Broken Wings
N.W. 2488
The Sanctuary

"Digging in the dirt again, Lloyd?"

The brunette leaned back, wiped a scarred forearm across his forehead, and looked up at Zelos.

It was bright and sunny and warm inside the second circle that housed his sanctuary, rather unlike the frostbitten plains that had taken over the continent that, once, had been a great desert.

And from the heavy traveling cloak Zelos had draped over his arm, he'd taken the slow route to the sanctuary.

Lloyd had felt him the moment he'd passed the first set of markers, though he hadn't known who was intruding at the time.

"I figured I might as well clean up the flowerbeds. They've been doing pretty good, after all..." He stood and sighed. "So what brings you this far east? I thought you'd been sticking to the western continents."

"Eh. You know me. I can't stand the cold. I'm worried, though, about the Yggdrasill. The humans have cut a pass through the mountains nearby, and... Well. You know how the Gaoracchia Forest likes to move. Creepy, weird-ass trees and all..." Zelos stopped and looked Lloyd in the eye, something the redhead had seemed to be avoiding. "If anyone feels like exploring the woods, they will find the tree."

Lloyd sighed, closing his eyes as he thought about it.

Zelos was right. The Yggdrasill had been safely out of human reach until the world decided to rearrange itself (though he mostly blamed the oddly sentient trees of the Gaoracchia Forest, since as Zelos had pointed out, they did tend to actually get up and move when it suited them to do so), and it needed protection.

He turned and opened his eyes, glancing over the markers that sat at regular intervals around the small temple he'd built over the ruins of the Martel Temple.

"What if I made another set of markers?"

Zelos hummed, clearly considering the idea. "But if you're too far from the tree, then..."

"I don't think I'd tie them to me like I did with these," Lloyd said, gesturing to the visible markers, as well as the less-visible set that made the warm, temperate dome around the temple. There was a third set, even further out, that acted as his alarm system. And all three were tied directly to his dwarven magic.

"Would you be able to tie them to someone else though, since I know it's based in dwarven magic? And who would you tie it to, anyway?" Zelos asked.

"Martel."

The two of them turned, Zelos clearly startled by the newest addition to the garden, whereas Lloyd just turned and offered up a smile.

"Verius... I was starting to wonder if you'd moved off, as well."

The fox-like spirit shook herself. "No. I've remained here, though I've spent much of the last millennium asleep... The loss of Colette hurt you terribly, Lloyd."

The brunette winced. "I'm sorry..."

"No... I'm glad to feel your heart this light again. And while I may have chosen to rest so that I might not need feel your heartbreak, I admit I had not intended to sleep quite this long..." The spirit paused here and leveled something just short of a glare on Zelos. "And you need to come by more often. I may have been asleep, but I haven't felt your heart near here since Colette was buried. And that, I am fully aware happened almost a millennium and a half ago."

Zelos grimaced and turned away, even as Lloyd turned to look at his friend in shock. "Zelos?"

"I'm sorry. You may never have blamed me for her death, but... I can't really bring myself to be at her grave. It's just... A little too much," the redhead said quietly.

"Even out here in these magnificent gardens Lloyd has cultivated, your heart is heavy," Verius said. "Why is that?"

The once-Chosen of Tethe'alla sighed, exhaustion in every line of his frame. "There's a mana cannon in the city of Thor. I've been trying to warn them off of it for years now, since I caught wind of it while they were still in the brainstorming stage. I think I've just made things worse, though."

Lloyd's mood plummeted, even as he took a deep breath and steeled himself. "Have you given the final warning yet?"

"No. And, remember... you've always done it in the past. I figure... since everyone who can still find the tomes from when there were four of us running around has labeled you as the leader..."

Lloyd nodded. "I'll head out in the morning. If things are this bad already, I can't imagine that they could get that much worse over a few hours. And I'd like to at least finish this patch before I have to leave..." he added, gesturing to a set of flowers that had been dug up altogether. They'd need to be replanted before he could actually go anywhere.

And...more than likely... it would be weeks before he got back.

He and Zelos were going to have to raze another city to save the Yggdrasill... And speaking of which...

"So I was right, and I should be able to anchor the markers I want to put around the Yggdrasill to Martel," he said, looking at Verius. The spirit nodded.

"Yes. Dwarven magic works well with spirits... not so much with elves, though, as Origin tells me the inhabitants of Heimdall found out many millennia ago," she replied. She sat down and tilted her head to the side. "Your heart is heavy now," she added worriedly.

Lloyd sighed, knelt, and got back to work on his flowers, even as Zelos meandered around the gardens. "I'm not looking forward to the destruction we'll more than likely be unleashing on Thor."

Verius nodded. "It is not an easy thing, wreaking havoc to protect the peace. But it is a necessary evil. A mana cannon cannot be allowed to fire."

"Not while we're still alive," Zelos agreed as he walked past, a bundle of flowers Lloyd knew he'd picked from the garden in his hands as he headed for the temple.

Lloyd smiled a bit to himself, even though Verius seemed saddened by Zelos' actions.

If he was feeling up to paying his respects to their friends, then Lloyd could still hope that he'd hold on alongside him.