-1Hi everyone, thanks for reading my second chapter! . special thanks to High Priest of Ducky, Shay-Ranae, Mitasco, Kitty-Katz-Katz, Anime 300, and NyaGirl51 for reviewing! .. Okay, now it's time for a once in a lifetime, rare… FUN FACTS! . In chapter one, there are two fun facts!

1.) I really do have a mental cat named Sheeta. .

2.)It was not my cat, nor my game cube, but it was my grandmother's cross-eyed cat that peed on my PS2! Stupid cat… My PS2 only lived for a month after that…

Here's a fun fact you'll need for this chapter: It seems within ten minutes of someone waking me up, I am in a foul mood. Which is odd, since I don't remember doing anything mean… But apparently, I've thrown things and yelled at my sister, without even remembering it…O.o

Lol, well, I hope you enjoy the second chapter! .(A warning, it's a quite serious chapter towards the middle to the end…)

That night, I dreamt of Anna. Not me, but Lloyd's mother. I couldn't see her face, but I felt her warm presence. It was as if she was telling me to take care of her son and husband…

"I kind of don't want to wake her up..."

"C'mon Lloyd! If we don't wake her up now, we'll never catch up with Colette and the others!"

"Then why don't you wake her up, Genis?" Lloyd asked, then gave me another look, "She looks kinda happy… Should I poke her?"

"Yeah, why not." Responded Genis.

I turned over to the other side of the bed. "POKE ME AND YOU DIE."

Lloyd and Genis both began backing up. "Ummm….Anna… Are you okay?" Asked Genis.

"Yeah… You sound kind of scary…"

"I was having a good dream until you two idiots woke me up." THE LORD OF DARKNESS AWAKENS!

I turned around to face them, then gave a glare of death. If there's one thing I'm not, it's a morning person.

"GET OUT!!!" I yelled at them while I chased them out. Poor boys. They got traumatized. After I woke up a little more, I started brushing my hair and such, Then I descended downstairs.

When I reached the bottom of the stairs, I found both Genis and Lloyd staring at me. Apparently, they remembered my glare, which I no longer had any memory of.

"Good morning!" I said happily.

Lloyd cautiously approached me, "Are-are you awake now?"

"Yeah. Why do you ask?"

Genis was the next to approach me, "It's because you practically bit off our heads this morning…"

"…I did?" 'I don't remember doing that…'

Both Lloyd and Genis sweat dropped.

Genis looked at me oddly, "You mean you don't remember?"

"Umm… No…" 'What the heck are they talking about?'

"Oookaaay… Well, anyways," Genis started after a moment of silence, "We have to leave right now if we want to catch up to Colette. Is that okay with you Anna?"

"Umm, Yeah, that's fine with me!" I turned to Lloyd, "Are we going to start training while we travel then?"

"Oh yeah, I forgot. You don't know how to fight…"

"With weapons, "I corrected, "I could fight with my bare hands, but… That would hurt."

"Well, That's fine with me! Yay, I get an apprentice!" Lloyd did his goofy grin.

"Yay, thanks Lloyd!" I said as I glomped Lloyd.

"Umm, before you two get too excited, Anna, do you even have a weapon you could use?" Genis just HAD to ruin my happy moment, didn't he?

I began pouting. "No…"

"How about we buy a weapon in Iselia? We need to stock up on items anyways." Lloyd decided.

"Wow Lloyd, you actually said something smart!" Genis said with his mocking smile.

"Thanks Genis- Hey!"

I walked away to think a bit.

'I still need a weapon right now, though, there's no way I'm going to be a burden inside the Iselia forest." An idea popped in my head. 'Time to go into actress mode! Heehee, that rhymed…'

"Off to Iselia! Wait… How do we get there?"

Lloyd looked at me oddly, then his expression lightened. "Oh, that's right, I forgot you can't remember anything."

Genis included, "We have to cross a forest, and from there, we could head straight to the village."

"Umm… Won't I be needing a weapon for the monsters, then?"

Genis and Lloyd looked at each other, It was Genis who spoke first, "I didn't think about that."

We began to look around, and eventually Lloyd said, "I know! Why not use a broom?" Lloyd looked very proud of himself.

Genis Looked at Lloyd and began doing that one thing where he's about to make fun of him. "Lloyd, that's stupi-"

"That's a great idea Lloyd!" I interrupted as I ran to grab the broom.

Genis stared at me with disbelief. And I stared back, being careful to avoid his eyes.

"Hey, at least this broom's being used for something. It's not as if it's ever used for cleaning…." I began.

"Hey, I clean!" Lloyd defended himself.

