A/N: I'm not sure whether I really like this one. And I really am sorry for the late update. Ahhh, I know I don't update this that much, but I'm kind of a perfectionist when it comes to this story. Still, I had the hardest time with this chapter. It's actually one of my favorite scenes in the game—the "Bastard Friends" scene—but I still had a hard time with it. I didn't want to do a total copy of the game script, because…well, how original would that be? So…yeah, let me know what you think of this chapter. I thought it sucked, but I don't know.

Oh, yeah, and I own nothing.

Watching the battle between the Vanguard girl and the two kids, Zelos couldn't really tell much other than one thing.

Emil sucked at fighting.

Even more so than Lloyd had, starting out. Emil left himself open at nearly every opportunity, rarely used any attack other than the giant slashing one, and attacked wildly. It was sadto watch. At least Lloyd had been able to kick butt sometimes. And at least he hadn't needed to be healed every freaking second. And he didn't fall to his ass from an attack from a toy rapier.

Zelos sighed, leaning against the wall, bored. He could help the kids, but he really didn't feel like it, and, well…they could probably survive this. If it looked like they were about to die, he could probably just step in.

One of the men that had come along nudged him. "Ah…Chosen? Should we not help them?"

Zelos shrugged. "They'll be fine. They're going up against a girl fighting with a toy and a really wimpy monster. Besides, that Marta girl can heal." Not as well as Raine, or probably even as well as Zelos, but at least it was there.

"Okay…" the man said dubiously.

"First aid!" a voice shrieked out.

Zelos sighed again. Weren't they smart enough to be able to figure out to interrupt someone while they were casting? Especially when it was a healing spell…

"Dammit, stop healing yourself!"

"Make me!"

This was gonna make him cry.

It looked like it was going to be a long battle. With yet another sigh, Zelos sat cross-legged on the ground and placed his chin in his hands. No point in standing when the battle was obviously going to take far longer than it should.

If it were me and Lloyd against her, she'd be dead in seconds. Honestly, those kids need to learn how to fight. If they really are after Lloyd, they've got no chance.

At least he could take comfort in that.

After the Vanguard girl had left—Alice, was it?—Zelos was left to study the two kids in front of him. Still, that Alice girl…creepy. Mr. Handsome Chosen? Was that really all he was to people still? Couldn't they get it through their damned thick skulls that technically he wasn't Chosen anymore?

Hah, yeah, probably not.

The kids were looking at him with something like awe. He had to keep himself from snapping at them for staring at him like that. Just because they were looking for Lloyd didn't necessarily mean they were all bad. He hadn't liked Lloyd at first, either. It was possible that these two could grow on him too. Probably not as much as Lloyd had, but—it was still a possibility, wasn't it?

"You're—you're—you're…" the girl was sputtering. Marta, he reminded himself. Goddess Martel, what a dumb name. "Z—Zelos Wilder…"

Inwardly he winced. He really had to tone the flirting down if the girls were going to get this flustered. He could already imagine the glare with narrowed eyes Lloyd would be giving him. The same glare he got every time he flirted with a girl.

"Yeah, that's me. And? I hear you're looking for—" Oh, probably a bad idea to bring up the subject of Lloyd so soon. He didn't want to sound like a stalker or an overprotective parent (coughcoughKRATOScoughcough), even in front of these kids. "—a fisherman," he finished lamely, mentally smacking himself with his gloved hand.

"Oh…yeah, we found him." The boy gave Zelos a timid smile. "He's injured, though."

Is he gay? If he's gay, I'm running. And…god, he's got the most whiny, annoying voice I've ever heard. "Yeah, okay. Whatever. I'm glad to see you two are so good in battle." Sarcasm. If they were anything like Colette—or Lloyd, even—they wouldn't really grasp that.

"Ll—Ll—Ll—" Marta was sputtering some more.

Zelos quirked a brow at her. "Yes, my dear?" Oops. He'd just decided to not do that, too…

She made some unintelligible sounds. Zelos stole a glance at the ridiculously dressed boy. Ahh. That was jealousy if he knew jealously at all. Funny. At least he wasn't gay.

It was also…Zelos blinked suddenly, realizing that that was the same glare Lloyd gave him every time he flirted with a…

"You're Lloyd's friend!" she gasped out finally, then shook her head vigorously, closing her eyes. "I…um, right?"

"Yes, his best bud, that's me," Zelos drawled, pointing his sword into the dirt and leaning on it. "And?"

She finally met his eyes without mumbling or blushing. More than most girls could do. Her blue eyes were very young and determined. Almost like Colette's. Except…more so. Without the weight of being Chosen. "Where is he?"

Was that really all he was good for? "Why do you want to know?" Like they'd tell the truth. Oh, yeah, we totally want to kill your best friend. So, where is he? Riiiight.

"He…stole something from us," she mumbled. "It's important."

"Stole something. You realize he's Dwarven-trained, don't you? He can make anything fifty times better than anything you'll find in a store." And the intense look he'd get while carving something, while concentrating, really concentrating on it, like Raine wished he'd do for his homework…ahh, it really was making Zelos realize just how much he missed the idiot.

"It's a jewel," she shot back. "He can't make jewels, can he?"

