Hello all!

This is once again a more-or-less explanation chapter, but it's the Return of the Whore! Which reminds me; I had a lot of questions about why Lloyd chose to call Yuan a whore in chapter 26. The answer? As far as this future that Lloyd comes from, Lloyd and Yuan got close, especially after Kratos' leaving with Derris-Kharlan. This explains why Lloyd was so willing to go to Yuan for help at the beginning of his little journey though time. It is just a strange inside joke between the two of them, and Lloyd being Lloyd, it was the first thing he thought of.

And the last of my ramblings: Happy Birthday Zelda! Congratulations, you're officially a year older than you want to be. Love ya'!

…

Lloyd opened his eyes to see Raine bending over him, her crystal eyes full of stress and worry. For a long moment, Lloyd couldn't remember where he was or how he had gotten there. There was only a creeping worry for his father, like something terrible had happened… It took a long moment before he remembered the battle at the Tower of Salvation; the battle with Kratos, Yggdrasill's entrance, and Kvar interrupting all exploded back into his memory.

He jerked upward, stopping just in time so as not to ram his forehead into Raine's. "What happened? Where are we?" His head spun even as he looked around to see Sheena's marred face, twisted with worry, Genis, while unhurt, appeared scared, and Colette's emotionally void visage. "Are you guys okay?"

Raine sighed in relief and sat back, "It appears that we came out better than you…except for Colette, unfortunately. How is your head?"

Lloyd ignored her question and crawled off of the bed that he had suddenly found himself on, and wandered toward Colette, again ignoring the spinning in his head. She stared ahead, looking vague and uninterested. Lloyd brushed her blond bangs out of Colette's face and sighed, "…where are we? Do you know what happened at the Tower?"

"…we don't know where we are, but it seems we were taken to safety by Desians… Considering, however, that it seems the Desians attacked the angels, I wonder that they haven't tried to kill Colette yet… Then again, from what I've observed so far, Colette only responds when she is threatened. Perhaps she is impossible to kill when in this state…"

"These guys aren't Desians…" Sheena said softly, and the others turned to look at her. As had become the norm, under scrutiny Sheena shrank back and looked away. "T-they're an organization called the Renegades…they're actually the ones who told the King and the Pope—the leaders of Tethe'alla—about Sylvarant, they're also how I got into Sylvarant in the first place. I don't know why they dress like Desians, maybe it's just so they fit in, or to scare people or something…"

"Interesting…" Raine murmured, "So then the question is, on whose side are these Renegades? Why did they save us if not a year ago, they hired an assassin to kill the Chosen?"

"A valid question, Ma'am, but one I will have to wait to answer," Botta chuckled as he entered the room.
"For now, I must borrow Lloyd, our leader wishes to have a word. If you would be so kind as to follow me, I'll take you to him." Botta looked around at the three hostile faces and Lloyd's exhaustion. "Do not look so concerned: for now, we have orders not to hurt any of you, and the Chosen is, as you have discovered, very difficult to kill in her soulless state. We wouldn't dare try to hurt her under the circumstances."

"Alright, I'll come with you," Lloyd sighed, ignoring the worried looks that all of his friends shot at him. "See you guys later…" He followed Botta out into the hall, slightly surprised when no one stepped forward with handcuffs or something to hold him back if he tried to attack or get away. Instead, he was simply led down the hall to the door he recognized as Yuan's office.

Little had changed since his last visit, months ago. The furniture was still tacky and slightly larger than life, in a style that was clearly centuries old, if not older. Yuan sat at his desk, piles of paperwork covering the otherwise impersonalized surface. The Seraph, however, did seem slightly altered since the last time Lloyd had seen him: there were bags under his eyes and his skin was a chalky shade of pale. When he looked up at Lloyd, there was a slightly haunted look in his emerald eyes.