"Yes yes, I was only kidding. Sorry if I offended you… Hey… this broom looks more like a weapon…" I began noticing the broom's design. The bottom was a ordinary broom, however, the more upper part of the broom was metal, and had a spike ball on the very top.

"Yeah, my dad made it. He said that if I ever did something bad, he would hit me with it." Lloyd Smiled.

Genis and I both sweat dropped.

"Well, anyways… OFF TO ISELIA!" I did the whole fist in the air thing.

"Devastation!" I yelled as I threw the broom down onto a monster flower. Those things are A LOT harder and scarier in real life… Not to mention battling is REALLY tough… Especially since I don't even have an exsphere.

"Demon fang!" Yelled Lloyd as he thrust his swords and avoided an attack.

Genis was further back yelling, "Aqua edge!"

"Infliction!" I yelled as I finished off the last monster.

'Wait! I finished off the last monster… which means that I get to say something! Woot woot! Now, what to say… "Like my dad says, 'May you rest in pieces'!"

Genis and Lloyd both stared at me, Genis was the first to speak, "Don't you mean, 'Rest in peace'?"

"Nope!"

"…"

'Yay! I got a combo saying!'

"Well, let's get going!" I pointed the way to the exit, and began leading.

"We're…Finally…Out…" I was gasping for air as I was crawling out of the forest.

"Yeah, we really do need to buy more apple gels." Said Genis, who was completely unscathed because he's was in the back casting the whole time.

"That's some bad luck you have there, Anna!" Said Lloyd, grinning.

I groaned in response.

We were crossing the bridge when a monster attacked. All was fine until a monster started for Genis while he was casting. "Genis, look out!" I yelled as I attacked the monster. It had hit me a bit, but I was okay for the most part. Then, a monster was attacking Lloyd from the back, when he was already fighting another monster, so I went to go attack that monster which poisoned me. During my fight with that one, the monster that was fighting Lloyd came to me and pushed me into the river.

"I don't think I can walk anymore…" I said as I completely gave up on moving. I'm not used to getting hurt and such, so that's why I'm like this. Although, I AM stronger than before…

'Anna, if you're going to complain about this, imagine later on? You can't complain about something as little as this… Especially since these are just FIELD monsters… The easiest ones to beat…You're just being a burden…'

"Want help getting up?" Lloyd offered.

"…No thanks. I can do it myself." I don't want to be a burden… I have to get up!'

I forced myself to get up, even though I was a little shaky.

"Let's go." I said, as I forced myself to walk.

'I really need to get an exsphere…'

'So this is Iselia village…' I looked around. 'It looks like a nice place to live…Although it looks a lot bigger in person…'

"Lloyd," Said a soldier as he came up to Lloyd, "Phaidra was looking for you."

"Phaidra?" Lloyd answered, "okay."

The guard walked away.

I was getting dizzy, the poison was getting to me. "Lloyd, where's Frank's house?"

Lloyd looked at me with a worried expression, "Anna, you don't look so good, are you okay?"

"…I'll be fine. I just got poisoned. We should really get going if we want to catch up with Colette." I responded.

"…Okay, we'll get Frank to heal you."

Genis was the one to answer my question, "It's the last house northeast from here."

"Thanks Genis. Let's go…"

'Why is it so hard for me to depend on people? I should just ask Lloyd to help me out… But… I don't want to be a burden.' I decided as we headed to Colette's house.

"Oh, hello Lloyd." Phaidra greeted us as we came into the house.

"Phaidra! Is it true that Colette already left?" Lloyd exclaimed.

Phaidra nodded her head, "Indeed."

Lloyd looked at Phaidra disbelievingly, "Did she tell me the wrong time?"

Frank looked at Lloyd with a little bit of pity, "…Colette asked me to give you this letter." Frank handed Lloyd the letter.

Lloyd carefully read the letter:

Dear Lloyd, By the time you read this, I will have already left on my journey. I'm sorry for lying to you. The world regeneration journey is full of peril—many Chosens have failed. I care about you too deeply to let you get involved. I'm going to do my best to stop the monsters and the Desians, so I want you to live a happy and peaceful life in the regenerated world. Thank you so much for your friendship and kindness all these years. I'm really lucky to have met you.

Farewell, Colette

Everyone was silent. Lloyd looked a little disturbed, "…What is this? This almost sounds like a will."

'You have no idea…' I silently thought. I was trying hard not to say anything out loud. I was leaning against the wall, still waiting to be healed.

Frank looked hesitant, "Yes…you could call it that."

"What do you mean?" Genis said, sounding highly curious.

