I'm back with the first chapter of this new year. And I have a pledge I want to make, call it my New Year's resolution. I am resolved to finishing this story this year or early next year at the latest. I feel confidence saying this since in my draft, I am in the final chapters. This story is about to be completed and the rest will come down to me editing and posting. So god willing, this story may actually have the 'Completed' status by the end of the year.

Thank you all who have kept reading and even some times drop a review. We're close to the finish line.

Now, onward to the chapter.

Edit: As of 2/17/25, there is currently an error on on mobile where Chapter 84 isn't showing up. If you want to read this chapter at the moment, you have to be on either the desktop or app. This error is new since I know you could read 84 on mobile at least yesterday afternoon. Hopefully, this error will be fix soon.

Chapter 84: Sweet Home

After the emotional release of finally being able to properly mourn Marble, Lloyd and Genis rejoined the group who move away to respect their privacy.

"Hey, sorry about that," Lloyd said as he wiped his eyes. "I didn't expect to break down like that."

"Think nothing of it," Regal assured. "We all need to cry some time."

"And Marble's murderer has been brought to justice. That is reason enough to be emotional," Presea added.

"Yeah…it does kinda feel like I finally put Marble to rest," Lloyd said softly.

"Well, now that's taking care of, we need to find the Professor," Zelos remarked.

"I know where she went," Genis replied as he lead the group to their house.

The building was still damaged from the fire, but remarkably the structure was still intact and solid. The house would need to be gutted and a new roof installed, but otherwise it was salvageable. Lloyd supposed he shouldn't expect nothing less from his dad. He, after all, renovated this house personally.

Raine was standing near the entrance, staring into nothing.

"Professor, are you alright?" Lloyd asked in concern.

Raine quickly wiped her eyes. She's obviously been crying. "I'm alright." She gave a small smile. "Perhaps this village has some hope left for it after all."

Zelos put a hand to his hip. "I was really looking forward to you chewing out the mayor. Especially after how he went after your students."

Raine gave an undignified snort. "I'm not stupid enough to waste my time lecturing pigs."

This made Zelos chuckle. If he had to guess, Raine didn't say anything because she knew it would have likely ended in murder. He wanted to cut that idiot's tongue out and he just met the guy. He was too much like those snooty elites he grew up with, which was rich given that the mayor ran a town that was considered backwater even by this world's standards.

"I'm sorry…I just needed a minute to myself," Raine said once she finally composed herself.

"Don't apologize. It's been a long day for everyone," Regal replied.

"And it isn't even over yet," Genis said softly. "We still don't know what's wrong with Colette or what to do about the two worlds. Then there's what happened to Palmacosta…."

"Hey, hey, let's deal with one crisis at a time," Zelos interrupted. "If we think like this, we'll be just as powerless as the mayor claim we are."

"Yeah…" Lloyd muttered as he rubbed his throbbing head. "For now, let's check on Colette. Even if the doctor can't see her until tomorrow, we can see if she's awake."

They began the walk back to Colette's house. Thankfully, the mood in the village was much better than earlier. It seemed everyone needed the emotional release.

"I'm so glad the people of the village accepted you, Genis," Lloyd said, breaking the peaceful silence. He couldn't imagine the relief the Sages felt being accepted by their home.

Genis' eyes became downcast. "But the mayor…"

"Just leave idiots like him alone," Lloyd replied dismissively. Being hated by the mayor was a badge of honor as far as he was concern. The guy hated his guts for years.

"There's always stubborn people like that. All we can do is just work to change those around us little by little," Raine added. She too wasn't going to lose any sleep over the mayor disliking her. Even when she was an 'elf', the man never truly accepted her.

"Then Iselia was our first little step," Lloyd spoke cheerfully.

Raine looked at the sky. She had a wistful expression on her face. "For me, it was a great leap forward."

"Huh? Did you say something?" Lloyd asked since Raine whispered her last statement.

"N...no, it's nothing," Raine quickly stumbled.

