Normally when Lloyd trained or fought, things went almost on automatic, like his limbs just knew what to do automatically. This time he felt hyperaware of every action.

Possibly it was because he was being extra careful not to kill any human enemies. Somehow, though, it felt odd - wrong even - to be deciding how or whether to kill his enemies in the heat of battle. Like he was playing with their lives or something. Like he wasn't taking them seriously.

It didn't make much sense if you really thought about it, since he'd have no qualms killing them all otherwise.

Still, he swallowed the unease and did little more than deflect the bandits' attacks, letting their clumsy blows glance harmlessly off his swords so Rai could dispatch them. The half-elf's sword stayed unused at his side - he seemed to be focusing on hand-to-hand combat for some unfathomable reason.

What he was doing was odd, though - he barely ever brushed the enemy, and yet the men would stumble or cry out in pain with each brief contact. Lloyd hadn't yet had the chance to fully observe it, busy as he was fending off monsters simultaneously, but he could see that Rai didn't seem satisfied with his current progress. Rather, he seemed increasingly annoyed as time went on, despite dancing easily around the bandits' attacks like a battle artist. Lloyd couldn't help but wonder, again, when Rai could possibly have had the chance to get this good.

He finished killing the last monster and was poised to ask Rai whether he wanted help with the bandits when he paused as if compelled, staring at the scene unfolding in front of him.

Only one bandit still stood, locked in fierce combat with the half-elf - or rather it was more accurate to say that he was furiously swiping at Rai with his dagger and continually missing. Then Rai's flattened palm finally made contact with the man's chest - barely brushed it at all, though the half-elf's face was contorted with concentration - and suddenly the man screamed horribly in pain, so loudly that Lloyd's gut twisted violently in response.

It didn't end there - the man continued to scream, writhing and gasping and clutching at his chest. The desperate shriek ended abruptly in a wet cough as dark, almost blackened blood spurted from his mouth, and soon after the bandit had collapsed helplessly onto the sand, clawing at his chest and throat like a drowning man.

Dead.

Though the man was silenced, sound had not ended, and Lloyd's gaze snapped back to Rai...who was laughing wildly, staring at his own hands.

He didn't appear to notice the blood spreading from the man at his feet, lapping at his feet and soaking thickly into the desert sand.

What had Rai done? Lloyd wondered, disturbed despite himself. He hadn't seen any visible attack on Rai's part, certainly not enough to do this much damage. There had only been those glancing blows - how...?

His legs finally came alive and moved him to stand next to Rai, where he glanced shortly at the body on the ground.

"How did you do that?" he asked carefully after a short pause to gather his thoughts. Rai was still chuckling to himself, his grin wide and more than a little disturbing, but he paused at this and glanced at Lloyd and then the body as if only just remembering they were present at all.

"Ah, right, I almost forgot," he said in response, ignoring the question - why does he always do that? Lloyd thought in annoyance - and kneeling in front of the man he had killed. Then he flicked out the dagger he had bought earlier from somewhere within the cavernous depths of his cloak, and before Lloyd had time to react, Rai sliced firmly into the man's chest.

"What are you - " he gasped. Killing in a fight was one thing, but why further harm a dead body? Rai ignored him calmly, continuing to make precise cuts. It was his sheer manner that kept Lloyd from immediate intervention - this was no lapse in sanity or uncontrolled attack. It was evident that Rai knew exactly what he was doing.

Presently he was peeling back the man's skin and muscle with his fingers. Lloyd suppressed the urge to gag, though the nausea was hard to fight, and watched as the man's heart was exposed. Then he could only stare.

He didn't know too much about how the inside of a person was supposed to look, but there had been vague diagrams in old schoolbooks, and he was pretty sure that - well. This heart looked burned, and not only that, as if it had imploded from the inside. Lloyd shuddered. No wonder he had died the way he had...but still, how...?

Rather than being equally disturbed, Rai was looking unnervingly triumphant again, a smirk curling his lips as he inspected the dead man's inner cavity. His hand reached out to caress the stilled heart, fingers trembling ever so slightly, and a short laugh bubbled from his lips, as if he couldn't help himself. Lloyd was unable to hold it in any longer.

"What - are you - doing?!" he burst out in a trembling voice, and finally Rai turned to look at him, his hand leaving the man. Specks of blood dotted his face, probably from killing some of the other bandits, but his eyes shone.

"I was right," he said wonderingly, talking more to himself than to Lloyd. "To think that this is even possible...this is...amazing. The things I could do..."

"You're scaring me," Lloyd said as lightly as he could, only partly joking. Rai's expression cleared a bit and he focused on Lloyd's face.

"Oh - sorry," he said, not sounding sorry at all. "Like I said, I was just trying something out. I figured out a way to use mana to enhance my short-range attacks, that's all."

This was the understatement of a lifetime. "Look, I may not be the brightest when it comes to technical terms, but even I know that what you just said isn't enough to explain what you did," Lloyd argued. "Even I use mana in my short-range attacks; that's how attacks like Beast work. But nothing I can do is...is anything like what you just did."