A guilty expression haunted Frank's face, "Lloyd, Genis. There is something we hid from you and everyone in the village. Colette…no, the Chosen…is already-"

"Whoa!" Yelled Genis in surprise.

There was suddenly a lot of screaming coming from outside.

"What was that?!" Exclaimed Lloyd as he and Genis went outside.

I was about to go outside as well when frank yelled after me, "Here, let me heal you."

"Thanks." I replied as I went outside along with Lloyd and Genis.

While running around to save the people from the desians, I found an exshere.

I turned to Loyd, "Lloyd, can I please use that key crest so that I can equip this?"

Llouyd looked at me for a bit, "But…"

"Lloyd, please? It's either you let me borrow it, or I just equip it on without one."

'I'm NOT going to be a burden.'

After a while of thinking Lloyd finally gave it to me.

"Thank you Lloyd"I said as we quickly made our way to the town gates.

"Lloyd Irving! Come forth!" Yelled a desian. The desians had a group of people surrounded.

Lloyd rushed over in front of the group of people. "You've come to attack the village again?! I've had enough of this!"

If it wasn't for the masks, you would've seen a very confused expression, "What are you talking about?"

Another Desian came forth, "He speaks nonsense. Ignore him."

"Listen up, inferior beings!"

'Whoa, Forcystus?' I was shocked, I had completely forgotten about him. He's always creeped me out.

"I am Forcystus, one of the Five Desian Grand Cardinals. I am a superior half-elf who rules over the farm where we cultivate you pathetic humans."

I stole a quick glimpse at Genis, whose face was filled with sadness.

"…Half-elf…" I put my hand on his shoulder as he whispered those words, and he gave me a surprised and confused look.

Both of our attentions returned to Forcystus when he stated, "Lloyd! You, a human, have been found guilty for the crime of violating the non-aggression treaty. Therefore, I bring judgment upon you and this village!"

Genis took a step forward, "You violated the treaty, too! You tried to murder the Chosen!"

I silently thought, 'it wasn't them though…'

Both Forcystus and the desian captain looked at each other, both exchanging perplexed looks.

It was the Desian captain that understood first, "Us, kill the Chosen? Hahaha! I see now. They must be after the Chosen." Forcystus had also understood.

Lloyd lowered his guard, "They? Are you saying you aren't the ones that attacked Colette?"

Forcystus smiled smugly, "I have no need to explain myself to the likes of you. The only thing that matters is that you, Lloyd Irving, have been in contact with host body F192 and attacked our guards."

The mayor Went up to Lloyd. It took all that I had to not strangle that idiot.

"What have you done?! How many times have we told you to stay away from the ranch?!"

Lloyd looked a little shocked at first, then his face turned guilty, "I'm sorry…"

Forcystus' face turned into a somewhat twisted smile, "We've prepared an appropriate opponent for your crime!"

'Oh God… Please, no…"

Just then, a green monster appeared.

'Marble…' I felt ashamed thinking this, but she looked really scary…

Tears were streaming down my face.

"…What is that thing?!" Lloyd looked both disgusted and scared.

"Now, receive your punishment!" Yelled Forcystus as Marble began attacking.

Both Lloyd and Genis attacked back. "Demon fang!"

"Stalagmite!"

Lloyd yelled at me, "Anna! Help!"

I snapped back to reality, "I…" I felt helpless, I didn't want to kill Marble.

It was Genis' turn to yell, "Anna! What are you doing- Ahh!" Marble had hit Genis on his stomach.

"Genis!" I yelled as I rushed into battle. 'Marble, I'm sorry…' The tears couldn't stop coming down my face.

Marble had finally weakened, and Lloyd's exsphere was revealed.

The desian captain stepped towards Forcystus, "Lord Forcystus! Just as you thought, that boy has an Exsphere!"

Forcystus looked intrigued, "…It must be the one from the Angelus Project that we've been searching for!" Forcystus took a step forward to Lloyd, "Give it to me!"

Lloyd protectively covered his exsphere, "No! This is a memento of my mom's, who you Desians murdered!"

Forcystus gave a perplexed look, "What are you talking about? Your mother was…"

At that moment, Marble had constricted Forcystus.

'Marble…'

She then spoke, "Run…away…Genis, Lloyd…"

Genis and Lloyd's eyes widened with disbelief.

"Wh…what was that voice? It…sounded like…Marble?…"stammered Genis.

"…It can't be!" Lloyd was aghast.

Marble was fighting for her consciousness, "Uh…ugh…guh… Get away…hurry!… Genis…you were like a grandson to me."