This made Lloyd sigh. She was doing it again. When would Raine stop keeping secrets. It was becoming tiring.

After a few more minutes of walking, they were back at Colette's house. To their surprise, Colette was outside along with Kratos.

"Colette!" Lloyd exclaimed in shock. She was still too pale, but she did look better.

Colette gave a weak smile. "I'm sorry for making everyone worry."

"What are you doing out of bed?" Lloyd asked.

"I have accepted a request from Phaidra and Frank to escort the Chosen to your father's house," Kratos spoke for her.

"To dad's house? Why?" Lloyd asked completely lost.

"Grandmother said that dwarves know the most about Cruxis Crystals," Colette said. "He may be able to help me."

"How can Dirk help?" Genis questioned.

"Could it be…her illness is caused by her Cruxis Crystal?" Raine theorized.

Kratos nodded in confirmation.

"I never thought a Cruxis Crystal could make you sick once you get a key crest," Lloyd said in shock. Then again, the key crest he created wasn't exactly top quality…. Could that have gotten Colette sick!?

"After I deliver the Chosen, I will return to Cruxis," Kratos informed them.

"What about Sheena?" Presea asked.

"I requested a message be sent. She should rejoin you soon," Kratos stated.

Raine stared at the older man. His efficiency remained a force to be reckoned with. "I see you've gotten everything together, as usual."

Kratos chose not to answer.

"Then, let's go back to dad's place," Lloyd said as he led the group out of the village.

Noishe was waiting for them and happily greeted his master with more kisses. Because Colette was still weak, she was allowed to ride Noishe to Dirk's house.

The walk was uneventful since none of the monsters wanted to attack them.

"That Forcystus guy was a little different from the other Five Grand Cardinals," Lloyd said out loud as they past by the now defunct Ranch.

Forcystus was an unredeemable jackass like the other Grand Cardinals, but as Colette said he didn't have the same aura of cruelty. Unlike the others, he fought and died for a cause he truly believed in. Even when those he served were unworthy of that devotion.

Kratos, naturally, heard him. "He was a Desian hero that once killed every member of a group of humans that were leading a massacre on half-elves."

This caught Lloyd by surprise. "A hero…"

"It is said that he was full of knightly virtue, kind to his companions, and a fierce god of death to his enemies," Kratos spoke in a far-off voice. It was tragic that Forcystus fall so far in the end. But he supposed anyone who worked for Cruxis was destined to die in disgrace. Given their sins, it was fitting.

Lloyd took in Kratos' words. "From a human point-of-view, he's a horrible villain, but to the half-elves, he must have been a true hero."

"Yes. That's why war is so tragic. To win means to make victims of your opponents and give birth to hatred," Kratos replied in a knowing voice. His mind wondered back to a time four-thousand years ago. The hatred born from that war still poisoned the present.

"If Forcystus had been born in a world where we accepted each other, we might have been able to get along," Lloyd said wistfully.

It was an amusing thought that in another lifetime he could have been friends with a Grand Cardinal. That if life had taking a different turn, Forcystus could have been one of their allies fighting to save the worlds instead of gleefully watching them be destroyed.

Regardless, they didn't live in that timeline. While he could empathize with Forcystus and feel sorry for how he chose to live his life, he couldn't forget the crimes he committed. While the humans who slaughtered those half-elves were terrible and deserved what happened to them, what did that have to do with Marble and the other countless Ranch's victims.

"Yes, perhaps so," Kratos muttered. There were a lot of lives that would have turned out better if Cruxis never existed.

After a few minutes of walking, they finally arrived at Lloyd's house.

"Woah, this is your pad!" Zelos exclaimed.

Lloyd blushed. "Yeah. I know it's nothing compared to your mansion, but it's home."

Zelos waved his hand. "What are you talking about? You dad build this place just for you, right? Even if my mansion was an entire city, it's nothing compared to what you have here."

Lloyd blinked as he took in Zelos' words. Was he…jealous? How could a guy who lived like a king be jealous of him?

"Lloyd!"