"I wouldn't want to reveal my secret, now, would I?" Rai said evasively, grinning. He seemed to be in a very good mood now.

After killing a man by exploding his heart and then cutting him open to verify the result.

"I guess not," Lloyd managed uneasily, unable to respond in kind to the teasing. He wasn't sure why this should bother him so much. He himself had killed more men than he could count.

Rai seemed to finally notice that Lloyd was uncomfortable and took a step closer to peer into his face.

"What's wrong?"

"I...nothing..." How was he supposed to voice his discomfort with this? It wasn't like he could just say "the way you laughed earlier was really creepy". That...yeah, that was definitely a bad idea.

"Never mind. You want to get some sword training in, then?"

Rai smirked in response. "You bet."

A few days ago, Lloyd would have been elated at getting the cold half-elf to crack a smile.

Now it brought to mind only snapshots of the bloody scene he had witnessed moments ago.

"Ahhhh!"

Genis cringed as Colette let out a shriek and toppled over straight into the side of a stall, managing to break completely through the wood and summoning a crowd of astonished passersby. "Oww," she complained, rubbing her head. Genis was left to face the crowd. He laughed nervously.

"Er, sorry, nothing to see here!" He turned quickly to Colette. "Come on, get up." He pulled her to her feet by the arm and glanced around for the owner of the stall. They'd probably have to pay for damages. Sure enough, after a few moments an irate man emerged from the crowd and stomped towards them.

"What's the meaning of this?" he fumed. "It'll take a good day to repair."

"I-I'm so sorry!" stammered Colette, tears coming to her eyes as she bowed repeatedly.

"Wait - isn't that the Chosen?" came a yell from somewhere within the crowd. The phrase spread like wildfire as the others started to realize that Colette had the Chosen's jewel and fit the description. The man suddenly looked horribly ashamed.

"Chosen One! I am so sorry! Please, is there any way I can help you on your journey?"

Genis sighed and placed a hand to his suddenly throbbing forehead as Colette sputtered. "No, I couldn't accept that from you! Please, let me pay for the damages!"

A lengthy, awkward conversation later, the two finally left the stall. They walked in silence for a few moments, back towards the middle of the marketplace where they had agreed to meet up with Raine.

"I'm sorry, Genis."

"It's okay. Still the clumsy Chosen we all know, huh?" he tried to joke, but his voice came out a bit duller than usual. Colette giggled anyway.

"Yeah. Thanks, Genis."

Genis smiled at her, but he knew the expression didn't reach his eyes. There was still a painful tightening in his chest. He had wanted to talk to Lloyd today, but Raine had insisted that they let Rai and Lloyd go together for some reason. She'd also been weirdly lenient towards their sleeping in.

Genis really should talk to Rai, too; his older brother had been acting very oddly and though Genis was a little angry at him, he knew he shouldn't just make assumptions without listening to what Rai had to say. But now it just felt like both of them were drifting away from him. Since when had Rai and Lloyd become the best of friends, leaving Genis behind?

"Genis? Are you okay?"

Colette's concerned voice startled him out of his reverie and he smiled at her again, a bit more warmly this time. "Yeah. I will be, anyway."

Right. Why was he worrying in a way that was so unlike him? He just had to go talk to his friends. Then everything would go back to normal.

Genis raced forward to meet Raine, feeling a familiar determination fill him once more.

By the time the two teenagers reached Triet again, the sun had risen to the apex of the sky and the air thick with the haze of desert heat. Rai walked with a certain spring in his step, feeling better than he had in days despite the constant nightmares and nagging from the voices. Finally he felt like he had accomplished something - as opposed to, as per usual, discovering terrible mistakes he had made or things he didn't know. If he could become strong enough in combat, and if the angel transformation really could take care of his other little problem...then things overall were starting to look up.

Lloyd, he had noticed, was acting oddly. He seemed put off, maybe by something Rai had done. It couldn't be the fact that he had killed that man, could it? The idea seemed preposterous. After all, Lloyd was the one who had stabbed that half-elf through the heart only a day before. But if it wasn't that, Rai had no guesses about what else it could be. He decided it didn't really matter anyway. Surely if it was really important, Lloyd would eventually bring it up on his own. That was the kind of person he was.

As they neared the center of the main square, directly across from the inn, Rai picked out his own name from the cacophony of sound and his eyes met his brother's through the din. Genis stood next to Colette, waving at them, and his eyes were neutral. Rai wondered whether maybe he'd stopped being angry. Genis had been avoiding him the whole trip over. A little relieved, he pushed his way through the crowd to meet them.

"Did you see anything interesting?" he asked them by way of greeting. From behind him, Lloyd caught up after almost being run over by a large man, looking disgruntled.

Genis rolled his eyes, but the gesture was good-natured. "Colette destroyed one of the stalls, so no," he teased. Colette blushed, wringing her hands a little.

"I can't seem to stop doing things like that," she sighed. Rai caught the hint of actual self-beratement in her voice and gave her a sharp look. He'd thought she was done with this. She met his gaze. "I'm going to try harder to not be a burden to others around me," she insisted, her azure eyes burning into his. He looked away.

