. it'll still have to be that way.."

Zelos stared at her for a few moments, his mouth opening and closing with no sound coming out, until he found his voice. "Whoa, whoa, Colette! I don't like the way you throw around that word 'sacrifice'. Isn't Lloyd's plan to figure out a way to save everyone without needless death?"

"Yes, but.." Colette glanced up at him. "Maybe it's because you hadn't been put into this kind of position.. but the people of Iselia.. and probably the other people of Sylvarant.. they don't know the truth; they only know that something went seriously wrong with the regeneration.. and that for all they know, the world can be worse off.. and the fact that more people are dead and that I'm still alive.. it doesn't feel right to me. Even my grandmother, who is very familiar with the history of the Chosens.. she told me that every failed chosen paid with their lives.. and even though I didn't really fail.. no one will see it that way..."

"...You are still amazing." Zelos managed to say after a moment. "With that much responsibility on me, I don't think anyone would have been surprised if I had failed.. but it doesn't explain why you would willingly let yourself suffer.. or how you expect me to sit by and let you suffer.."

"You saw it though. You saw my shoulder.. my chest.." They both winced; Zelos had found himself haunted by a particularly frightening nightmare after the incident. "That has been happening to me since the beginning of the ritual.. though it only began to.. to.. change my skin after.. I was restored to my body in Tethe'alla.."

"Why do you insist on letting yourself suffer, if it's been going on that long?" The redhead demanded.

"Because.. I don't think I'm in any immediate danger from this... at least.. regardless of what Kr-Kratos says..." She bit her lip, staring down at her lap.

He stared at her. "Colette.. I think you're.. trying to lie to me.."

Colette closed her eyes tightly. "No... I.."

"Because yesterday afternoon, you were upset about this; practically in tears.. you didn't know who to turn to, and you told me everything.. you showed me.." Zelos gently took hold of her shoulders, wincing faintly at the memory of what was beneath the clothes. "Please.. look at me, Colette. Yesterday you told me that you wanted to live; you wanted a real life, apart from all of this.."

"..And you told me.. to keep smiling.." Colette murmured, tears freely falling down her cheeks. "..and I thought that I could do it.. and then... I was dreaming.. and I was thinking.. of all those horrible things.."

"Dreams can't be trusted, you know." He brushed his fingers against her cheek, to wipe away the tears. Colette leaned her head against his shoulder.

"Hehe.. and here I was thinking that they were precious things.. I guess I got so caught up in being happy that I could dream again.. that I started believing even the bad ones.."

"Now. Repeat after me. 'I am not going to become a giant exsphere.'"

"I am not.." Colette took a deep breath. "Going to become a giant exsphere."

Zelos chuckled a little. "Now, now.. you're going to have to sound more self-assured than that. How about this one. 'My name is Colette.'"

"My name is Colette." The blonde repeated, her sniffling slowing down, at least.

"Good." Zelos nodded, smiling down at her. "Now try this one: 'I am an extraordinarily optimistic girl."

Colette giggled outright at that one. "Zelos! ..I can't say that!"

"Hey, I'm trying to boost your confidence here!" The redhead replied with a sly grin. "It's the most that I can do at the moment.."

At that moment, the door burst open, accompanied by Sheena's voice. "Are you guys okay up here? It's been a while, and... Zelos Wilder, WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO HER?"


The scream was louder now, and obviously female, as the unlikely pair quickly ran down the forest path; Genis obviously the slower of the two, and hoping not to trip as he followed Regal, though it wasn't too long before the taller man stopped running as they reached a clearing, and the trouble was evident.

Chocolat was in the middle of a ring of monsters; she had fallen backwards to the ground and was waving a long stick at the approaching beasts. "Stay away from me! Or I'll.. I'll..."

Genis tightened his grip on his kendama, attempting to concentrate on one of his simpler spells as Regal leapt forwards and impressively scattered the foe. By the time he released the spell he felt rather drained, finding that his poor weapon choice as well as his condition worked negatively on the mana in his own body. Granted, the spell itself was nearly twice as strong than it usually would have been, the zombies falling flat on their faces and practically disintegrating from the fireballs that had hit them.

Chocolat sat there in shock for a few moments, watching him as he took a step back and fell onto the ground in a sitting position, blinking. "..Well.. that wasn't what I expected." Genis muttered, dropping the cursed weapon to his side.