Everyone looked up to see Dirk running towards them. He looked the same as ever.

Lloyd rushed to meet his dad and gave him a big bear hug. It was a little awkward given the height difference between the two. "Dad! How've you been!? Were you affected by the earthquake?"

Dirk pulled away and patted his son's arm in assurance. "This area is on top of hard bedrock. Everything is fine. I was more worried about ya, especially after Noishe came home by himself weeks ago." He finally got a good look at Lloyd. "What…what happened to you, lad? Are you alright?"

Lloyd remembered the condition that his clothings were in. "Yeah…we've been through some tough fights today."

"I'll say more than some. The chainmail is melted and the jacket is falling apart," Dirk spoke in a near panic before he calmed himself. "Well, I guess I should be thankful it lasted over six months and it kept ya safe."

Lloyd smiled. "Of course it did, you made it."

Dirk looked past Lloyd and noticed the Tethe'alla group. "I see you've picked up some new companions on your journey."

Lloyd gave a short laugh. "Yeah. They've really helped me out. Even saved my life more than a few times."

"Really now," Dirk said before he walked past Lloyd and gave a short bow before the entire group. "Thank ya for keeping my boy safe. I know he can be a handful but, he is my only son."

"Please, the pleasure is all ours. Lloyd is a fine young man. You've done well raising him," Regal replied graciously.

"It has been an honor for me too. Lloyd…has done a lot for me," Presea said.

Dirk turned back towards Lloyd and narrowed his eyes. "As for you, lad, you must know you won't be leaving until that's all repaired. And while am I at it, I'm going to look over your swords. They must be dull pieces of steel bricks from all the fighting you've been doing."

This made Lloyd blushed. "Come on…not in front of everyone."

Zelos could only stand in silence. Between Colette and Lloyd, they truly had some wonderful parents…

Kratos step forward once everything seemed settled. "Dirk, we are here by the request of the Chosen's family. They wish for you to help her."

This got Dirk's attention. Help the Chosen?

After an hour, most of the group was in Dirk's kitchen. While the house was big, bigger than what was needed for just two people, it was still too small to fit everyone comfortably. So it was decided that the Tethe'alla group would remain outside.

Lloyd was stripped of his jacket and pants, and was forced to wear the spare clothing that he had in his room. During that time, Kratos explained the current situation with Colette along with what happened with the tree. When it came to what happened during the Journey of Regeneration and the aftermath of the Tower of Salvation, that part was left to Raine to once again hide Kratos' betrayal.

Lloyd quickly took note by how unsurprised his dad was about everything. Learning the truth about Cruxis, the angels, Cruxis Crystals, and there being an entire second world battling for mana barely made him blinked. Which confirmed his suspicions. His dad knew the entire time what was happening. No wonder he didn't pushed him into believing the Goddess Martel. He knew from the start that she was a false goddess.

Once everything was finished, Dirk gave a long sigh and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "So, you've learned the truth."

"To think.…you managed to hide all this from me…." Lloyd all but whispered.

Dirk looked at his son. "I did indeed and I hold no regrets not telling ya. You wanted to kill all the Desians just learning what happened to you mother and I didn't even tell you everything. How do you think you would have reacted learning all this before?"

Lloyd knew the answer after he was confronted with the truth by Altessa. A complete and utter mental breakdown that would had most likely ended in suicide either by his hand or the Desians.

"I had hoped…prayed even that you wouldn't be involved in this. That you would live a peaceful life. Something that was denied from your mother," Dirk said before his eyes became downcast. "But…it seems Origin has different plans."

Kratos closed his own eyes, feeling the same way. No matter how hard they tried to give Lloyd a normal life, fate has dictated that Lloyd was going to fight.

"As painfully as it is, it's too late to turn back now. We're all involved in this to the bitter end," Raine spoke in her usual factual manner. However, there was a tone of sadness behind it. She too wished her students weren't burden by this knowledge.

Kratos decided to get back on subject. "Dirk, can you help the Chosen?"

