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Chapter Text

Lloyd couldn't stay in one place for too long. Not any more.

There were plenty of reasons for it, some of them easier to admit than others. But on the day that Sheena finally caught up with him, Lloyd was in Luin. Sitting at the edge of one of Luin's battered docks, his feet hanging limply above the still waters of the lake, Lloyd was doing something he'd told himself he wouldn't do any more. He was reminiscing.

He still remembered the first time they'd passed through this town. Before the Desians had burnt it to the ground. Before Sheena had decided to lend them her aid. Before Kratos had betrayed them. Before they had completed the Journey of Regeneration.

Before Colette had sacrificed herself.

It hung on him, a lodestone around his neck. He'd imagined, so many times, that they would complete that journey together and return to Iselia side by side. Yeah, he'd been exiled, but he would still travel far enough to make sure Colette made it home safely. Then he would go home and live with his dad, never more than a forest walk away from his best friends. Genis and Colette would finish school, and Professor Sage would probably send them to visit him with homework. Colette would be allowed to leave the village by herself, now that the journey was complete. And once Lloyd had spent enough time home with Dirk, he'd build his boat. Travel with Kratos, just like he said he would. Sail the world.

So many of those dreams had been mistakes. Sure, Genis was studying in Palmacosta now, and the Professor was there as well, teaching at the academy and lending her aid to the people there. But Kratos had vanished after... after it happened. And Colette would never return home again.

Lloyd had eventually gone back, once he can stand it. He'd walked through the door with his head hanging low, and it had taken little more than one heavy hug from his father for the shamed tears to start. He'd hated himself for that. What right did he have to be crying when he was the one who had failed?

Dirk had worked hard to knock that kind of thinking out of him, though thankfully he hadn't used his fists to do it. Grieving is fine, his dad had told him firmly. All o' Sylvarant should be grieving, sending a girl like that away to die. And Dirk had apologised for his own small role in allowing it to happen. But, he'd insisted, You didn't fail no one, Lloyd. You were with her, till the end. It's all she ever wanted.
Lloyd wondered about that. How would they ever know what Colette really wanted? No one could ask her now. No one would even truly know how she'd felt at the end.

It had been hard to admit, even to his dad, that part of him had hesitated. That there'd been a moment, standing before the final altar in the Tower of Salvation, where he'd wondered if saving Sylvarant might have been more important than anything else. But then he'd looked up at Colette's face—too late, too late to stop it—and he'd remembered everything she'd endured. Everything she'd gone through during their pilgrimage. Nothing could ever be worth the suffering they'd put her through.

And aye, Dirk had agreed. No prize could be worth that.

"You're not an easy man to track down."

Lloyd jolted so sharply that he might have slipped off the edge of the dock, were it not for the deft grip that grabbed the end of his collar. That was a miracle all by itself—when it came to pratfalls, there was usually no one more likely to meet disaster than; "Sheena!"

"Hey," She smiled as she dragged him to his feet.

The last time they had seen one another, things had been difficult. Colette's absence had been like a chasm between them—when Sheena told him she needed to go and check on her people in Tethe'alla, part of Lloyd had been grateful. But it had been months since then, and now all he could see was the familiar face he'd sorely missed. Grinning from ear to ear, Lloyd pulled her into a fierce embrace. "Whoa there--!" She began to object, but even in the short time they'd been friends Lloyd had come to know her well. When she sighed, and returned his gesture, it felt as though a weight had dropped from her shoulders.

"I didn't know you were coming," Lloyd told her honestly, unable to wipe the smile from his face when she laughed at him.

"Of course you didn't. And I wasn't kidding, you know. I've been tracking you for almost a week. You really don't make yourself easy to find."

"Oops?" Lloyd tried sheepishly. But Sheena must have understood his reasons better than anyone. "There's always stuff to do. Everyone still needs help, you know? And--"

"You're still not too popular with the Desians, either. I've been hearing all about it."

Lloyd couldn't help making a face at that. "I don't need people talking about it, I need people to stand up and help. There are fewer Desians now than there ever were before, but people seem to think that because the Journey of Regeneration is over everything should be perfect. They're mad because there's still problems." Just the thought of it was enough to raise his ire. "They act like Colette's sacrifice wasn't good enough. They're never satisifed."