"Ah, Lloyd, we meet again. I wasn't sure you were going to pull through after Botta dragged you out of the Tower." He stood up from his chair and strolled confidently around the desk, only to lean against it and survey Lloyd skeptically. Perhaps he had not changed so much as Lloyd had first thought.

"Yeah, well, here I am. I'm starting to wonder where the hell you were back there! Dad could have died, or what if Kvar had done Mithos in?" In his sudden burst of emotion, Lloyd had forgotten that Botta was still standing beside him, but the Renegade's face showed no signs of shock, and Lloyd wondered suspiciously how much Yuan had told his second in command.

"After my misstep in Asgard, I decided to focus on the set plan." From some inside pocket, Yuan extracted a sheet of paper that Lloyd realized was the letter that he himself had passed on the last time he had been in this office. "I waited until the last minute to step in, a mistake, I am beginning to think, in hindsight. However, I am not sure how pleased Mithos would have been if the Renegades had stepped in to help him fend off Kvar." Yuan's face hardened slightly, "He was in denial for near a month that Kvar was rebelling, even after he openly claimed to have killed Pronyma… But you have heard about that…"

"I heard you tell Dad in Hima earlier…yesterday…whatever. So Mithos was pretty much unprepared then? What ended up happening at the Tower?"

"…" Yuan sighed, and the hardness fell from his features, leaving him looking tired again. It was as if he had pulled a mask away, "Kvar's Desians have taken the Tower of Salvation. While Kratos and Yggdrasill were able to escape to Derris-Kharlan, Kvar dealt a massive blow to Cruxis' stronghold. I've hesitated in commanding my men to do anything to this point, wanting to hear what you suggest. Kvar's army is growing stronger by the minute, Desians who were formerly doubting Kvar's power have seen the truth of it, and I believe many will sway their loyalties now that his power has been demonstrated. Any men that I had positioned in the Desian ranks have been called back for their own safety, so I have no news of the remaining four Cardinals."

"…wait, four? But Magnius and Pronyma are dead, besides Rodyle, Kvar, and Forcystus, who else is there?" Lloyd blinked, he knew the faces, the evil of all of the Desian Grand Cardinals, who was this mysterious sixth?

"I was under the impression that you had met Lady Myrrh, one of Pronyma's little spies until recently when Yggdrasill had her put in charge of the Palmacosta Ranch, she vanished after you destroyed the Ranch. We assumed she was dead until Kvar announced his uprising. Now we're not sure."

"We have several sightings of Myrrh," Botta injected professionally, "since her supposed death by our spies, and it is generally believed by those who were formerly working in the Iselia Ranch that Forcystus had an escape plan in case his Ranch rebelled against him. We can assume for now that both are still alive, though on whose side the latter is on is in question."

"What the hell's Kvar offering that so many Desians are joining him?" Lloyd asked the Renegades. "Mithos was offering immortality, a world where half-elves rule; what about mayhem and chaos appealsto them?"

Botta smiled bitterly, "There are many Desians who would love anarchy and chaos on their own. They're the ones who joined the Desians young, or their parents were Desians, and grew up to love the insanities of war with a passion that is absolutely disgusting. And for the slightly saner, he has posed the idea that Yggdrasill has been lying to his Desians and has absolutely no intention of fulfilling his promise to make a world for the half-elves."

"So, the question remains, Lloyd," Yuan said softly. "What will you suggest we do?"

Lloyd looked between Yuan's blank face and Botta's suspicious one. Clearly Yuan hand not told his Second everything, but he waited for Lloyd's suggestions all the same. Finally, Lloyd spoke, "Well…you're not really gonna like this, but I say you offer to help Mithos take down Kvar's army. If you were to move upward from the bottom of the Tower and the angels from the top, you'd crush them. And I bet you can find some Desians that are still loyal to Cruxis, like Forcystus."