"I don't know enough about Cruxis Crystals to help her. I've never even heard of someone getting sick like this from one, even with a faulty key crest," Dirk admitted bluntly. "It'd be a better idea to ask a dwarf over in that Tethe'alla place."

"Oh, so even you don't know enough about these," Lloyd said sadly.

Dirk sighed. "Because I refuse to work for Cruxis, my knowledge about such things are amateur level. In the dwarven kingdom, the study of exspheres and Cruxis Crystals are strictly forbidding outside of learning how to make key crests. And given how exotic Colette's sickness is that it isn't even study as a preventive measure, I wouldn't chance doing anything."

Lloyd lowered his head. Altessa did mentioned that.

"I'm sorry I couldn't be of help," Dirk spoke in regret.

Colette put her hands together. "Please don't feel sorry for me. You did your best."

"Think nothing of it," Kratos added. "We were asking too much since dwarves who study exspheres and Cruxis Crystals are eternally banished. I just assume…"

"I knew because I was on the surface," Dirk finished with a smile. "Can't blame ya on that. Dwarves who live above the earth usually do so because they chose to study forbidden arts."

"I guess we're off to Altessa," Lloyd said.

Dirk gave Lloyd a stern look. "You're off nowhere until I'm finish repairing your jacket and swords. That's at least two days' worth of work."

Lloyd sighed. "I know, I know."

"I'm surprised it will only take two days," Genis said in awe.

"If there is nothing else, I have to get going," Kratos said as he turned and left the house.

Lloyd jumped out of his chair, nearly knocking it over, and went after him. "Wait! Are you really going back to Cruxis?"

Kratos stopped walking. "I am an angel of Cruxis."

"Then why didn't you follow Yggdrasill's orders to leave the Great Seed alone?" Lloyd challenged.

He couldn't understand this man. He betrayed them, nearly killed them, demeaned him every chance he got, and tried to take Colette to Cruxis so she could become Martel. At the same time, he still acted like an ally and even gave him advice. He even covered for Yuan who also tried to kill him and was working against Cruxis. Seriously, whose side was he on?

Kratos didn't bother to look at him. "I have my reasons, that's all. But as a result, Martel was not lost. That goes along with Yggdrasill's wishes."

Lloyd narrowed his eyes. "You really are our enemy." Why the hell did he care so much about this bastard? This was so annoying.

"Lloyd," Kratos suddenly spoke, catching his attention, "if you want to save the Chosen, you should research the records from the Ancient Kharlan War. Remember the words of the unicorn at Lake Umacy."

Lloyd took in his words when another thought suddenly hit him. "Wait! Why are you with Cruxis when you're a human!? That….is it true that you once betrayed Cruxis?"

Despite being an angel and one of the Four Seraphim, Kratos was once a human unlike Yuan and Yggdrasill, both who had lowly opinions of humanity. Forcystus also went on about a New Age of Half-Elves when he was willing to let the out of control World Tree kill everyone on the planet and damned Kratos for being a human. So why the hell was he working for an organization who not only actively hated humans, but treated them like cattle? Kvar, who was one of his subordinates, also had no respect for Kratos and curse him for being an 'inferior being' in his dying breath.

There was also the matter that Forcystus claimed that Kratos betrayed Cruxis before. If he did, why was he welcomed back and giving a positron of authority?

Kratos chose to answer none of these questions and walked away without another word.

Lloyd was fuming now. "What is he trying to do?" That guy was going to make his head explode.

Sheena came out of the forest and nearly bumped into a retreating Kratos.

"Hey, wasn't that Kratos just now?" Sheena asked.

"Yeah…," Lloyd grumbled as he put his hands in his pockets, "he's returning to Cruxis."

"I see. So he really is our enemy," Sheena said sadly. While she would never forgive the guy for what he did to them, having him as an ally was only a plus.

Lloyd gave a small, but forced smile. "Anyway, welcome back."

Sheena returned the smile. "Thanks! Thank goodness we stopped the giant tree."