Sheena's scowl made it seem as though she was about to agree with him. Professor Sage had told him more than once that he and Sheena were each as hot-headed as the other; Lloyd had taken it as a compliment. But when Sheena finally responded, it was with something completely different. "Hey, will you come back to the inn with me? There's some stuff we need to talk about. And there's someone there I think you should meet."

-

The room had one bed, one table, one chair, and one man Lloyd had never seen before. The stranger jumped to his feet when Sheena walked in, and didn't spare Lloyd so much as a second glance; Lloyd had the distinct impression he might as well not even exist.

"Hunny, you kept me waiting so long...!" The stranger crossed the room quickly, long red hair trailing behind him as he immediately tried to fling himself around Sheena's neck. Compared to her willingness to hug him earlier, Sheena ducked swiftly aside to avoid this unwelcome advance.

"Lloyd," She sighed, one hand raised in introduction. "This idiot is Zelos. Zelos, this is Lloyd." There might have been room for awkwardness there, but Sheena didn't give it a chance to settle. "He's gonna be too much of a jackass to ask you himself, so I'll just go ahead and say it for him. Lloyd, Zelos needs your help. I think you might be the only person we can turn to."

Now Zelos looked at him. Lloyd felt a little like a bug under a magnifying glass, an impression not at all helped by the faintly disgusted expression on Zelos's face. "What did you tell him?" Zelos asked Sheena, even with his attention still fixed squarely on Lloyd.

"Nothing, yet."

"Yeah, and it's starting to piss me off," Lloyd interrupted before they could go any further. Sheena winced, but Zelos outright laughed.

"Whoa, there, settle down! I knew you were a feisty one, but geez!"

"I'm not feisty!" Lloyd snapped back. That only made Zelos laugh all the more.

"Stop it," Sheena cut in, looking very much like she wanted to smack them both upside their heads. "Lloyd," She said, and the seriousness of her tone caught his ear. "Zelos is from Tethe'alla. He's the Chosen there. And he can't stay there any more. They want to send him on the Journey of Regeneration."

There had been plenty to talk about after that.

-

Lloyd never imagined there would be a time where he would hesitate to offer someone his help.

Fireflies skittered around the edge of his vision as he swung his twin swords, thoughts occupied by everything they'd discussed. He was sure that Sheena had been disappointed when he said he needed time to think, and he didn't blame her for that. He'd been disappointed in himself, after all.
Zelos had just shrugged and told him it was cool. It was like he'd already made up his mind how he thought Lloyd was going to respond, and for some reason that had been even more uncomfortable than Sheena's reaction.

His arms burned with the ache of his practice swings. Sighing, Lloyd rolled his shoulders and let his blades drop down to rest at his sides, thinking back once again on the conversation they'd shared at the inn. Sheena had told him about the Tower of Salvation appearing in Tethe'alla, and the panic that had swept across the land. After so many years of prosperity, the people of Tethe'alla couldn't even imagine living with anything different.

And Zelos had been right there. Their very own Chosen, all ready to bring them salvation.

Sheena hadn't need to spell her feelings out to him, but she'd tried anyway. Letting Colette go had been the worst mistake of her life. Worse than-- she'd started, then shook her head, and doggedly forced herself to continue. Zelos might be a moron and a pervert, but he didn't deserve to go through everything that had happened to Colette. No one deserved that.

Lloyd couldn't disagree.

So why was he hesitating to offer his help? All Sheena wanted him to do was keep Zelos close by. If Zelos disappeared into the world of Sylvarant, Tethe'alla wouldn't be able to force him to begin Regeneration. And as long as Zelos was still alive, there wouldn't be any next Chosen to send instead. All Lloyd needed to do was help keep Zelos safe in a strange new world—at least until they were certain no one was going to come and find him.

Frustrated, Lloyd hefted his swords and began swinging again. There was no reason he shouldn't help. If he could do so much for all the people of Sylvarant, why shouldn't he do this for Zelos as well?

If you are going to use a sword, then at least learn the basics. You want to protect the Chosen, don't you?

That dispassionate voice in the back of his mind. Kratos, the last person he wants to think about, the voice that's been missing from his training ever since that day in the Tower of Salvation. Protect the Chosen? He'd had the nerve to question Lloyd's ability to protect Colette? Lloyd sliced down harshly, blades almost striking into the loamy earth beneath him as he shouted his frustration into the nighttime air. Wordless, hoarse... not even satisfying.