"You're too optimistic. Kvar clearly has some secret weapons he has yet to produce. For all we know, he could want us to attack. Besides, I could hardly walk up to Mithos and tell him I am the leader of the Renegades. No matter the circumstances, I would be dead in seconds." Yuan crossed his arms again, and Lloyd wondered if the half-elf had already thought of these suggestions.

"…then…go up to Derris-Kharlan and offer what help you can without giving your position away. Have the Renegades recruit as many Desians as you can. At the very least…try to keep Dad safe, have evacuation plans and stuff… Dad knows about the Renegades, but I don't think he'll turn you in after Kvar's attack. He'll be too distracted…"

Yuan had begun to nod slowly, as if this, too, was a plan he had conceived. "And what do you intend to do?"

"…well, I guess that depends; what has Kvar got going in Tethe'alla?" Lloyd's stomach was churning as he asked the question that had been on his mind front he beginning, but hadn't had the chance to ask it yet. If Kvar had gone so far in Sylvarant, what kind of armies did he have in Tethe'alla? Especially after he had taken control of the Tower…

"Nothing," Yuan said bluntly. "We've gotten no reports of any Desian activity in Tethe'alla; in fact, I believe it's actually decreased since Kvar began his takeover. Most of the contact was from Rodyle and Pronyma, and after Pronyma's death, her spies returned to Derris-Kharlan, and it seems Rodyle has pulled out as well, perhaps on Kvar's orders, or of his own accord. For all we know, he could be trying to keep those loyal to him close in case Kvar tries something or he decides to overthrow the bastard."

"Well…" Lloyd ran a hand through his hair, "I guess that's kinda good news. We need to get to Tethe'alla so we can heal Colette, and we've got…friends there."

"Wilder, Combatir, and Bryant, I am aware. However, what do you intend to do about Kvar? You aren't just walking away from this war, not now."

"You don't get it, Yuan," Lloyd snapped, "we don't know what's going to happen here. Even if we destroy Kvar, we would still have to stop Mithos and save the world! I was supposed to keep things as close as possible to the first time, which means we have to get over to Tethe'alla!" Lloyd was almost shouting, though it was only because Yuan seemed to be getting angry as well.

"Surely there is more than one way to do this. What with Kvar causing as much damage as he is, you cannot honestly tell me you are going to abandon this battle to us!"

"Look, between you and Raine, we went through a ton of different theories for what could happen, Raine did a ton of research, she had all these things saying that if we could kill Kvar, time would start over or something—like all of this would be undone and time would start over from where it got messed with, or the world just might end. I just kept getting lectured about how I needed to keep things as close to normal as possible." Lloyd's voice went up slightly as he imitated Raine.

"You're telling me that you've come back, changed a substantial amount, and watched a war start all without real knowledge of the damage you might be doing!" Yuan roared, looking utterly furious, his cheeks slightly flushed and his eyes like emerald fire. "You're as rash and stupid as your damn father!"

"Shut the hell up, Yuan! No one knew what was going on, hell, we're not even sure how Kvar did any of this in the first place, 'cause I was pretty sure the bastard was dead!" Lloyd was quite sure his face was red with fury and a headache was pounding behind his eyes between the injuries he had suffered at the Tower and the stress he was suddenly experiencing.

Yuan closed his eyes, looking irritated, but clearly trying calm down. "Is there any way for you to contact anyone to understand the implications of your actions?"

Lloyd snorted, "Don't you think I would if I could? I'm pretty much not even getting help from Origin, 'cause he seemed to think this was too dangerous because once you go back and change something, it's over. Everything's been changed…"

"What exactly is that supposed to mean?" Yuan snorted.

"…" Lloyd glanced awkwardly at Botta who, though he remained silently professional, but was clearly very interested in what they were saying.

"Botta," Yuan commanded, having caught Lloyd's look, "we're nearly done here, if you could go fetch the other's, I'd appreciate it."

"Of course, sir." Botta turned, glancing at Lloyd quickly, questions now written blatantly over his face, but he left without another word.

