"Da…Kratos?" Lloyd asked with no certainty in his voice. "What? But how can you…why are you here?"
The man who came down from the stairs was wearing purple clothes that stretched down to his heels. He had two flaps on his back and his hair was a moderate shade of auburn. There was no mistaking it: it was Kratos, the traitor to Lloyd's group, the traitor to Yggdrassil, the four-thousand year old Seraphim, and perhaps most important of all, Lloyd's true father and the murderer of Lloyd's mother.
"I thought you'd be surprised," Dirk casually said, not looking at either Lloyd or Kratos.
"But…how'd you get here?" Lloyd asked, having no clue what was going on. "You were on Derris-Kharlan as it was floating away from us. There's no way you could have made it back here!"
For the first time in months, Lloyd heard Kratos speak. "Let me explain." He reached into his purple cloak and pulled out a small device with a button on it.
"What's that?" Lloyd asked.
"It's a teleporter," the Seraphim replied. "It's a device Yuan and I have been working on. We've designed it to be able to transport us to anywhere in this world and nowhere else."
"Then how are you going to get back?" Lloyd questioned.
"I have a teleporter, and Yuan has a teleporter. It's designed to be able to teleport anybody back to wherever the other transporter is."
"Why can't it go to any other places besides this world and where the other transporter is?"
"Yuan and I put it in there for safety measures. This way, no one who gets the teleporter can take themselves to anywhere dangerous for themselves or for anybody else."
"Okay, I get it…I think," Lloyd replied with a bit of confusion. "Anyway, why'd you come back?"
"To be honest, I was making sure you were keeping yourself out of trouble." Kratos neutrally replied.
"Do you really not trust me that much?" Lloyd asked with a slight tone of agitation in his voice. "Come on! If I can save both worlds, I think I can manage living on my own for a while!"
Kratos just made a small "hmmmm" sound without doing anything physical. "Now then, since I know you're not in any real trouble, I'd best be on my way back to Derris-Kharlan."
Kratos was about to hit the button on his teleporter until Lloyd cried out, "Wait!"
Curious about what Lloyd was saying, Kratos put the teleporter back in his purple suit and eyed Lloyd, waiting to hear what it was he wanted to say.
"Actually, something just came up," Lloyd said in an almost guilty tone. "I don't think it's a huge problem, but I just thought you should know about it."
"What is it?" Kratos asked.
"About two days ago, Colette and I were on a boat and we chased away this pirate, but then got lost at sea and caught in the middle of a storm. We got washed up on an island, and the next day a ship came by and it rescued us. But it turns out the ship is currently at war with us and they come from another world called Tiberia."
"Tiberia?" Kratos asked, raising two fingers to his chin, obviously perplexed. "I've never heard of a world called that before."
"Yeah. There was this guy named Kayne, and he explained everything to us. He told us that this General or something like that named Stromm is a huge threat to them and that we should keep an eye out for him."
"But why would he want you to find Stromm and to eliminate him?" Kratos asked, making sure he understood everything.
"Kayne says Stromm wants to destroy Tiberia," Lloyd replied in a low voice.
"I know who Stromm is," Kratos said, "and he doesn't seem like the kind of person who would want to destroy an entire world for no reason at all."
"I guess what I'm trying to ask is whether or not we should trust Kayne or if we should let everything go and not get involved," Lloyd finally concluded.
"I regret to say I'm not certain," Kratos said. "Normally, I think it'd be best if we didn't go getting ourselves involved in others' problems, but since we're talking about the fate of an entire world, I think we should at least know what's going on."
"Yeah, but how are we going to find out about it?" Lloyd asked. "Colette and I have no idea where Kayne is, and I'm not about to spend weeks looking for that one ship in this entire world."
"Perhaps Sybak would have some information?" Kratos suggested. "The Research Academy there probably at least knows something that would prove useful."
"I guess that'll work. C'mon, Colette, let's head to Sybak. Bye, dad and…dad."
"Take care, son," Dirk said, looking at Lloyd as he walked out the door.
"Bye Kratos and Dirk," Colette said, cheerfully waving goodbye to both of them.
When both teenagers were out the door, they were both stalled. "Stop!" yelled a stern and assertive voice behind them. Both turned around, and Kratos was inexplicably standing right there.
"What is it, Kratos?" Lloyd asked.
"If you're going to be getting yourselves involved this situation, then I don't want you doing anything that could prove dangerous. I'm coming with you," Kratos said, inviting himself to Sybak with his son and his friend.
Lloyd was happy that Kratos was so concerned for him and that he was coming along, but he was annoyed that Kratos was treating him like a baby.
The trio marched to Sybak, hoping for some luck in figuring out what exactly was going on between the two. They all remembered that Sybak was known for its very intelligent people and places and thought that if any place could tell them why there was a war and what it would come down to, Sybak was it.
Before long, the group walked onto the clay-colored cobblestone ground that made up the pathways in the Academic City. Just looking all around brought back memories of when they were venturing there to meet Kate and have her straighten out the problem with Presea's Cruxis Crystal.