He hadn't realised there was an audience.

"Man, you're really going for it." Startled, Lloyd whirled around, swords once again raised for parry and strike. Behind him Zelos raised his hands in a quick flinch of surrender. "Whoa, don't take it out on me!"

"Zelos." Lloyd straightened, suddenly aware that he was out of breath. "You... You came looking for me?"

Zelos scoffed, waving the suggestion away with one gloved hand. "You kidding? Nah. I was just out looking for chicks. I figured even a dump like this must have some kinda night life, you know? But alas. No fun for me."

Ugh. Lloyd finally sheathed his twin swords, glad that he didn't enough energy left to lose his temper. "Don't call Luin a dump. You've got no idea what happened here."

"Actually, I do. Sheena told me about it. And you're right, I'm sorry." Zelos leaned back slightly, hands on his hips as he gazed around the small clearing where Lloyd had been busying himself. Behind him, the half-ruined buildings shaped the night sky. "It must have been rough for these folks. I hope they get back on their feet." Lloyd nodded in response, a little relieved that this Zelos guy wasn't a complete jackass. As if hearing his thoughts, Zelos spoke again. "Come on, walk with me for a bit. We should probably talk, right?"

Lloyd wasn't sure he had anything to say, but Zelos's suggestion did make sense. "Alright," he agreed, and fell into pace at Zelos's side. The silence between them didn't last long—Lloyd was getting the distinct impression that Zelos really liked the sound of his own voice.

"So, like... I get it. Why you wouldn't want to help, I mean."

They had barely begun walking, but Lloyd immediately ground to a halt. "I never said I wouldn't help."

Once again, Zelos raised his hands in conciliation. "Hey, I'm not mad or anything. Don't worry about it. I'm just saying, you've got loads of reasons to want nothing to do with me. It's because of Tethe'alla that Sylvarant has been in decline for so long, right? I'm just some guy from another world—why would you go sticking your neck out for me? And Sheena says you've already got all this other stuff going on, fighting those Desian guys and all." Zelos shrugged, the smile on his face seeming at odds with the words he was speaking. "So let me tell you what. How about you agree with Sheena that I'll stick around with you, and once she's gone, I'll get out of your hair. She'll be happy, you'll be happy. Better for everyone, right?"

Not better for you, Lloyd thought instantly, fists clenched at his sides. Was that really the impression he'd given of himself? What would Colette think of him? "No way. You don't know anything at all!"

This time the surprise on Zelos's face actually looked genuine. Lloyd had the sense that Zelos would interrupt him given half a chance, and so he forced himself to speak. After hours of hesitation, it was amazing how his answer suddenly seemed so certain. Maybe he'd just needed someone to challenge him.

"I don't hate Tethe'alla, and I'm not gonna lie to Sheena. I don't hate you, either." Maybe Zelos hadn't said that last part, but Lloyd was sure he'd implied it. And yes, perhaps Lloyd was struggling to understand his own feelings, but he sure as hell wasn't having any of the words Zelos tried to put in his mouth. "You're not just some stranger. You're Zelos, and you deserve to live. Just like every other Chosen. I'm not letting anyone sacrifice you. I'm not ever letting that happen again."

Zelos wasn't smiling any more; when he spoke, the words hit Lloyd like a fist to the gut. "You're really cut up about her, aren't you?"

Zelos hadn't needed to say her name. Lloyd knew who he meant. "Of course I am!" Why was that even surprising? Lloyd turned around sharply, pacing a few steps back as though he might find someone to release his anger on. But there was no one there to fight. Not Kratos, not Cruxis. There was no one to give him an answer. And there was no Colette to offer up her cheerful smile and tell him it would be okay. No Colette. Only the empty space she'd left behind.

Lloyd breathed in through his teeth, determined to keep his grief in check. He'd done enough of that—if Colette hadn't been free to cry at the end, then what right did he have to it? "She was my best friend, and she was suffering so much. I didn't even know. I couldn't see it, even when it was right in front of me. I didn't get it until it was too late, and I didn't save her." But now Lloyd turned, and jabbed one finger at Zelos's chest. Zelos, the other Chosen. The Chosen who still needed him. Just the thought of it planted a knot of dread in his stomach, terror that he might fail all over again, but Lloyd knew by then that he couldn't turn his back. "I didn't save her, but I'll save you. I'll save you, and I'll save Sylvarant. I'll save everyone."