Regal was by his side in two strides, and ignored the dirty look that Genis gave him. "Are you all right?" He wasn't sure if the question was directed at him or Chocolat, who was scrambling to her feet now.

"Wow, th-thanks." The girl said, smiling a bit now, though there was a bit of pink in her cheeks as she seemed a little embarrassed. "Um.. they told me that I was likely to find you in this direction.. er.."

"What seems to be the problem?" Regal asked calmly.

"Well.." She glanced at Genis once more, before turning her gaze back to Regal. "I.. found out that the way back to Palmacosta would be too dangerous if I tried it on my own.. and no one in Iselia is willing to help me get back there.. I know I have no right to ask for your help after the things I've said, but.."

Regal cleared his throat. "It's not up to me to decide.. but you're welcome to come back with us. I doubt it'll be a problem."

The girl nodded. "I see, thank you very much."

Genis got to his feet, slowly and carefully because he was feeling slightly dizzy. To his surprise, Chocolat reached out to help steady him, though he found it hard to look the girl in the eyes. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Genis said quickly, trying at least not to snap at her, though he was quick to pull away once he was upright. She was staring at his wrists.

"Wait. You're Genis, aren't you?" She asked him slowly. "You were with Lloyd when.. grandma was.."

He forced his eyes up to meet hers. "Are you going to hate me for that too?"

She shook her head. "No, I..."

"Because if you're going to do that, you might as well get it over with, since you don't like hearing the whole story of things."

"But I.."

"We've punished ourselves enough for what happened; we wanted to explain it to you, and you went and believed the words of that Barbarian instead of us, you had no idea how it felt to do such a thing-"

"Listen, I.." Chocolat was staring at him; she was near to tears, though she bit her lip. "Look. I don't know the full story of what happened. But I heard a few things when I was in the Iselia ranch about you. They said that you were friends with my grandmother for three years, until the incident.. they said that she thought of you as a grandson, and that you made things better for her, even if there was no hope for that... and for that.. I.. I just want to thank you."

It was his turn to stare back in shock; he hadn't expected her to thank him. "Wait.. what?"

"I was angry, back at the other ranch.. because I wasn't sure what to believe, and everything happened quickly.. and now I'm.. a bit jealous, that you got to spend this time with her when I.. didn't even know where she.." She lowered her head for a moment, and reached into her pocket, pulling something out. "This.. this is yours, isn't it? I.. found it outside the ranch.."

He stared at her, unable to speak for a moment. She was holding out Marble's exsphere. She stared back at him, placing it into his hands. "It is, isn't it? I remember.. because it was on your arm before.. I'm not sure what it is.."

"It's.. your grandmother's keepsake.." Genis mumbled. She stared at him. "It's.. hard to explain.. I guess.. we can do it on the way.."


The sun was too bright, and it hurt her eyes, even though it was covered by a few patches of clouds by now.

Her head hadn't quite stopped hurting since the night before; currently, it was no better, as she paced around outside, the rune staff held tightly in one hand while the other she would occasionally stare at, or rub her temples absently with.. but it was normal, there was nothing on it, so why would she keep looking?

Lloyd was outside; he had only stepped outdoors moments before she did, and he was staring off at the forest, his expression one of concern. Upon her arrival, however, he had moved back towards the house, occasionally pacing, occasionally eating. Raine's own breakfast was still on the table where she had left it; she had no appetite and wasn't about to pretend now when there weren't enough people to even pay attention to her recent habits.

"He's hiding, isn't he."

Lloyd looked startled when she suddenly spoke, as her words were very calm, almost too calm.

He shook his head. "Well, not that I've seen. Dad said that he and Regal went out here for some air or something.. haven't seen them, though." And the concern was back in his gaze again, and Raine turned away quickly.

"I see." Was all she said, and all she planned on saying, if Lloyd was smart and took that to be the end of the conversation. Sighing a bit, she stalked over to the far end of the yard, her left hand curled tightly into a fist, her eyes closing.

"Professor?" Lloyd's voice again, and she curled her hand into a tighter fist. She hadn't been able to collect herself last night, after the little conversation with Genis that spiraled too far out of control; it wasn't something she could fix even after laying awake for hours, trying to find the solution.. and yet they were still here, without much of a lead onto that next step..

