A/N: OK its 12:46 but I had to post this chapter… eye twitches… so enjoy

Five

Lost in Dreams

Lloyd tossed in his sleep and dreamt.

He was at the Great Tree, on his knees, surrounded by corpses. Blood soaked the earth and wet his clothes, and the Eternal Sword was sticking out from the ground with Lloyd's hands tightly gripping its hilt. He felt the slight breeze that ruffled the grass. He actually felt it. Lloyd looked up. Colette, Genis, and Presea lay on the ground, unconscious but alive. Kratos stood frozen in front of him, and blood dripped from a gaping hole in his body. Tears ran down Lloyd's face.

He looked around. Zelos, Sheena, Regal and Presea were spinning around in the air along with thousands of other people. "What's happening?" Lloyd whispered. In the center of the storm of humans was a floating figure. Its skirt flew in all directions, darkness flying from the bottom of the robe. Ice froze the ground beneath where the creature floated, and evil emanated from the thing.

All Lloyd could feel was death and despair in the place, and as he looked up, he saw that the sky was blood red, bathing everything in a crimson hue. Tears ran from his eyes. Everything seemed so real… everything. The smell of rotting flesh… the sight of blood pouring from Kratos' wound, and the sound of the heaving breathes of dying people around him.

The thing in the center of the twister hissed a single sentence: "The Prophecy shall be fulfilled!"

Lloyd's dream faded around him, everything melted and twisted. The sky ripped open and fire fell from it, and the earth twisted. Then they faded, liquefying around him. Lloyd felt himself being suffocated by the melting goo, drowning in his own dream. Breath left him, and the last thing he saw was his father turning around, and Kratos' look. A look of fear, shock and pain. And Lloyd felt as if though a knife was piercing his heart, and as he looked down, through the melting mush he saw blood… his own blood. Lloyd screamed.

He jolted awake, sweat pouring down his body. He felt his chest. No blood, just sweat. He was shivering, but not from cold: from fear. What was that dream? Was it just that? A dream. Or could it have been a premonition. He tried to remember what Raine had said in classes about premonitions… Who was he kidding; the only thing he remembered about Raine's classes was falling asleep.

Lloyd climbed out of bed and looked outside. It was still night: the stars sparkled in the sky and the crescent moon hung, shining brightly. Most comforting of all, however, was that the sky was dark blue, not the evil blood red it had been in his dream. Lloyd shivered.

Suddenly, there was a knock at his door. Lloyd jumped up, pulling out the Kusanagi Blade from its sheath beside his bed. He opened the door and thrust the blades forward to the neck of the person. He sighed in relief and withdrew them as he saw it was only Colette. Lloyd was amazed at how beautiful she was with the moonlight shining on her skin.

"Oh, uh hey Colette," Lloyd said, throwing the Kusanagi Blade to the ground and rubbing his eyes. "What's up?"

"I heard you screaming and I came to make sure you were OK," Colette yawned.

"Oh yeah, I'm fine," Lloyd yawned too. He was far too tired to put his shirt back on even though Colette was there and he wanted to go back to sleep. "It was just a… dream."

"You had a nightmare too?" Colette asked.

Lloyd shuddered at the memory of his nightmare… or premonition. "How did you know?" he replied.

"I—I don't know…"

Lloyd didn't want to talk about his dream in particular, but now that he knew that Colette had had a nightmare as well, he realized that sleep would be an impossibility. "Hey, Colette, do you wanna take a walk? Just outside. We can talk there," he said.

"Um sure," Colette answered. Lloyd could tell that she wasn't particularly tired anymore either. They walked outside into the cool night. The soft breeze caressed Lloyd's chest and the moonlight gave Colette's skin a beautiful milky hue. They sat down underneath a large tree and looked at the stars for a while.

Colette hadn't much grown taller, but she had grown more beautiful in Lloyd's eyes. Lloyd had finally reached over six feet, and he was a lot stronger and his shoulders were broader. In truth, he had worked out more to try and impress Colette, but she didn't really seem to care.

Finally, Lloyd broached the subject. "What was… what was your dream about?" he asked.