"Yeah," Lloyd agreed before his mind trailed off again.

Sheena finally noticed that Lloyd wasn't wearing his usual outfit. Instead, he was wearing a black tank top with no gloves and pants with no suspenders. It was the first time she has seen Lloyd's bare arms and hands, and he was surprisingly tone. He could see the rip of muscles in his arms and even his abs through his thin shirt.

She could feel herself blushing.

"Hey Sheena, you okay," Lloyd asked in concern.

Sheena tried to recomposed herself. "Yeah..fine..just..what happened to your outfit?"

"Oh. My jacket got torn up by Forcystus, so dad is repairing it. Going to take at least two days. Hope you don't mind," Lloyd explained.

"Of course not!" Sheena exclaimed before she quickly caught herself. "I mean, take all the time you need. There's no hurry. It isn't like anyone wants to do anything else today."

Lloyd sighed. "Yeah… Anyway, you must be tried, summoning all those spirits. Why don't you go inside and relax."

Sheena gave a long stretched. "Yeah, think I'll do that. The end of the world can be exhaustion," she joked before walking into the house.

Lloyd sighed as he began to walk around the yard. He saw that Regal was standing near the laundry with a far off expression on his face.

"You okay, Regal?" Lloyd asked.

Regal turned his head towards Lloyd. "This whole time, Colette hid her suffering deep in her heart and always kept a smile on her face."

This made Lloyd scorned. "Yeah. And once again, I failed to notice."

How the heck could Colette hide herself so well from him? Colette was an open book most of the time and yet she deceived everyone again about her suffering. She's been sick for months without them noticing a thing.

"She is a courageous girl. It takes tremendous strength to smile no matter how dire the situation," Regal noted sadly.

"Colette hides her suffering too much," Lloyd rebutted. "It's okay for her to let her true feelings show."

"She knows the power that words possess," Regal stated.

This confused Lloyd. "Power of words?"

"Your will manifests itself in the words you speak. Whether they be curses, or words of joy, the soul of those words yields power," Regal explained.

Lloyd crossed his arms in wonder. "I get it. Okay, then I'm going to say it out loud right now: I will save Colette and both worlds!"

Regal smiled down at him. Despite the odds and what happened today, he was certain that they would succeed someday. Lloyd wasn't willing to give up and so neither was he.

With their conversation done, Lloyd began walking again and noticed that Genis was standing by his mom's grave. He slowly approached his dear friend, not wanting to disturb him if he was praying.

"Lloyd…I feel like I'm starting to hate humans more and more," Genis spoke the moment he felt Lloyd's presence.

This made Lloyd stop in his tracks.

What was he supposed to say to that? While the statement on the surface sounded horribly racist and something a Desian would say….he honestly couldn't blame Genis. The way the mayor talked to him…the way he blamed Genis for leading the Desians to the village on purpose all because he was a half-elf…it made him want to punch the man. In fact, why didn't he?

He didn't mind the mayor hating him for not believing in Martel. That was his choice. Genis never asked to be born a half-elf or even born at all.

"I'm sorry…" was all he could think to say.

Genis quickly turned towards Lloyd. Despite his words, there was no hatred in his eyes for him. "You don't have to apologize, Lloyd. I like you, as well as the people of Iselia. It's just that when I think about how there are lots of people who think just like the mayor…"

"I remember a lesson where the Professor said that words exist in order for people to understand one another," Lloyd interrupted Genis.

"What do you do about people who don't wanna understand?" Genis asked desperately.

Lloyd couldn't think of an answer.

"I'm sorry," Genis whispered. "I don't mean to take it out on you. Don't worry about it." He turned back to his mom's grave and said nothing more.

Lloyd felt bitter and cold. His friend was suffering and there wasn't a thing he could do to help him. Why was so helpless?

He kicked a rock and started back to the house. He was about to go inside when he saw Presea by Noishe's stable. She was gently patting Noishe and the dog barked in happiness.

"You never stuck me as an animal person," Lloyd said as he approached the stables.