"Yes?" Her voice was calm again; she wasn't angry, really.. she was usually able to force herself to be calm at her most stressful moments.. and even right now wasn't one of those. She opened her hand and flexed her fingers once more. They felt strange and tingly. Not very pleasant.

"..We haven't really talked about what our next plans are." His tone sounded slightly hesitant, and she turned around to face him. His eyes seemed as if there was something else he wanted to say, but instead he was remaining on a neutral topic.. the more important topic, at the very least. "Now that we stabilized the two worlds.. I really don't know where to go from here."

Raine nodded. "Yes. We need to know how the two worlds were forced apart before we can figure out a way to save them."

"..I wonder about that, too, but I also want to know why Yggdrasill split the world in two in the first place." Lloyd said slowly. "I mean.. he's gone through a lot of trouble to make this twisted system in the first place."

Raine folded her arms thoughtfully. Lloyd's way of thinking, whenever he did use his head, was refreshing to her at times.. the way he seemed more concerned with the heart of the matter rather than the actual mechanics. "Don't you think it was to protect the Great Seed? To protect.. Martel?"

An icy chill ran down her spine when she said those words, her dream from the previous day having not faded entirely from her mind.

Lloyd shook his head, however, at her words, not quite the reaction she expected from him. "No.. it doesn't make sense, though. It's because the worlds were pulled apart, that the Great Seed became unstable, right? That's not really protecting her.. that's more like putting her in danger."

She stared at him, ignoring her pain. "...Lloyd, you manage to say something intelligent every now and then. You're absolutely right."

Now it was his turn to stare at her, and he muttered something about her choice of words, though she ignored it; she was getting to think again, and that felt good.. it felt as if she hadn't been allowed to truly think for a while, even though she had only recently, piecing together the relationship between Lloyd and Kratos. She winced again, and shook her head. "So. ...The who, why, and how... That's what we need to know."

"I'm...not really good at using my head to figure out stuff like this." Lloyd muttered, reaching a hand back to rub at the back of his head. "All we know is who, anyway.."

The professor shrugged her shoulders slightly. "In your case, you'd be better off not trying to use your head."

Lloyd took a long moment before replying, staring at her. "Are you... saying I'm stupid?"

Raine sighed, lowering her gaze and shaking her head. "Oh, Lloyd, stop taking things I'm saying so negatively. What I meant was, you act based on your senses."

"Senses? You mean I just react without thinking?" He sounded confused, as he did usually after she made a comment about him. It was annoying, yet somehow amazing, really, how the boy could be so smart and yet so dense at the same time.. she took a breath before explaining.

"No. It's more like...instinct." It was as if she was giving a lecture to him. It seemed that this happened every time the two of them would discuss things. "You subconsciously collect and store various external information. That's why when the time comes; you always manage to find the next path to take. Not by logic, but by intuition."

He stared at her as if she were speaking a different language. Sometimes she wondered if she was. "Intuition, huh. It still sounds like it means I don't think.."

"Fine, take it that way if you want." Raine lifted a hand to rub at her temples once more. "You never seem to accept my compliments gracefully."

Lloyd frowned. "That's because you have a twisted way of complimenting people. Especially when it's me."

She smiled weakly at him, her hand pausing mid temple-rub. "...That's because it's you."

"Huh?"

"You still haven't noticed, have you? ...Oh well, it's fine. One day, you'll become an adult, and you'll understand. It probably won't be much longer." She let her hand drop free and then sighed, turning towards the forest.

"Professor?"

"It's nothing." She replied flatly. "You always choose to be inquisitive at the wrong moments, it seems."

He was staring at her. "Why must you always act so tough?"

Taken by surprise at that question, Raine turned around to face him, slowly. "I beg your pardon?"

"You heard me. You are so quick to deny that you have something on your mind, when it's obvious that you are thinking about something. You might think it's easier to act tough, like there is nothing bothering you, but no one can survive like that for too long."

Raine lifted an eyebrow. "Since when are you an authority on toughness?"

He scowled outright at her. "You're doing it again."

"It's none of your business." She replied, just as testily. "Or did you learn nothing from the last time you cornered me?"

His scowl quickly vanished, replaced by a half-smile of sorts. "..Funny. I was thinking the same thing."

"..I beg your pardon?"