"There it is!" Colette said excitedly as she pointed to the research academy.
"Let's go!" Lloyd said. (completely oblivious to the scoffing sound Kratos made behind him, as if he were saying "They still act like kids")
They walked in and were instantly greeted by a fair looking woman. Her hair was like a dark shade of blue tied into a ponytail behind her head. Hanging from her ears were circular turquoise earrings. She had a strong face and looked a bit thin. She was wearing blue pants with light brown shoes. Her top was a lighter shade of teal and was wearing a lab coat on top of it.
"Hello," she said with a pleasant smile. "Is there something I can help you with?"
Lloyd started stammering. He thought for a moment he was getting attracted to her. He could have been about to do something stupid, but Kratos stepped in front of him and blocked his view of her.
"We are currently looking for information about a world called Tiberia," Kratos said. "Do you know anything?"
The woman looked a little uncomfortable about it for a second, like she was thinking too hard about it. A large smile soon appeared on her, though, revealing a line of healthy looking teeth.
"As a matter of fact, I think we do. Right this way, please."
The woman led the trio into a room a few doors down the hall. In it was a staggering amount of books. There were so many books that were so long that it would be hard to actually start and finish reading all of them in the course of a single person's life.
"I'm sure there's some information in here that you can use," the woman tried to say as politely as possible. "By the way, my name is Cesara."
"Pleased to meet you, Cesara!" Colette said cheerfully and friendly.
Cesara gave Colette a quick nod, and then went back to looking at Kratos. "Take as much time as you need to look through these books and see if you can come up with anything," she suggested.
"I am very grateful for your help," Kratos said in a calm, yet polite voice. He then turned to his son and Colette. "You two-go outside and don't do anything stupid."
"What?" Lloyd asked. "What are you talking about?"
"I'm going to do some research and try to find out anything I can about Tiberia, Stromm, or even Kayne. Do you know what rank he was in the military?"
"I don't know," Lloyd said, "but it looked like he was pretty low."
"Very well then," Kratos said. "While I'm researching, you two can go outside and do whatever you wish. Just don't cause any trouble, all right?"
"You're just cutting us loose like that?" Lloyd asked, surprised.
"Don't you want any help?" Colette asked, trying to be helpful.
"I am more than capable of managing this on my own," Kratos insisted, still being almost as stubborn as he was at the beginning of the journey of regeneration.
"Uh, sure. Whatever," Lloyd said in a carefree way. "Come on, Colette. Let's see what there is to do out here."
Lloyd and Colette walked out of the academy and into the streets of Sybak filled with students with the potential to do just about anything they wanted and trying to fulfill any education needs or obstacles that would get in their way of academic greatness. It really felt pretty weird for Lloyd, considering the fact he was never that bright.
"Lloyd, do you think we'll be able to end this war between Tiberia and us so that nobody dies?" Colette nervously asked when they were outside.
"I hope so," Lloyd said. "I've said it before and I'll say it again: I want a world where no one has to sacrifice themselves and nobody has to die, like Marble. Besides, Kratos is helping us. He should be pretty helpful, don't you think?"
"I…guess," Colette said a little uneasily. "I just hope we don't have to get too involved in this."
"So do I," Lloyd concurred. "But we won't. This isn't our problem to begin with, so we shouldn't go in there and try to help out."
The two of them really didn't have much more to talk about. They just stood around for the longest time, watching all the people as they quickly came and left the city. There was nothing to do there except sit and wait for Kratos to find any information he could that could help them decide what course of action needed to be taken about the war.
Lloyd and Colette waited to the point when it was night out. The pale sky was now completely black, with the exception of the moon and the stars. Both teenagers had grown very interested in the stars since their journey began, and in no time, they found themselves staring up at the stars and wondering if they could possibly be of any help.
"Hey Lloyd, do you see that star?" Colette asked. Both of them were lying down on the now-cold cobblestone ground in Sybak. Just about every single shop had been closed and people were inside for the night, so Lloyd and Colette didn't have to worry about looking stupid or being stepped on when lying down.
"You mean that one?" Lloyd asked, pointing to a star that seemed to be flashing red.
"Yeah, that's the one!" Colette said.
The entire nighttime feeling with the cool air gave an overall sense of peace. Both of them had thoughts racing through their heads, but for some reason, they felt pretty easy and laid back. It was very relaxing, which was a feeling Lloyd and Colette hadn't felt for the longest time.
"I wonder what kind of star it is," Lloyd said. "Maybe it's one of those stars you make a wish on?"
The two continued staring off at the stars, particularly curious about what the flashing red one was. After a long silence and a feeling of quiet, a voice suddenly rang out.
"Lloyd! Colette!" said a stern adult male voice. The two kids shot up and saw it was Kratos. He was standing at the doorway to the academy, and even though he looked as emotionless as ever, there was clearly some spark in him. "I may have just found something that could prove useful!"
Relieved that the wait was finally over, Lloyd and Colette shot up off the ground and ran towards Kratos and in the building. They were hoping any information Kratos found out after all those hours of looking through book after book would be useful and help them stop the war before any lives were lost.