Broken Wings
N.W. 2520
Corellia Cantrice

Russet eyes darted from building to building, from the warehouses on the docks to the office buildings of the city officials to the schoolhouse and then the little shops that lined the main street. He didn't stop moving, walking from place to place, surveying the entire little town.

It had been over a thousand years since the last time he'd opened up shop aboveground. Almost seven hundred years since he'd last lifted a hammer and wielded it and fire and magic to turn a scrap of metal into something that could be used to protect... or harm.

Lloyd was ready to return to the forge, he'd decided. And... After the disaster that Thor had turned into... He could use the distraction.

Doromir wasn't a large city. But it was a major waypoint for the travelers of the world, and that meant that there was a lot of traffic.

Lloyd found a warehouse down by the docks and leaned against it, taking the time to look around and smell the salt on the breeze.

He missed Eruden. He'd enjoyed living just a few miles from the town, enjoyed bringing his work into the village to be sold or shipped off, enjoyed getting new and complicated orders...

Lloyd Aurion had always been a simple man, and no amount of angelic mana, dwarven mana, or money (and good spirits did he have a lot of money; he certainly would never be wanting in that regard) would change that.

"Um... Excuse me?"

Lloyd blinked at the vaguely familiar voice and glanced over at the owner, blinking again when he recognized her... and her mana signature.

The silver-haired half-elf who'd stopped him in Thor was giving him a rather confused look. Though, she seemed to have realized that she was staring. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bother you. I must be mistaken..."

She turned as if to leave, and Lloyd reached out, putting a hand on her shoulder. "I don't have anywhere I need to be."

The woman froze, back ramrod straight, and then slowly, oh so slowly, turned around to look at him again with those wide green eyes.

"But you're human..."

He smirked, and let go of the tight loop he'd had his mana circulating in for a moment before pulling it back in again.

A moment was all the half-elf needed, her confused expression shifting to wonder. "How...? But you haven't aged a day! And your wings—"

Lloyd laughed, and pushed himself away from the warehouse wall. "It's about lunch time... What do you say I treat you to lunch? I bet I could answer a lot of your questions while we eat."

She looked, for a long few seconds, like she was going to accept, only to slump. "I... shouldn't. I'm on my lunch break, but if I don't get back to the boathouse by one, I'll be in trouble, again... It's hard enough getting a job around here. I can't afford to lose this one... I'm sorry..."

Lloyd crossed his arms. "I'll keep track of the time for you. Trust me, I know a thing or two about the half-elf brand of curiosity. I grew up calling one my best friend and his older sister my professor... Ha, actually, I still refer to Raine as 'the Professor' over a millennium and a half after we buried her."

The woman laughed. "Well, if you're certain... Though I really think we ought to correct a rather grievous oversight from our last meeting."

Lloyd blinked, then smiled as he realized where she was going with that comment. A rather more elaborate bow than necessary—he'd been hanging around Zelos too long, a part of him mused—was followed by a far more modest introduction. "Lloyd Aurion, at your service, ma'am."

The woman giggled. "Goodness, where did you come from?" she managed to ask around her laughter. "Corellia Cantrice, Lord Aurion."

Lloyd winced. "Don't do that. I swear I'm not any sort of nobility. It just so happens that the other surviving angel was nobility, so I've picked up some of the oddest habits. So... Where would you like to go for lunch?"

Corellia looked taken aback for a moment, even as she turned and frowned at the town in general. And Lloyd knew the cant to that particular frown. Her facial expressions were similar enough to Presea's that he could guess her thought processes rather well.

"And don't even think about prices. Just food."

"Oh, I couldn't—"

Lloyd shot her a look that managed to silence her. "I've got more money than I know what to do with. Side-effect of not needing to eat. Or sleep. I might as well use it when I can."

One slow blink, then another. Then Corellia was chewing on her lip. "...You really don't mind?"

He shook his head. "Lead the way. Besides... If I go through with my recent half-baked plans, I'll be bringing in even more money that I do not need." He stopped and sighed. "Why do I do this to myself...?"

Corellia giggled, then started off at a rather respectable pace. "We'd best hurry then. While the food is magnificent and the staff efficient, it will take time for our orders to be made and eaten if we're going to Albertson's."

Lloyd grinned and jogged after her, easily falling in step with the half-elf. "So, might as well get started... Pick a question, one question, and we'll start there."

The wicked grin Corellia shot back at him really ought to have been his first warning.

He barely paid any mind to the establishment she led him to, so involved was he in answering her questions. Their food came and was consumed in between questions and answers, and Corellia's various comments to herself in regards to the information he was sharing with her.

True to his word, he returned her to the boathouse just before one, and as Corellia stepped within to get back to work, he found himself grinning.

Such a strong woman, to take everything that had happened to her and bounce right back. So curious, so understanding...

He'd purchased a lot upon which stood a building that was slated to be demolished within the month just a couple hours after leaving Corellia at the boathouse, and was already walking the plot of land which would be both workshop and home for him for however long he chose to stay.

Talking with Corellia had given Lloyd hope that perhaps it was past time to insert himself into human society again. Perhaps... he would find a part of himself here that he'd lost.

Yet, something still bothered him greatly, he found as he continued to pace around the condemned building.

And it had a lot to do with what Corellia had brought up the last time they'd spoken, a topic she'd broached again today. Though mentioned only in passing, on their way to the boathouse, she had wanted to learn more about the worlds being split and brought together again.

Lloyd had, over the centuries, used and even borderline abused the power that the Eternal Sword gave him. It terrified him, really, to think about how often and how much he used it, but... As he stopped, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath, a part of him took solace in the fact that he was still holding firm to his promise never to take Mithos' path.

He had not forced Zelos to sacrifice his mana to become a living seal on Origin as a means of safeguarding his power. But still...

Lloyd reached back, deep into his mind, seeking out the connection he knew was there, would probably be there until the day he died.

'Hey... Origin...?'

He felt the presence on the other end of the invisible tether react, much like a dog's ears would perk up when you called their name.

"Lloyd. Is something wrong?"

Lloyd took a deep breath to center himself, and then 'spoke.' 'If I ever fell to abusing the Eternal Sword's power the way Mithos did, you'd take it away from me... right?'

"If it was within my power, of course. You know full well why I could not simply reclaim it from Mithos," Origin replied. "But, what brought this on?"

Lloyd let out the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. 'It's just... Right before Zelos and I destroyed the mana cannon in Thor... I pulled a half-elf woman out of the castle. She'd helped me, and I wasn't going to leave her there, but... she brought up Mithos... and the tales the elves tell their children of the angel who rent the world.'

Understanding pressed on the edge of his mind, and sympathy.

Feeling unsettled still, though quite relieved, Lloyd leaned on that mental presence, grateful that for all Origin was still bitter towards Mithos, he had been willing to forgive... and give him a chance.

Taking another breath and opening his eyes, Lloyd eyed the building in front of him one last time before leaving the lot to find someone who would be willing to demolish the current building for him.

He needed that space clear so he could build on it... and he had plans to draw up.