As soon as the door closed, Lloyd elaborated. "Look, what I get from it is that as soon as I changed the past, the future changed too. Even the little stuff had effects on the future, and the big stuff, like me telling you about the future or Kvar showing up in Iselia, totally changed the future. Even if I had some sort of communicator that could call home through time, the version that I come from doesn't exist anymore because of something about shifting planes in time and alternate universes and this is where they lost me…"

Yuan blinked, but what Lloyd was saying seemed to be checking out with his own understanding of the way time and space worked. "…so you ultimately must both defeat Kvar and attempt to save the world from Mithos' clutches, all while keeping everything as close to normal as possible…" he mused. "While you leave the frontal battles to Cruxis and the Renegades, you will collect what you need for the Ring of the Pact and defeat both Kvar and Mithos with the Sword and your pact-maker?"

"…uh, as far as I'm concerned, yeah. That's pretty much the plan!" It was a strange feeling being on the same page as Yuan, but here they both seemed to be.

"Fine," Yuan snapped, suddenly brisk and very much the Yuan Lloyd knew, "but if we need you on the front lines, I'll drag you there myself. I assume you're giving me permission to do whatever I wish in my interaction with Cruxis?""

"…I was allowed to not give you permission to do whatever you want?" Lloyd blinked. "Do whatever, if you wanna walk up to Mithos and outright tell him you're the leader of the Renegades, have fun. Just so long as you think it'll work, go for it."

The door opened behind him, and Botta strolled in, followed by several soldiers and the rest of Lloyd's friends. It seemed he'd hurried along to collect the others and come back quickly in the hopes that he could catch the tail end of their private conversation.

"Lloyd, are you alright?" Raine asked, sounding touchingly worried.

"Yeah, I'm okay. Yuan and I were just trying to decide what we're gonna do next…"

The rest of the group looked rather confused by this statement and eyed Lloyd carefully. "What do you mean you were trying to decide what we are going to do…?" Raine asked slowly. "Lloyd, do you know this man?"

"He's the one who ordered me kidnapped in Triet," Lloyd shrugged, "I broke into his office, this is where you guys saved me, remember?" He couldn't manage a decent lie at the moment, so he only stood there and waited for Raine to start demanding answers.

She disappointed him, "If these people aren't Desians, then what do they want from us?" Raine turned to Yuan, her crystal eyes carefully not conveying any real emotions. "If you hired Sheena to kill the Chosen, why did you save us from the Desians?"

Yuan chuckled, "Call it choosing the lesser of two evils, Ms. Sage. To watch Kvar have his way could well have been worse than Yggdrasill's wishes succeeding. Or so that is our understanding." For the first time, Lloyd was more than willing to step back and let Yuan construct the lies they would need to get out.

"How is it that anyone can possibly conceive of attacking the angels?"

"The Desians and Cruxis are—were—the same organization." Yuan stood straighter and began to pace, "Yggdrasill used the Desians to control the declining world while he waited for the Chosen to be born and sacrificed to Martel. In recent months, however, Kvar has rebelled against his superiors and is leading the Desians in a battle against Cruxis. They have taken the Tower of Salvation." Yuan paused to look at Raine's face; her expression now hinted at slight shock.

"Why should we take your word for it?" Raine snapped, her silver eyebrows disappearing into her hairline. "You've taken us prisoner, your men dress like Desians, and in the past you've kidnapped Lloyd. We've no reason to trust you or anything you say."

"Raine, he's telling the truth. You heard the way Kvar talked to Mi—Yggdrasill, they knew each other. Even if you don't believe that we can trust Yuan, which I don't think I do considering you've tried to kill me way too many times, you can at least admit that what he's saying is true. And Kratos obviously knew Kvar and he's…in Cruxis…so…so that makes sense too…" Lloyd sighed. "Right now we have to at least listen, 'cause I don't think we've got any other choices."

