Kay, here's the long-awaited chapter.

I've almost nothing to say here so, without further ado, here's the chapter.

….

"You're an angel." Colette looked so serious, her pale face—somehow still angelically pale despite their travels—was honest and open and worried. Despite this, she was so very serious that lying—really lying—to her didn't glance through Lloyd's mind.

"H-how…?" Lloyd could only stare at her. What had he done wrong? He didn't think that he had forgotten to repress his mana signature… His mind flashed to the battle back at the Temple, he had fallen close to unconscious; he had used magic he shouldn't have and lost control of himself. But did this mean Kratos knew too? This panicked Lloyd further, Colette he could explain to, Kratos? His father was a very different story.

"Well…" Colette's hands were clasped in front of her, her fingers twined and moving without stop, worriedly fidgeting, "it was the battle at the Seal. You used magic, but I wasn't sure how. Then…after I released the Seal I got more angelic abilities…like being able to see people's mana, like how Professor Sage and Genis do it." Telling about her angelic abilities seemed to embarrass Colette and Lloyd only then remembered that she had, up to that point, thought him ignorant of how painful the angel transformation was. Now that he was an angel, her secrets were as good as out as well.

"At first it was all a blur," she continued, her voice growing softer with each word. "I couldn't really tell much about the mana; it was all really hard to keep straight, the real world and the mana…" It was still kind of hard for Lloyd to keep his vision straight. The way he saw mana—the way that he was pretty sure most people did, though he'd only ever asked Raine, his father, and Yuan—was a blurry overlay of his vision. Like the after-image when one stared at something bright for a long time. The colors were what defined a person. From what Lloyd's limited experience gathered, the colors were a combination of species, mana attributes, and personality.

"Then things started to settle down and I," here she blushed, "started looking at everyone's mana. I thought it was really interesting, and it wasn't what I thought it would be like…"

"Y-yeah…" Lloyd didn't know what to say to her statement.

"Yours is different than everyone else's," Colette barely took notice of Lloyd's words. It was as though she had started on a rant and now could hardly stop herself. She seemed to be trying to get a lot off her conscience. "Like Kratos', but really different… He's an angel too you know…—oh, I shouldn't have said anything!" She covered her mouth, looking apologetic. "I'm so sorry!"

Lloyd almost laughed. Almost. But the stress seemed a little too much for that and he instead nodded. "I-it's okay, Colette, I already knew…

"I think I figured out what you're doing too… You're hiding your mana 'cause you don't want everyone to know what you are. I just don't understand…why…? Why do you need to hide? And if you're an angel, why don't you believe in Martel?" The questions fell on Lloyd and he felt his heart tighten and his throat close.

What was he going to tell her? There was always the obvious option of lying. He was sure he could come up with something on the fly, he was getting so good at that, but did he really want to lie? It might be nice to have someone to turn to, and he knew Colette: she was the sweetest girl in the worlds. She wouldn't tell anyone his secrets without his permission.

But, to follow the cliché, was he being selfish? Telling Yuan had been different from now. He'd had permission from Yuan in the future to do so, actually, he had explicit instructions from Yuan to tell him. With Colette everything was different; she wouldn't understand his need to stay with the timeline, she would want to save as many people as she could. That was what made Colette so wonderful in Lloyd's eyes, and it was something that he didn't think he could bring himself to corrupt…could he?

Simply looking into her eyes, Lloyd knew that she wanted the truth, but she didn't come close to suspecting what it was.

Lloyd sat down hard and looked out into the dark, the few trees that dotted the landscape of Thoda Island, and the craggy coastline that could not be escaped. "…if I told you I wasn't going to tell you everything, what would you say?"

Colette sat beside him, quietly reaching out and taking his hand. "…I'd ask why you don't think you can trust me…" The girl's thin, child-like fingers traced patterns over the tops of Lloyd's tanned hands.

"Because…because I want to feel like I'm managing to protect you even a little bit…" He laughed and the sound came out hollow, echoing around the land far louder than it should have.

"Lloyd! Of course you're protecting me! You were amazing back in the Temple!"

"That's not what I mean, Colette." Lloyd sighed, knowing that she was trying to make him feel better. "I mean there are lots of things you still don't get, and that I had to learn way sooner than I wanted to. If you don't have to, you shouldn't have to."

"…I don't understand. Lloyd, what don't I know?"

"Palmacosta, the Desians, K—even Dorr, the "incorruptible"; you always believe the best in everyone and…that's what makes you so perfect. I don't want to change that…"

"Lloyd, I still don't understand what you're talking about…" Colette seemed sad, sad that he didn't trust her, sad that he was hurting, sad that she had said something to cause so much confusion. "Please trust me! Please tell me what's going on!"

He could only stare at her. He felt something change as he made up his mind, felt something in his gut twist. Everything had built up to now. The entire fate of the world was resting on this decision. Was he to pursue the proper course and not change the timeline any more than possible or was he to plunge in and continue the changes? He wanted to tell her. He wanted to so badly. So, so badly, but—but…

What will happen? whispered a wicked little voice in the back of his head; a voice that sounded very much like Mithos'. Colette would want to change things more, save people. She would want to save the world differently from last time. She would try to stray from the Chosen's Journey. You don't have Sheena yet, what would happen then? Zelos, Regal, Presea…you can't make them trust you like you can her…

Lloyd made a choice that some small part of him knew he would regret—maybe forever.

