"Colette," Lloyd asked, "So, what is it that we need to buy?"

"Three Apple Gels, and some food." Colette replied.
Lloyd looked around at the desert sand and the bright burning sun. He put his hands over his eyes. "Ah… so hot… Can't we do shopping somewhere else? Triet is so hot…"

Colette laughed, "How about we rest at the Inn after this?"

Lloyd sighed, "Alri-"

But Lloyd didn't finish, he was cut off by a familiar voice, "Lloyd! Lloyd!"

Lloyd and Colette turned around. They saw their friends Genis and Raine running toward them.

"Hey, Genis! How's it going," Lloyd greeted him with a smile.

Genis stopped running and put his hands on his knees and started to pant. "L-Lloyd… I…" He collapsed onto the desert floor in a heap. Obviously, he had been doing a lot of running. Raine walked up to him and helped him get up. "Lloyd, there's no time to talk, this is an emergency."

Colette's eyes widened with concern, "What happened Raine?"

Raine's face darkened, "Altamaria was destroyed."

Suddenly, everything seemed to go quiet. The idea of such a city of paradise being destroyed was unbelievable. Then the silence was broke by Lloyd.

"Wait, Regal and Presea are in Altamaria! Are they alright?"

"They should be fine," Raine replied, "They have exspheres."

Genis regained his breath, "I-I wanted to go visit Presea, and when we got to Altamaria we saw it burning down. We knew that you would be in Triet by now, so we came to get you. You have to have to help us find Presea and Regal!"

"Calm down," Raine said coolly.

"There's no time to waste, let's go!" Lloyd gasped.

And so, the four ran off.

The group was flying over the sky. Rheirds were under their feet. They were zooming across the sky at incredible speeds. No one said a word. Their hearts were all full of worry.
The clouds started to part, and below them revealed what looked like piles of charcoal.

"What!" Lloyd almost screamed, "That's Altamria! That can't be-"

"Yes, it is" Raine sighed, "It's been burning the whole time, and it looks like it just burned itself out."

They zoomed down toward the ground and landed in a hurry. Then, off they ran toward the city.

When they reached Altamaria, the sun was high in the sky, yet they couldn't see it through the thick smoke that was around them. Without a word the group went to work, digging through the pile of rubble, hopping that there were some survivors.

The hours past, one by one, and yet they found no. Then a groan was heard. "I found someone!" Colette called out.

Lloyd, Genis, and Raine all ran toward her. They started to push all the rubble away where they heard groaning sounds. A hand slowly appeared, then the rest of the arm, and finally the whole body. Lloyd gently pulled the man out. He was scarred and bruised and their were many gashed on him. "Are you alright?"

The man coughed, "Is Master Regal there?"

Genis exclaimed, "George!"

"No," Lloyd replied solemnly, "but we're looking for him. He should be fine. He has an Exsphere-"

George coughed, "You are sure?"
Lloyd paused for a moment, "Yes."

"Alright then. Please find him, and tell him that I'm sorry." And with those final words, George closed his eyes forever.

Everyone became silent. Colette closed her eyes and started to pray.

"We'll make a grave for him later," Lloyd whispered. He laid George down gently and walked away.

The group continued to work until finally they hear Genis' cry, "Nooo!"

Everyone turned around and ran to him. Genis held something very dusty in his hands, he held it against his chest tightly like a long-lost treasure. You couldn't see what it was from a distance, but as the three advanced closer the realized what it was.

Presea's bloodstained axe.