Lloyd spoke up then. "Colette, you don't have to. You're fine exactly the way you are," he said firmly, stepping forward and placing a hand bracingly on her shoulder. "Hey, so guys - want to see Rai's new sword?"

Genis's eyes traveled to the katana at his waist. "You really did buy one," he said, a hint of surprise in his voice. "Do you know how to use it, Rai?"

"I'll have to train," he admitted. "But I thought using only magic in battle was a bit of a handicap. Actually, maybe you should also get a more efficient weapon, Genis."

Genis shook his head, his blue eyes a bit sharp. "No. I'm used to my kendama, and at any rate it's deadly enough, especially when infused with mana."

"But imagine if you were alone against multiple enemies," Rai argued. "The kendama would be much less useful in that situation." He paused at the look on Genis's face and decided to stop arguing. Relations with his brother were strained as they were. "Um...but it's...up to you, of course," he added finally, coughing. Lloyd snickered and Rai glared at him.

Genis hesitated a moment.

"Rai, can I talk to you for a second?"

"Certainly," he said. And with luck, maybe Lloyd and Colette would get a little talking done, too. "Let's go back to the inn, then," he suggested. "We have the rooms until tomorrow morning, after all."

A few minutes later they were both seated in a room upstairs. Genis fidgeted a little. Finally Rai said, "What did you need to talk about?"

Genis hesitated. "Rai, can you tell me why you lied the day we left Iselia?"

He felt his heart jolt but kept his expression calm. Right, when Genis had asked if he'd known anything about the fire and he'd denied it. "I..." he sighed. "Out of curiosity, why do you think I lied?"

Genis looked at him firmly. "I don't think you lied, I know it," he said. "I want to know why! I think I deserve to know!"

"Why do you deserve it?"

For the first time, Genis looked genuinely taken aback instead of resolute. "W-what...?"

"Even if you have the ability to tell when I'm lying, what makes you think you have the right to get the absolute truth?" Rai pressed. "I'm sure you've lied to me before. Everyone has things they're not entirely truthful about. Getting the truth, especially about personal things that have nothing to do with you, is not a right. It's a privilege."

He watched as Genis put what he'd said together. Then he clenched his fists. "That does not apply here," the younger half-elf insisted. "This isn't a personal thing that has nothing to do with me! I don't press you every time I think you're lying, but this time, if you know something about Iselia, that has to do with the rest of us, too, Iselia is our home!"

"But whatever's happened to Iselia has already happened," Rai shot back. "And even if you knew I wasn't being entirely truthful when I said I knew nothing, that could mean any number of things. It could mean I just had a vague hunch about some impending doom or something, for Martel's sake. What's the point in pressing me about it?"

"If it was just a vague hunch, then why so secretive? What's the problem with telling me?" Genis burst out in frustration.

"That's the whole point, Genis! That's my business, why can't you get that?" He saw the hurt in the half-elf's eyes and sighed, calming his voice.

"Sorry, Genis. But I think you should just accept that you can't know every single thing about me. If it was something I thought you needed to know, then I would tell you, trust me."

Genis was silent for a few moments. "...I guess the problem is that I don't understand why you didn't tell me, or anyone, else, before," he said finally. "If you knew - or suspected, or whatever - that something was going to happen to Iselia, why wouldn't you say anything?"

"Even if, as you say, I knew something was going to happen...how could telling you possibly help, Genis?" Rai demanded. He turned away. "This discussion is pointless. We shouldn't fight. Maybe we should just accept that we can't know everything about each other."

"I don't usually press you on things, Rai," Genis snapped furiously. "Your past, why you used to sneak off at night back in Iselia, and so many more things...I never asked you to tell me. This is different."

"I appreciate the consideration, Genis," Rai sighed, "but I'd also appreciate if you'd extend it. I don't think it's all that different. Like I said, if I had thought telling you something made sense, then I would have. It's that simple."

Genis calmed down with a visible effort, eyelids closing as he controlled his breathing. "Fine. But don't think you've heard the end of this. Moving on to the next thing. What's up with you and Lloyd these days?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, since when do you get along?"

Rai ran his thumb absentmindedly over the back of his glove. "Lloyd was annoyed at me for always being cold towards him, so I decided to make an effort," he said lightly. "He's not that bad."

Genis's face was tight. "What about me?"

"You're the one who was avoiding me," Rai pointed out. "As for Lloyd, he still talks to you just like he did before. It's not like he's with me all the time, Genis. You have no reason to be jealous just because he occasionally talks to me."

The younger half-elf sighed and seemed to deflate. "...Yeah, I guess you're right. I guess I was just annoyed that you two seem to have secrets that I don't know, and that's never happened before because you never used to talk." He glanced up. "I still haven't forgiven you for that Iselia thing, though," he said firmly. "I'll stop avoiding you, but I want the answer eventually."

"Don't count on that," Rai warned, turning away. He stepped outside, leaving Genis alone in the room.