Zelos let out a puff of amusement, gripping his sword a bit tighter, trying not to let them see how much this was all getting to him. "He can make an imitation that'll fool any jeweler." Maybe not, but Dirk probably could. "Furthermore—he's just a country bumpkin. He lives in a hut in the middle of a forest. He wouldn't steal a jewel. He wouldn't have any reason to. Lloyd's too dumb to pull anything like that off, anyway. Unless he got incredibly lucky."

"You don't believe us?"

"Whoever stole your jewelwasn't Lloyd. That's all I have to say. I suggest you find whoever took it and go from there."

"It wasn't a jewel, exactly," Emil said suddenly. Still timid, but a bit more sure this time. "It was…more like a…um…"

"An amulet," Marta said quickly. "It was a magical amulet."

Zelos raised a brow. "Still not convinced it was Lloyd. If the amulet's so important to you, just buy a new one."

"It's a one of a kind!"

"Then that's really too bad for you. If it was Lloyd who took it—which it wasn't—then he would have had good reasons. He wouldn't just steal something for the heck of it. He wouldn't steal something out of greed. He felt bad about asking me for money, and I've got almost as much money as the princess herself."

Emil twitched.

"It was Lloyd!" she shouted. "We saw him!"

"And? That doesn't exactly prove anything." Especially if that "Lloyd" smelled of a terrible, absolutely failed cologne.

"What do you mean it doesn't prove anything? It proves everything! It—"

"Hey, now. Don't get mad. Who's known Lloyd longer, you or me? Besides, this is a kid who recited Dwarven Vows all the time. Number eleven: lying is the first step down the path of thievery. Lloyd doesn't steal, my dear."

She scowled at him, and opened her mouth to retort, when the blond kid interrupted, voice cold.

"Why the hell are you even defending that fucking bastard?"

Okay, that was it. It really was. It was impossible for him to like them.

Zelos gave small smile instead, and said nothing. He didn't even start strangling the brat. Fucking bastard? Who the hell does he think he is? Lloyd's…Lloyd.

"He killed all the people in Palmacosta." Emil was snarling now, face facing the ground, turned away, hair falling over his cheeks. "He killed all my friends. He killed my family—he killed my parents!"

"That was not Lloyd."

"Why is it so hard for you to believe us?" Marta cried. "We saw what he did, firsthand! I was in Palmacosta! We both were! We…"

"And you expect me to believe that was Lloyd."

"You've talked to the people in Palmacosta, the survivors! Haven't you? As far as I can tell, you're the only one dumb enough to still be in denial over it! Sure, he was your friend, but he changed!"

Zelos gave her a cold look. "And what," he purred, feeling cold fury take his insides, "makes you think you know so much more than I do? Have you ever met him?"

"Yes! I have! I met him in Palmacosta! I met him when he stole Lu—the amulet! I have, in fact, met him!"

"That doesn't mean you know him. I believe this conversation is over, Marta, my dear sweet angel."

"Look…I'm sorry." Her voice was soft. "But people change. My…I've seen it happen before. I really am sorry. But you can't stay in denial like that. We just want to stop him from hurting anyone ever again. We want to…do something good. For everyone."

"No," he said softly. "No, you don't. You want revenge on Lloyd for something he didn't do."

"Have you not been listening to us?" shouted Emil suddenly, head jerking up. "He killed everybody! What is he, to you, anyway? A god?"

A god? Oh, now, that was funny. Funniest thing he'd heard all day. He'd long since lost his faith in any gods. Especially since he learned the nature of the Chosen's journey.

"Gods are overrated, kid," he said, stepping past them and not even bothering to look into Emil's red eyes. "Lloyd's way better than a god. Lloyd…is Lloyd. Can't get better than that."

Dramatically flipping some hair over his shoulder, Zelos turned to go, and—

He stopped.

What the hell?

Red eyes?

Zelos turned around slowly. Okay, yeah. Those were red eyes. Really red eyes. He could handle that. He'd seen red eyes before. Colette had had red eyes when she was soulless. Or had they been pink? Well, it had been creepy. But…okay. Calm. Red eyes did not necessarily mean he was some demon from Niflheim or whatever. Red just meant…red.

Red was the color of Lloyd's outfit.

Is everything gonna remind me of him?

Red eyes. Focus. Hadn't they been green before? Yes, they had. And Emil either had huge mood swings or this was very, very strange. Ah, screw it, it was strange anyway. Peoples' eyes don't usually shift color that suddenly. And the moods…were more or less flipsides of each other. This was weird. Really weird.

Emil was still glaring, hand clenched tightly on sword. "Why the hell," he growled, "do you even trust him so much?"

How many people had asked him that question?

One too many.

He turned around without a word. So the kids were freaks. So they were after Lloyd. So they wouldn't fucking listen to him. That was fine, absolutely fine. It just meant that he sort of hated them.

"You've got no chance against Lloyd," he said finally. "You never will."

"And just what makes you so sure of that!" Emil screamed at him.

"Because," Zelos said reasonably. "Dwarven vow number seven."

"What?" Marta said, sounding completely confused. Zelos couldn't help but smile.

"Love and goodness will always win." Striding forward, he ignored the protests of the kids behind him and gestured to the men Clara had sent with him.

He was leaving those brats behind. They didn't matter.

And besides, he had no time to waste on people who swore revenge on his "bastard" friends.

A/N: Well, there ya go. Reviews rock. I love all of you reviewers. This is definitely getting more reviews than I expected…^^