It was the least he could do. It was the least of what he owed her.

Chapter Text

Sure, he hadn't exactly had high expectations for Sylvarant. But if Zelos had borne any hopes of an easy life out here, Lloyd Irving soon put an end to them.

Yeah, this had been the declining world—Zelos had known it was gonna be kinda rough. Damn, though, he'd at least figured he'd be sleeping in an actual bed most nights. But nope. Flourishing or not, it seemed like the people here in Sylvarant always had some crisis or another that needed to be solved—and there was Lloyd, always wearing his outrage all over his sleeves, stepping up time after time to help anyone who so much as sighed in his general direction.

Talk about exhausting.

Zelos considered, more than once, just ditching Lloyd completely and finding his own way. How hard could it be? Sylvarant didn't have the kinds of cities he was used to living in, sure, but everything Lloyd said about Palmacosta sounded good enough. Set on the coast, a hub of trade and commerce, with a decent wine industry to boot? What wasn't to like about that?

Except that, if he left Lloyd behind, it would be one less person to watch his back. And Zelos had a pretty strong hunch that, sooner or later, someone from Cruxis was gonna come looking for him.

Which meant he was stuck with Lloyd. And Lloyd's... freaky wolf thing.

"His name is Noishe," Lloyd told him for what felt like the millionth time. Beside him, Noishe whined as though he agreed.

"Noishe then," Zelos allowed, before returning to his point. "I'm just saying, that thing isn't a dog."

"He is! And he's mine, so stop bugging him. We just have different pets than you do in Tethe'alla, that's all." After a moment Lloyd's smile had turned a shade smug. "Better ones."

But Zelos was at least somewhat vindicated in the end. Everywhere they went, Noishe was met with the same bemused reaction—and Lloyd stubbornly insisting that there was nothing weird about his freakish animal friend. Eventually Zelos gave up. Whatever Noishe was, at least he kept watch at night. One less weight on his mind.

It wasn't the only reaction they received as they travelled. Everywhere they went, people already seemed to know Lloyd.

Sometimes folks approached them just to say how grateful they were that Lloyd had guarded the Chosen during her journey. Usually they didn't have the guts to say anything about Colette herself—they'd just thank the Goddess Martel for returning her blessing to their land, and maybe add something vapid about the Chosen standing at the Goddess's right hand or whatever. The usual crap.

Lloyd never wanted to hear it. Zelos couldn't really blame him for that.

But people knew Lloyd for a whole bunch of other reasons. Real crazy stuff, too. Like in Asgard, where he'd apparently stopped some kids from blowing up an ancient monument, and then saved a girl from being sacrificed to a rampaging wind monster. "That was Professor Sage, really," Lloyd told him afterwards, but that didn't keep the townspeople from fawning over his presence.

In Hima, they had saved a man's life by discovering a lost healing technique. That was thanks to the Professor as well, according to Lloyd. Actually, Lloyd always seemed to have a way to give his successes to someone else. Even in the few weeks they'd been travelling together, Zelos was pretty sure he already had a good idea what that was all about—if Lloyd threw away praise for all the good he'd done, maybe it could balance the scale of failing to protect his friend.

At first, Zelos had rolled his eyes and decided he didn't care. Screw Lloyd—he should feel like garbage for giving her life away so easily. Just another Chosen to be tossed aside for everyone else's convenience? No way. If Lloyd was suffering now then tough luck. At least he was still alive.

He wasn't too sure when he'd started to change his mind about that. Only... watching Lloyd constantly throw himself around for the sake of everyone else's happiness? ... Yeah. It was starting to bug him for some reason.

It was always the same thing, wherever they went. In Luin, Lloyd and the rest of the Chosen's party had saved the townsfolk from the nearby Human Ranch, and even killed the sicko who'd been running the place. But according to Lloyd it was Sheena who'd really risked her life to protect those people. All he'd done was show up too late to make enough of a difference.

There was always something. Honestly, Zelos didn't think he'd ever met anyone so willing to smile and yet so damn down on themselves.

Hah. Well, maybe he'd met one other person like that. But he'd always been pretty good at ignoring his own hypocrisy. And besides... whatever Lloyd was, he was definitely nothing like him.