Colette leaned her head on Lloyd's shoulder. "It was horrible," her voice was trembling. "I dreamt… I dreamt that Tethe'alla was destroyed and Sylvarant was left barren. And the Great Tree was black and evil, and that this huge skeleton guy was floating above Sylvarant and whipping us all. There was me, you, Genis and Presea… but I didn't see Kratos, Raine, Zelos, Sheena or Regal…"

Lloyd shuddered and Colette began to sob. "I… I think that they…" Tears ran down her cheeks and she cried on Lloyd's shoulder. Lloyd put his arm around her and whispered to her.

"It's ok, Colette. It was just a dream," but in his heart he knew that their dreams must have been connected. Dammit, could that really be our future? he thought.

"W—what was your dream about?" Colette managed.

Lloyd explained his dream as best he could, but he felt horrible afterwards because after Colette started crying even more. "I wish Raine was here. She would know what it was all about," Lloyd said and pulled Colette closer to him. "Don't worry, Colette. Everything's going to be fine."

"Oh, Lloyd. I don't even know anymore. I hope… I hope that are dreams are just nightmares. Maybe that evil guy is trying to make us scared," Colette suggested.

"Don't talk about it," Lloyd whispered. "As long as we have each other it'll be fine. You're the Chosen, remember?" Lloyd had to do this now, he knew. "Colette… I… I…"

"I know," Colette said through her silent tears. "I love you too." Lloyd drew her closer and their lips brushed against each other's. Lloyd wrapped his arms around her and they stayed like that for what seemed forever, and Lloyd didn't want to let go. When they parted, Colette put her head on Lloyd's chest… and they soon drifted off to sleep.

Several hours later, Lloyd's eyes shot open. "Aah!" he cried and backed away, hitting his head on the tree. Genis was looking right at him and grinning a huge grin. "Ow…"

"Ooh… Go out for a midnight stroll Lloyd?" Genis teased.

Colette was still beside him, but she was waking up.

"Why you," Lloyd growled. "I'm gonna kill you Genis!" he roared and jumped off, chasing after Genis around the House of Salvation. After awhile, Lloyd went back to his room and pulled his shirt over his head.

Suddenly, there was a flash and Lloyd was knocked off his feet. He suddenly felt very clammy and cold sweat ran down his face. His eyes grew wide and before him stood a skeletal monster, hissing at him as ice poured from his mouth. The creature advanced on him, and Lloyd put his hand up as if to guard himself.

There was another flash… and Lloyd found himself sitting on the floor of his room. "What the..?" he ran his hands through his hair. Sweat coated his body. He struggled up and put the Kusanagi Blades on his back along with his bag. He had to tell Kratos.

He found Kratos sharpening his sword underneath the tree where Lloyd and Colette had been the previous night.

"Hi dad," Lloyd said. Kratos nodded to acknowledge that Lloyd was there.

"What do you want, Lloyd?" Kratos asked after awhile. "Hurry because we have to leave soon. I don't like knowing that the Lich could be at the Tower of Salvation right now."

Lloyd nodded and explained what he had seen. For a time, Kratos was silent, and when he spoke it was in his indifferent, uncaring voice that Lloyd was used to. "If these dreams are in fact premonitions, then we're all in danger, but neither you nor Colette have ever had visions or clairvoyance before, so I don't see how these could be anything more than dreams."

"But what about the vision that I just had?" Lloyd asked.

"That might be an aftermath of the dream," Kratos answered. "Still, we should move on. Where are the others?"

"I dunno," Lloyd was somewhat annoyed with his father. He was sure that these were signs of some sort, and he hated that Kratos wasn't taking him seriously. Maybe the dreams weren't visions of the future, but if they were, Lloyd was still at a lost. How could any single thing have enough power to cripple entire worlds? It seemed impossible, not even Mithos had been that strong. Beyond that, how could Lloyd fight a creature that held such power, and what was that vision he had had back in the room? Lloyd shook his head in confusion as Genis, Kratos, Presea and Colette approached. Colette sent him a smile, but he knew that beneath it she was still worried, just like him.

Genis prepared the Rheairds, and they lifted off once more.

A/N: OK, well this chappie was pretty long but it had a few turns and twists in it to keep it alive. Also, I think I've got an ending that'll either surprise you or make you hate me… or both…