Broken Wings
N.W. 3200
Contact With Derris-Kharlan

It was time. Past time, really, but Lloyd had had greater concerns at the last passing, and he knew that his father would have approved of what he'd spent that time doing. After all, had Kratos not abandoned an organization he'd helped build to protect his own wife and child?

"Big brother..."

He wasn't surprised to see Martel. Nor did her violet hair shock him. She'd traded out blue for violet centuries ago, on a suggestion from Corellia while his wife had still been able to see.

"You can't expect me to give up, Martel. Dad's the only angel left," he reminded her.

She sighed, nodded, and disappeared, even as Lloyd reached out to touch the bark of the Yggdrasill. The spring had moved further south, resulting in a small lake just a few hundred yards away, and Lloyd let the sounds of the waves lull him into a trance-like state as his mana joined with that of the great tree.

He could hold the bridge open for weeks on end like this, and he had every intention of doing so now.

Perhaps the only problem with holding this trance, however, was the fact that... well... he wasn't really paying that much attention to anything outside of keeping the bridge open. But he felt it, the moment the mana reached out from the other end, the moment the connection was opened.

"Whoa! Who are you?!"

Lloyd gasped in surprise and relief, opening his eyes and stepping away from the tree as he looked to the side, where the voice had come from. A boy stood there, curly blonde hair hanging around his face, and steel gray eyes just as shocked to see Lloyd as the angel was to see him.

It wasn't Kratos who stood beside him as a mana image, but he was sure that someone would be able to find his father. At the moment, though, he was just thrilled that it had finally worked.

The boy in front of him couldn't have been more than twelve, and the resemblance to Mithos was rather shocking, though from the stuttering bits and pieces of words coming from his mouth, he was definitely not as good with surprises.

Lloyd offered up a smile "It's alright," he reassured the boy. "I've been trying to get the connection opened for a long time." The boy blinked at him, then at the tree, a smile beginning to pull at the edges of his mouth, something like awe in his expression... and so, so much curiosity.

"So... This was supposed to happen?" he asked, looking to Lloyd expectantly.

He chuckled. "It's just a type of mana interference, really. You know how when water mana and light mana combine, they create a rainbow?"

"Yeah. So it's like that... And it felt kind of like a bridge," the boy said, more to himself than to Lloyd. Then he stopped, surprise taking over his expression as the implications of that statement got through to him. "You're... not from Derris-Kharlan, are you?"

There was no use in hiding it, not when the boy had already figured it out. "No. My world is called Aselia. And, I was actually trying to contact someone specific, but after this many centuries, I'm just glad someone finally opened the connection from that side," he admitted.

"Oh? Who were you looking for?"

Lloyd gave the boy a critical once-over. Normally, he wouldn't ask such a task of a child, but... He could just barely feel the mana that was supporting the other end of the bridge. This was a half-elf, with enough elven blood that he would still be alive four, even eight hundred years from now. And that clothing... He was dressed down, but it was still clear that the boy was nobility. So...

"His name is Kratos Aurion," Lloyd told him. "He's an angel, who left Aselia tasked with the protection of Derris-Kharlan's mana tree. Though, given that the two trees are now both well into their thousands, I guess it's not surprising that he's left."

The boy nodded, determination in every line of his body, and Lloyd couldn't help but smile despite the fact that he reminded him so very much of Mithos. "I'll see what I can find. It's not a familiar name, but... History isn't exactly my best subject."

Lloyd chuckled. "Thank you."

"Um... May I ask your name? And, uh..." The boy paused and gestured to the tree. "About the bridge..."

"We've got a few years yet before Derris-Kharlan and Aselia become too far apart to make the connection. But both of us have to be present to keep it open like this." He then offered up a small bow. "And my name is Lloyd."

The boy grinned. "Nice to meet you, Lloyd. Okay. Kratos Aurion. Got it. I'll come let you know whenever I find something."

"I'll be here," he confirmed. Though he really ought to...

The boy had retracted his mana in the act of turning and racing away from the Derris-Kharlan tree, and Lloyd couldn't help but laugh as the image of the enthusiastic child faded.

Perhaps next time they spoke, Lloyd would get the boy's name. In the meantime, however...

The top branches of the Yggdrasill were excellent places to watch the sunset from.