He'd finally had to speak up after they were called to the Iselia Human Ranch.

Lloyd had been tense the entire time. Turned out Iselia was his hometown, more or less, and he'd been banished from the place. Yet another thing he'd messed up, to hear him tell it; by now Zelos had just blithely accepted that vague answer and privately decided that whatever had happened, Lloyd probably wasn't the bad guy.

Not that it mattered any more. The ranch had been abandoned, the Desian Grand Cardinal who'd been running the place had disappeared and most of his troops had vanished with him. Reporting back to Cruxis, Zelos figured; maybe even on their way to make trouble in the newly-declining Tethe'alla.

Whatever. Not his problem.

What they did have to deal with was a whole population of people, old and young, who had suddenly been liberated. Some of them had been seized from Iselia, but most had come from other parts of Sylvarant. A few of the youngest had even been born inside the Ranch and had no place else to go.

Sheena had told Zelos a lot about what had been happening to the people of Sylvarant, but that had been his first time seeing the inside of a Human Ranch for himself. Knowing that there were towns who had intentionally turned a blind eye to this kind of suffering just to save their own skins... well. That was just typical, wasn't it? Grimly, Zelos had shrugged it off and reminded himself not to get invested in these people.

That was easy enough to do, until they found Chocolat.

The girl was someone Lloyd had met before, and one of the only people who actually seemed to hate the sight of him. Zelos had watched, more than a little intrigued, as Lloyd promised to find someone else to escort the survivors from Palmacosta back to their homes. It wasn't until that evening, camped once again beneath the stars, that Zelos had taken the chance to find out what was going on there.

Their campsite that night hadn't been a private one—Lloyd had agreed to travel with the refugees returning to the town of Izoold, which obviously meant poor Zelos had to be dragged along for the ride. Campfires littered the grass around them, with tents and sleeping mats provided by the townspeople of Iselia. Zelos waited until people had finally stopped approaching Lloyd to thank him before striking up conversation.

"So, what's the deal with Miss Chocolat?" He started, cheerfully diving right to the heart of the matter. "She your ex-girlfriend or something?"

Lloyd made a face halfway between startled and mortified. "Not at all!" Zelos had grinned, and for a moment he thought Lloyd would join him in smiling... but then his frown had settled into place. "Because of me, Chocolat... lost someone important to her. It was my fault that Marble was killed."

"Marble?"

"Her grandmother. She was at the Iselia Ranch. Genis and I... it's complicated. But Marble died because I got spotted too close to the Ranch. It violated the Non-Aggression Treaty. Because of that, Iselia was attacked. That's why I was exiled."

"Right..." More than Lloyd had said before, but it still didn't sound like the whole story. Seemed like that was all Lloyd was willing to give him, though, and right then? Zelos was done with it. It was time to talk about something else; something that Lloyd had been needing to hear for a while. "You know, all this stuff with Non-Aggression Treaties and whatever? It kinda reminds me of home."

"Oh yeah?" Lloyd asked. He always asked, when you fed him a line like that. Zelos hadn't decided yet if Lloyd was just too curious for his own good, or if he actually cared.

That wasn't a road he wanted to go down right now.

"Yup. Remember when I told you how cool Meltokio is?" Lloyd nodded, a glazed look of don't start that again passing over his face. Zelos let it slide. "See, the thing is, Meltokio is cool... if you're someone like me."

"Obnoxious?" Lloyd interrupted, but at least he was cheering up again. Zelos swatted at him, showing Lloyd the wounded expression he'd obviously been looking for.

"Um, no? I think you meant to say incredibly beautiful, blessed with intellect, charm, an incredible voice?"

"Right, sure."

"Right." Enough joking around. Zelos plucked a few tall stalks of grass, tossing them into the fire one after another as he continued speaking; easier to look at the flames than whatever dumbass expression Lloyd might be making. "Meltokio's great if you're born great." Hah. "But if you look a little deeper? That place is awful. The rich live out their fancy easy lives, and the poor struggle just to get by. And it's even worse if you're a half-elf. It's like that all over Tethe'alla, actually. We all just turn our backs on the stuff that isn't convenient."

"That's..." Lloyd's opinion was already clear from the tone of his voice. "That's horrible."