"There were a lot of animals in Ozette I used to play with when I was little. This area resembles my home," Presea spoke in a soft voice.

Lloyd felt his heart break thinking of Ozette despite its racial issues. He didn't want to imagine Presea's pain. "Yeah, this entire area is surrounded by a forest."

Presea stopped patting Noishe and her eyes became downcast. "Were you hurt…by Chocolat's hatred towards you?"

This caught Lloyd off-guard. "Huh?"

"Chocolat hated you because she held you responsible for what happened to her grandmother. She called you a murderer. Did her words hurt you?" Presea asked. Her voice was void of emotions.

Lloyd closed his eyes for a moment before he answered. "Well, yeah…it's definitely painful when someone hates you. Even if I deserved it."

"I see," Presea whispered.

"But I'm going to do everything I can to make up for it. Even if I don't ever make up for it completely," Lloyd vowed. It was the only thing he could do to make sure everyone who lost their lives because of him didn't die in vain.

Presea was silent for a minute. "What would you have done if Chocolat never forgave you? If she continued to blame you for what happened to her grandmother."

Lloyd gave an awkward smile. "Whether or not you're forgiven isn't important. It's the effort that matters. At least, that's what I think."

Presea didn't answer, so Lloyd assumed she was done talking. He started to turn away.

"Lloyd…thank you for showing me your home." Presea suddenly gave a rare smile. "And Iselia."

He didn't catch the meaning of her words until he remembered that Presea asked him if he could take her to Iselia someday. He said he couldn't because he was banished. But now…

Lloyd returned the smile. "Thanks, Presea."

He felt a bit lighter as he walked into his house. Dirk was already starting dinner and Sheena was napping on a cox Dirk had in storage for visitors. She had to be tired if she fell asleep that fast. He honestly wasn't too far behind her.

"I bet you lived a crappy, hard life so far, huh?" the voice of Zelos asked, startling him.

He turned around to see Zelos staring at him from the corner of the living room. His expression was a strange mix of teasing and him being serious.

"Gee, you sure know how to cheer someone up, don't ya?" Lloyd mocked. Wasn't he always the one talking about settling the mood to make an example.

Zelos laughed in good nature, although something about it seemed force. "Well, don't worry about it too much. So now what? Aren't you at your wit's end right about now?"

Lloyd tilted his head. "Why do you say that?"

Zelos became dead serious. "The giant tree, which we thought was all good, goes nuts, our cute little Colette comes down with some funky cold. It's just human nature to start getting tired of it all."

Lloyd narrowed his eyes. "I'm never gonna give up. If I quit, I'll never be able to face all the people who've suffered because of what I've done. So I'm gonna fight to the very end. I can't give up!"

Admittedly…he was tired. A part of him wanted to quit this journey, go upstairs, and never get out of bed. But he couldn't….wouldn't do that. Not only did people suffer because of his actions, what about Colette? She was literally turning into a crystal and kept smiling and acting strong. Or Regal who was was still fighting despite blaming himself for Alicia's death. Or Genis who was becoming rightfully jaded about humans, but was still willing to save the two worlds. Or Presea who literally lost everything and yet still found a reason to keep going.

If he quit now, he would never be able to look any of his friends in the face again.

Zelos looked Lloyd over. "Hot-headed and stubborn as hell." He gave a short laugh and smiled. "Well, but I guess that's what I dig about you."

Lloyd blinked. Was Zelos….testing him? He wouldn't put it past the guy. Or maybe he was just tired. He really should lay down.

He walked upstairs, ready to crash into bed and not wake up until sometime tomorrow when he noticed Raine was in his room staring out the window. He didn't mind people being in his room since the entire second floor was his and it could get crowded downstairs. But a feeling of annoyance did reach his brain since he was force to wait longer before crawling into bed.

"The problem is what to do now," Raine said as she turned to face Lloyd. "We need to know how the two worlds were forced apart before we can figure out a way to save them."