He lied. "…Colette, I'm sorry, but it's really complicated and…you're safer not knowing. You're the Chosen, we can't risk you!"

A spark of anger was added to Colette's saddened features. "W-what do you mean, I'm the Chosen? What's that got to do with anything?"

"It's Kvar," Lloyd rushed through his words, more lies and partial-truths. "One of the Desians who attacked Iselia-"

"The one who killed your mother…" Dozens of emotions seemed to float through Colette's open face, grief, worry, concern, and, every so often, true anger at her old friend.

"…Colette, I don't know how I'm an angel. Maybe my dad was an angel, maybe my mom was and that's why the Desians wanted her so much, I don't know…and I don't know that I want to know." He forced himself to look at her and plaster what he hoped was honesty across his features.

"…and that's why Kvar wants you so badly? He wants to experiment on an angel?"

"I…no, not exactly. Kvar's just a bastard that wants to destroy everything. You heard Ki—Myrrh at the Ranch, he was behind Rodyle and Magnius attacking Palmacosta and who knows what the hell else he's plotting now! We have to complete the Regeneration and get rid of the Desians before it's too late…"

"I…" Colette dropped his hand, her eyes dropped from his as well and she stared into her lap. When she spoke again, something was greatly altered in her voice. "You're right. The Regeneration is all that matters."

"Colette…? What's wrong?"

"You're still lying to me." Her eyes flashed back to meet his again; they were icy. "But even though you don't trust me, I won't tell anyone."

"It's not that I don't trust you, Colette! I just—!"

"You don't trust me; you're still lying to me. I don't know what's going on and I won't tell anyone anything. I'll prove you can trust me. And then we'll Regenerate the World and maybe someday you'll really tell me what's going on." She stood up, pulling the blanket that was draped over her shoulders with her. "Come on, we should get back before the Professor or Kratos gets worried."

"Colette, I'm…sorry…"

Lloyd had ruined everything.

…

Similarly to Palmacosta's continent, the Asgard continent was one of rolling planes, but unlike Palmacosta, small forests didn't dot the landscape. Instead, the planes stretched in all directions. In the north, west and south they were ended by the dark, looming figures of mountains and to the east, though they could not see it, the sea lay.

Unlike Palmacosta, however, the climate was not nearly so temperate and at night, temperatures would drop quite low and in the mornings, the five travelers and their dog trod over iced grass as their breath ghosted 'round their faces. It was a good five days from Thoda to Asgard; the first day they'd only made their slow way from the Thoda House of Salvation north to the continent's second House, there they had chosen to stay the night. The second day had been much longer, and it took them a day and a half to move back to Hakonesia Peak. There, they had been lucky. The survivors of Palmacosta had been left with nothing, no one was able to pay to get through the peak and so, at last, the doors had been opened for free.

Lucky: lucky for Lloyd at least, who realized only after they had been informed of this news that they were supposed to have gotten the pass from Chocolat; she was dead now. The group had stayed the night at the inn that stood on the cliff side, not far from the pass, and gone through the next day. From there, it was three days' worth of journeying to Asgard.

These days were some of the longest so far, as now Colette was no longer speaking to him. They shared the same campfire, meals, and friends, yet the two never shared a watch and she spoke not one word to him. Lloyd found himself slinking away with Kratos to leave Colette with Genis and Raine where they would talk happily and enjoy each other's company.

He was to blame and thus he was the one that deserved to be shunned by his friends. Kratos seemed to notice this, but he had the tact not to comment and simply moved to distract Lloyd with extended training sessions. It was with these that Lloyd managed to distract himself.

"Faster," barked his father on their second night. "You lack the dexterity to take down any well-trained opponent." Lloyd increased the speed of his mock slashes and dodges by what felt like tenfold, but still his father scowled. "Stop. You're not taking this seriously."

"Sorry I don't think of the air as a serious opponent," Lloyd snapped back, short of both breath and temper.

Kratos glared at him for a long moment and Lloyd matched it with everything he had. Finally, the elder angel sighed and adjusted his left glove, then moved to pull out his own sword. "Fine, then we'll spar and see if you consider me a worthy opponent, boy." Sarcasm dripped from his words, but for Lloyd, having a real target to hack and slash at felt perhaps better than it should have.

As he stepped and dodged, lunged and blocked, Lloyd felt himself slip into auto, felt himself act, and it felt so good to not have to think. All he had to do was time his own moves with Kratos', and to not use techs or spells was simple enough. The sounds of their swords clashing echoed around the plain, their feet crunched in the frosted grass and their breath steamed in the night air.

Suddenly, Lloyd was on his back, his footing compromised, and his father was standing over him, sword to his neck. Lloyd was panting hard, having lost his breath when he hit the ground, but amidst his gasping and coughing, he found himself laughing. It was the first time in four days that he'd found amusement in anything.

"D-damn," he choked, "Gods, that hurt. I surrender." He sat up as Kratos sheathed his sword and offered a hand to help him stand.