"I know you're worried about Genis. We all are. Especially after what happened yesterday." Raine looked down at the mention of this; the attitude of her brother last night was not something she wanted to discuss, particularly with Lloyd. "Look, we didn't hear all of it, but from the gist of things.. it probably wasn't very pleasant. Though what you have got to realize is that we're all in this together.. and we'll help him get back to normal.. so.."

"..I see." Raine sighed. "So this is one of your lectures on 'how not to blame yourself'." Not that she was about to really listen to him even if it was.

"If you want to call it that.. yeah.." Lloyd gave another tentative half-smile; before Raine could say anything in reply, several things happened at once.

The first being that her headache returned in full flare, causing her to stumble backwards a bit, as the front door opened, and a very-embarrassed looking Sheena stormed out, her face red, followed by Presea, who looked confused..

..And from the forest, which she saw from the corner of her eye, mostly because she had just pressed her hands against her forehead, three figures were approaching; the last of the three clearly Genis, and his expression was a bit hard to read, as his eyes were downcast.. but then the girl, Chocolat, turned her head to look at him, and he seemed to cheer up, just a little..

While Regal was the first to step up the path onto the front yard, blinking as she saw them all gathered outside. "I hope.. that you were not too worried about our absence."

"A little concerned, perhaps." Raine's reply came from behind her hands; Regal frowned as he noticed her rubbing her temples furiously.

Regal nodded a little. "..For that, I apologize." He stepped aside so that Chocolat and Genis could step past him.

"Chocolat?" Lloyd asked, looking confused. "..What brings you out here?"

The yellow-clad girl blushed a little. "Well.. after the way I treated you, it's a wonder that I would even ask this.. but.. I need a way to get back home.. and there doesn't really seem to be any other way to get there quickly.."

Lloyd looked down for a moment. "That's okay. You had your reasons.."

"I just wanted to apologize for.. getting mad at you like that. I learned what really happened from some of the other people.. and Genis told me everything.. and it wasn't your fault. You also saved my life a few times.. so I can't hold this against you.. it would be an insult to grandma's memory.." At this part, she looked over at the smaller boy next to her. "..Which I gave back to Genis.. because they shared an important bond."

Regal had been present during that conversation, which took up most of the walk back to Dirk's house. It was very heartfelt, the way the two had discussed the dead woman, Marble.. and once more he was visited by his thoughts of Alicia.. and then he saw Presea outside; she was looking at him, though once she realized that he had noticed, quickly turned her head away..

She had to be conflicted, unsure of how to move on.. which he accepted, because he didn't quite forgive himself either, even with the truth coming out.

Yet.. the conversation was continuing, and Regal shook his head. Once again, he had let himself get too carried away with his thoughts, when he usually paid attention to the discussions..

Zelos and Colette had just stepped outside the door to join them, and Sheena pointedly wasn't looking in their direction; Colette looked as if she wanted to speak to the summoner, though the lack of eye-contact didn't help. From what he could see, Genis was refusing to make eye contact with his sister as well.. he couldn't help but shake his head. If there was one person who could set them all right again, perhaps it would be Lloyd..

"So.. will you .. help me?"

Lloyd smiled. "Yeah, of course." He glanced over at Raine, and Regal did as well. "Unless.. you think I'm being.."

"Too softhearted? I think my opinion on that stopped mattering a long time ago." The professor replied, her tone very dry.

Lloyd nodded. "Right.. then I think it's settled." He glanced over at Colette. "Do you want to share a Rheaird with her?"

Colette blinked a little in surprise. "Umm.. I'd love to.. though.. maybe it's better if I didn't.."

Regal was surprised; Lloyd looked surprised as well, but he nodded. "Um.. if you say so.."

"She can share with me." Presea spoke up quietly, to his greater surprise. Chocolat nodded.

"Yes, that's fine. Thank you again, everyone. I can't wait to get back home to Palmacosta and see my mother again.." She smiled.

"Hey.. if we're going to be going there, you don't mind if we check up on the other cities in the area first, do you?" Zelos said suddenly. "Just to see how everyone took the earthquakes.. and if there is anything we can possibly do to help."

"That was our plan anyway." Sheena remarked, not looking at him.

Lloyd rubbed the back of his head nervously. "Uh.. yeah.. don't worry, it won't take too long.. and if everyone's ready, we can leave in a few minutes, after I say bye to Dad.."

Regal nodded. "Very well; I'll make sure that all of our supplies are gathered."