Lloyd's teacher looked angry, but not nearly so furious as Genis and Sheena. The young half-elf turned on Raine, who seemed prepared to hear Yuan out if only because Lloyd was, and seeing his sister's face, snapped angrily, "There's no way we're going to trust you if you've tried to kill Colette and Lloyd! Why would the angels and the Desians be working together? You're probably just lying to give us a false sense of security or something! Then you'll turn around and kill us." His features, so much like his sister's, were dark.

"That's enough Genis," Raine snapped. "We've been in their power for hours now and they've yet to hurt us, clearly they have something to gain from giving us this knowledge."

"I see why you decided to listen to her, Lloyd," Yuan said sarcastically, "it seems she is the only one of your friends with any sense."

"Oh shut up Yuan. Are we going to go save Colette or not? Cause if we don't figure this out soon, Kvar'll probably do worse than just take over the stupid frigging Tower. We've probably been out at least a few hours, and something tells me he's not sitting around arguing with people."

"You know how to save Colette?" Sheena said suddenly, "How? What's even wrong with her? Nobody's told us anything, how are we supposed to do anything?"

"It's Colette's Cruxis Crystal, they're like exspheres, and it's been causing all of Colette's weird side effects, including her soul leaving. It's not really gone, just trapped inside the Crystal. With the right key crest, she could probably be called back." Lloyd felt as though he was trying to explain as quickly as possible. "Course, we don't have the supplies we would need to make a crest in Sylvarant, which is why I think we should go to Tethe'alla. It's the flourishing world, so I'm sure we could figure something out. I could make her a crest…"

"Why should we trust you with Colette?" Genis snapped, "You're actually bothering to listen to this bastard even though he's tried to kill you!"

"Genis, Colette's my friend; of course I want to save her! We have the same goals as Yuan, we want to stop Kvar and figure out a way to save both Tethe'alla and Sylvarant, and apparently Cruxis won't do that, so we have to figure something else out! The Renegades'll help us!"

Genis looked ready to continue arguing, Sheena was clearly not sold on listening to the Renegades, but Raine almost seemed prepared to hear them out, or even act. Lloyd wasn't sure of her reasoning, or even if he was interpreting her emotions correctly, but he felt infinitely grateful. Her support would mean Genis would come along even if he didn't agree with Lloyd fully, and Sheena had nowhere to go but with them. The situation was still salvageable.

"I can offer you transportation to Tethe'alla where you can make further decisions once you know the options open to you, agreed?" Yuan suggested simply.

"I'm in," Lloyd said simply. "It's the only way."

"…I will go as well. If Tethe'alla offers us a chance to help Colette and learn more about Cruxis, than I will help Lloyd," Raine was nodding, not looking at Genis, but over the boy's head to Colette's empty face.

"…" Sheena looked first at Lloyd, then down at Genis, and finally at Colette as well. "…I have to go back to Tethe'alla anyway. I failed to assassinate the Chosen, I have to report to Mizuho about my failure." She swallowed, looking pained, "I'll help you guys get to Tethe'alla at least. What you do there is up to you, then."

"You guys can't be serious!" Genis cried angrily. "You're really going to trust the guys who've tried to kill us?"

"Genis, we have no other options. You are coming with us…aren't you…?" For the first time, Raine showed signs of fear. If Genis didn't come, she wouldn't leave him behind on his own. For an instant, Lloyd saw a very terrifying future in which he took Colette on his own to Tethe'alla. He couldn't imagine it without his friends…

"…you-…you know I can't let you go alone…fine, I'll go…but I don't like it."

"Then I'll take you to the Rheiards. Botta, send word ahead." Yuan nodded to his second, then turned to several of his other men and began giving orders.

They were off to Tethe'alla.

…

Like I said, a chapter of explanations, but set-up's gotta happen sometime, right? Hopefully my updates will continue biweekly, but I'll forewarn if anything huge is approaching and I won't be able to update. Until then,

R&R

~Yoshi