At that moment, I had to look into Marble eye, I had to see if she had any final wishes that I may be able to fulfill…

At that moment, I saw everything. Her whole life was flashing before my eyes, the good times and the bad. I saw all the happy memories of her and Chocolat as well. The only darkness left in her was the regret of not being able so say goodbye to her daughter or granddaughter…

I came back to reality as Marble spoke her last words, "Thank you. Goodbye…" Marble then exploded on Forcystus and an exsphere had rolled on the floor to Genis.

"No! Protect Lord Forcystus!" Yelled an desian soldier as they all formed a circle around him.

"…Lloyd. We will always come after you as long as you possess that Expshere. Always!" Yelled Forcystus as he and the desians retreated.

Genis fell on his knees and held on to Marbles exsphere, "M…Marble!…Marble!! No! "

I was crying for the loss of Marble, and because I now carried all of her memories as well.

The mayor ran up to Lloyd, "What have you done?! Look! Look what happened to our village! It's all your fault!"

Lloyd looked overwhelmingly guilty, "I'm sorry…"

The mayor got in his face more, "You think you can fix this by apologizing?! The Desians marked you as their enemy! As long as you are here, this village will never be at peace. Do you understand?"

Genis quickly got up and went in front Lloyd and spread out his arms, "Wait a minute! You're going to exile him?"

The mayor retorted, "Yes."

Genis looked desperate, "That's not fair! Lloyd didn't do anything wrong! He just saved Marble…"

"Any involvement with the ranch is forbidden. There are no exceptions." The mayor said indignantly.

Genis began looking appalled, "So it's okay to let people die at the human ranch as long as the village is safe?!"

A woman froma crowd stepped forward and answered, "The people at the ranch are just going to rot there, anyway"

I myself, was disgusted by their way of thinking, "I hate people with no open minds! If it was someone YOU cared about in there, you wouldn't be saying the same things! All you people care about are yourselves!" I just couldn't hold it in anymore. These people really disgusted me.

The mayor glared me, "How would you have it, then? Had you not done something so stupid, they'd have been the only ones that died."

Genis' face was full of hate and disgust, "You humans are all the same…"

Lloyd stepped forward, "That's enough, Genis, Anna. This was my fault." Said Lloyd as he walked up to the mayor, "…I'll leave."

A woman with a desperate look came forward, "Mayor, surely you don't have to be so strict on a child…"

"Finally, someone with sense…" I mumbled to myself.

"What are you saying? Do you realize how many people died here because of him?!" A man yelled from the back.

Genis spoke up, "It's not Lloyd's fault! I'm the one that took him to the ranch. So it's my fault!"

The mayor looked Hesitant, "But it's Lloyd the Desians are after. And besides, Lloyd isn't from this village to begin with. He's an outsider, raised by a dwarf…"

I, too, spoke up, "So what? You're just going to banish Lloyd because he's been raised differently?"

Genis concluded, "Then I'm leaving, too. I'm just as guilty as he is!"

Fine then. By the rights vested in me as mayor, I hereby announce the banishment of Lloyd, Genis, and their friend from the village of Iselia."

Lloyd had nothing but grief, sorrow and guilt on his face he approached Phaidra, "I'm sorry for causing you trouble…"

Phaidra gave Lloyd a kind look, "If you feel that way, please catch up to the Chosen and protect her. If in doing so, the world is saved, surely everyone will change their minds about you."

Frank also joined the conversation, "For I'm sure Colette would want that as well."

Lloyd looked a little more eased at these words, "…Yes. I will atone for what I've done. I swear to protect Colette for the sake of those who have died because of me."

Genis also gave Lloyd a kind yet guilty look, "…I'll follow you, Lloyd. It's my fault that you were banished. So I promise to stick by you, always."

I also chimed in, "You still have to train me, and you already promised that I could join you on this journey."

Lloyd looked at us with relief and happiness. He took a glance at Marble's exsphere that Genis was holding on to.

"Say, Genis. Why don't you use that Exsphere? That's Marble's memento."

Genis looked at the exsphere with a pained expression, "…Okay."

Lloyd threw a small bitter-sweet smile, "I'll explain to you on how to use the Key Crest later. After all, it looks like it's going to be a long journey."

"Yeah…" Genis was still gazing into Marble's exsphere.

"Yeah, let's get started!" I yelled as cheerfully I can, which didn't sound that cheerful at all. Now, not only do I bear my burdens and past, I also bear Marble's. I decided right then, that I never want to kill another innocent person ever again. And if I had to, then I have to look into their eyes, and carry what's left of them, to carry their past.

Wow, that was a long chapter. Sorry if it bored people…. - . - … Well, please look forward to chapter three! . R&R! .