He's been wondering that too. Yuan and Kratos kept talking about how Yggdrasill split the worlds, but they never explained how. When asked, both of them avoided the subjected and acted like they were morons for not figuring it out.

The only thing he could think of was that Yggdrasill was some kind of god since that was what gods in the stories did, but that didn't seem right. Yggdrasill was powerful, no doubt about that. He got to feel that power first hand at the Tower of Salvation. But…he didn't feel divine. Just powerful. But he had another question.

"How the worlds were forced apart…I wonder about that too, but I also want to know is why Yggdrasill split the world in two," Lloyd voiced his thoughts.

Raine raised an eyebrow. "Don't you think it was to protect the Great Seed? To protect Martel?"

"But because the worlds were pulled apart, that 'phase' thing got shifted, and the Great Seed became unstable, right? That's not really protecting her, that's more like putting her in danger," Lloyd said, trying to remember exactly what happened. "The only thing I can think of is that he split the worlds to control the mana giving by the Great Seed, but Yggdrasill have shown that he doesn't care about the worlds. He was even willing to sacrifice Colette to protect that mutated tree."

Raine's eyes lit up. "Lloyd, you manage to say something intelligent every now and then. You're absolutely right."

"'Every now and then'? Geez, that's harsh," Lloyd muttered.

"The who, why, and how. That's what we need to know," Raine said more to herself.

"Right now, all we know is who," Lloyd bemused.

A lot of this could be resolved if Kratos or Yuan were more honest with them. While Kratos was on his own island doing the spirits knew what, Yuan was suppose to be their ally, but he trusted them with very little. It was so frustrating.

Since he was obviously not going to bed at the moment, he went to the balcony. He wasn't surprised to see Colette there since this was her favorite spot in the house.

Colette turned towards her childhood friend and her eyes shone with tears that didn't fall. "Lloyd, I'm sorry. I'm being a burden to you again, aren't I?"

Lloyd gave a small smile. "What are you talking about? You're the one that's suffering. Stop apologizing."

"Okay…I'm sorry," Colette apologized.

Lloyd sighed. She just wasn't going to change.

"Lloyd…you saw…my shoulder, right?" Colette asked hesitantly, touching the shoulder in question.

Who didn't see her shoulder and back? "Yeah…" he answered.

Colette looked down in shame. "I wonder if I'm just going to turn into one big exsphere."

"You dork. There's no way that'll happen," Lloyd said with a short laugh.

Colette shook her head in denial. "But it keeps spreading! Right now, it's still hidden under my clothes, but eventually…"

Lloyd quickly grabbed her by her good shoulder to calm her down. If she became too frantic, she would faint again.

"If that happens, you're going to hate me… I've caused you so much trouble and now on top of that, my body's turning into this disgusting thing," Colette spoke rapidly to the point that she was nearly incomprehensible.

"It's not disgusting," Lloyd said firmly, making her look directly into his eyes. "Remember what I said. You're you. Even if you become an exsphere… No. No, I won't let you become an exsphere!"

Colette finally calmed down. Some tears finally fall. "Really?"

Lloyd smiled. "Yeah. Have I ever lied bef….well, okay, I have, but I did keep my promise to give you your birthday present, so I swear that I'll save you no matter what. I promise."

Colette laughed at the flub. "You always save me and you always keep the promises you've made to me."

"Yeah, so cheer up!" Lloyd exclaimed. "When you're down, everyone feels sad, including me."

Colette hugged him. "I'm truly thankful to have met you, Lloyd. This time, I don't want to disappear. I really don't. I'm gonna live, right? I'm going to be able to stay by your side, right?"

Lloyd returned the hug. "Of course. You're right here in front of me, alive. I swear that you will be absolutely, positively, indubitably alright!"

And no matter what. This was a promise he planned to keep come hell or high water.

Yeah, not much happened, but we got to see Dirk again and he gets to meet the Tethe'alla group. We also got Sheena back after several months. The next chapter will also be slow before things really start to pick up.

Until next chapter, take care!