"You weren't focused," Kratos growled, "You let your mind wander and forgot that the ground was covered in ice. Losing your footing was inevitable; I merely had to help it along. How do you expect to win when you make childish mistakes like that?"

"Kratos," Lloyd allowed his father to help him to his feet, "I'm seventeen. As a teenager, it's my right to let my mind go wherever it wants. Don't tell me you weren't just as bad when you were a kid a billion years ago."

Kratos snorted but chose to ignore the jibe, "I also wasn't trying to protect the Chosen at your age. The more responsibility you take on, the less time you can afford to spend making childish mistakes. You are no longer a student in Iselia, boy, don't forget that."

"Hard to forget when it's this cold," Lloyd faked a shiver for emphasis.

"…again," Kratos barked.

"What?"

"Try again, and this time, don't let your mind wander."

Kratos beat Lloyd each of the three times he ordered Lloyd to attack him. The number of small bruises and scratches that Lloyd had were practically doubled in their next ten minutes of training. Finally, when Lloyd hit the frosted ground for the fourth time, Kratos sighed.

"It doesn't seem that any amount of force will snap you from your thoughts."

"Ow, I dunno, Kratos, if you keep making me hit my head, you might just get what you want. Course, there'll be a few other casualties too…"

"How you manage to laugh at these things," snapped the mercenary, "is beyond me."

"It helps when you have a sense of humor, and let's face it, I've seen rocks laugh harder than you." Lloyd sat himself up, but stayed on the ground. Perhaps if he stayed sitting, Kratos wouldn't hit him so hard to knock him back to the ground.

Much to Lloyd's great shock, however, Kratos sat with him. "…I believe your thoughts are focused on the Chosen…?"

"Her name's Colette, D-Kratos." Lloyd looked away from his father, wondering how the whole world caught onto his problems so fast.

"What happened?" He was trying, obviously quite hard, and Lloyd was touched…and frustrated. Couldn't anyone keep secrets anymore?

"Since when do you care?" It was harsh, far harsher than it should have been. Kratos was only trying to care, but at the moment Lloyd was still full of adrenaline and frustration and his father wasn't about to help that.

"Since it seems to be putting your life in danger," Kratos snapped back at him. Lloyd couldn't tell if that was really his father's motive or not. His words were growled and sapped of just enough emotion that not even Lloyd could tell what he was really trying to say. He would have liked to think that his father really did just care, but he also was getting too used to having his faith left unrewarded.

"We got into a fight, okay? It's teenager stuff that you wouldn't understand." Lloyd tried to fake a bright voice, but he failed completely; he sounded sad and hollow.

"About…?" Kratos prompted, his words were soft now, what with Kratos obviously finding this conversation as awkward as Lloyd was.

"Just…everything. I dunno, it's a long story and she thinks I don't trust her now and all I care about is Regenerating the world! She freaked when I said that and—and now I don't know what to do…"

"I will hazard to guess that you have not attempted to apologize?"

"It's not something just me saying sorry is gonna fix, Kratos…" Lloyd slumped back and let himself fall—this time willingly—into the frosted grass and stared up at the stars. The night was clear and cold and in the black velvet that was space, the stars twinkled down upon them.

It's not real. If only to break the comfort of looking up at the stars with his father, the annoying little voice in the back of his head spoke up. They're just a projection Mithos created coming from the Tower of Salvation.

"Avoiding Colette and your other friends is not going to help the situation."

"I'm not avoid all my friends, I've still got you and Noishe. Look, I'm sure you've got a ton of experience with this kinda shit—"

"Language, Lloyd Irving!" Kratos barked, but Lloyd blundered on despite the growing feeling of discontent about what he was doing.

"—but it's my problem and she's my friend and what I do is my decision."

Lloyd didn't look at his father, but he knew he'd managed to anger one of his two remaining friends. He wanted to hit himself.

With acid dripping from his words, Kratos growled, "We should return to camp before the others begin to worry." The elder angel stood and started off across the field, toward the dark smoke that marked their campsite.

Lloyd sat up, desperate to make amends to his father, "D-Kratos! Wait, I'm sorry, okay? It's…it's just that I'm freaking myself out with this Journey and I've been on the edge since Palmacosta and… I'm really sorry, I shouldn't have said that stuff, you were just trying to help…"

Kratos didn't turn around, and Lloyd felt his heart drop, but when the mercenary finally spoke his words were warm again, "…apology accepted. Do not concern yourself with too much, Lloyd; you are ultimately still a child, remember that."

Lloyd grinned and leapt to his feet, for the first time in days feeling almost happy. "Thanks… Hey, can we train some more tomorrow too?"

"Another time, perhaps, with luck we will be in Asgard tomorrow evening and I think you would prefer to explore the city than train."

"…I guess that's sorta true…" Lloyd rubbed the back of his head sheepishly and he thought he heard Kratos chuckle softly, but it could have been the wind.

….

Did…did I just not end with a cliffhanger! What is the world coming to? Well, enjoy it, cause I think this might be the last time for quite a while that I don't end it melodramatically -_-'

R&R

~Yoshi