"Yup. But it's not any different here in Sylvarant, is it?" Now Zelos looked over, head cocked to one side. Maybe it wasn't kind to challenge Lloyd like this, but the mood was on him. "In Tethe'alla, the rich thrive and the poor struggle. But here, you all just let Desians take people away and pretend it isn't happening. You just take the easy way out. The poor are still struggling, but they're not even trying to look out for each other."

These are the people you keep fighting for, Zelos added silently, wondering if Lloyd would have enough sense to hear what was going unsaid. You keep talking yourself down, but at least you're actually doing something.

Honestly, Zelos had expected Lloyd to try and defend the people of his world. Instead, refreshingly, Lloyd scowled. "Maybe if they had tried harder to protect themselves instead of waiting for someone else, Colette wouldn't have had to..."

"Exactly!" No, not really—that hadn't been the point Zelos was driving for at all. But there was something familiar in trying to stir up that thread of cynicism in Lloyd. Maybe dragging Lloyd down from that too-forgiving perch of his might do something to rebalance both their world views a little. "Colette died for these people, and they're still not satisfied. That must piss you off, right? Even now you're still out there fighting for them. When are they gonna stand on their own two feet?"

"But..." Lloyd continued slowly, speaking as though Zelos had never even interrupted him, "Colette would never have blamed them. She would try to understand that not everyone could be as strong as you, or me, or her. And you know... even though it gets to me, I just can't turn my back on people in need. And neither can you, Zelos."

Well that was left-field. "Huh?"

And this time, when Lloyd smiled at him, it wasn't as a joke. The warmth—the faith—was way too genuine for Zelos's comfort. "You said you'd leave as soon as Sheena went back to Tethe'alla. But it's been weeks now, and you're still here. Fighting beside me, and doing what you can to help. It's been kinda nice having someone else around—even if it is an annoying guy like you. Thanks, Zelos."

Seriously?

"That's..." Damn it. Damn doe-eyed idiot Lloyd. Had he not heard anything Zelos just said? "It's just easier for me this way, that's all!" Lloyd was grinning at him now, the cocky little twerp, and Zelos was sure he'd meant to be angry but somehow there he was, grinning right back. "Besides, you can't expect a delicate pure-hearted soul like me to survive alone out here, can you? Where would I be without my cute bodyguard to protect me!"

"Yeah, yeah," Lloyd sang back at him, and flopped back to sprawl on his sleeping roll. "Whatever."

Which was probably a good place to leave it. Zelos really wasn't ready to see where else that conversation might go.

Chapter Text

Maybe it wasn't good that he was starting to get used to having Zelos around, but Lloyd couldn't help himself. After months of travelling with friends, and then months more with only Noishe, there was something to be said for having another person around again.

Zelos complained about everything . When they camped out that wasn't good enough—it was too noisy, he couldn't relax, the bedrolls weren't comfortable, the sun woke him up too early, what if someone attacked them—but whenever they stopped in a town or one of the Houses of Salvation, Zelos always found something to be annoyed by. The food wasn't suited to his sensitive palate, or there were never enough girls around, or the linen was too cheap and scratchy. There was always something.

At first Lloyd had taken it all to heart, and given some serious thought to throwing Zelos off the nearest dock and letting him see if the water in Sylvarant was inferior too. But the longer they spent together the more Lloyd began to recognise Zelos's griping for what it really was. Lots of noise, and not a lot of substance. Zelos was the kind of guy who said a lot of words, but hardly ever told you anything.

He was learning some other things about Zelos too. The fact that Zelos could wield magic, for one thing.

"I don't know what you did without me," Zelos cooed at him, all pleased with himself as he finished healing Lloyd's wound. Lloyd grimaced; being indebted to Zelos always lead to hours of gloating. Beside him, Noishe nuzzled the space where Lloyd had been struck, whimpering concern. Lloyd scratched Noishe's ears as he spoke.

"What's with you and magic, anyway? I thought humans couldn't usually control mana?"

"Nope," Zelos replied promptly, completely unruffled by the question. "But as usual, the amazing Zelos breaks all the rules. Is there any limit to what I can do?" When Lloyd replied with nothing more than a dry stare, Zelos grudingly continued. "Plus, you know, I had magic injections at the Elemental Research Institute in Meltokio. I'm as human as any other Chosen, but I've got some elven blood in me. Does the trick."

Lloyd had never heard of anything like it. "Seriously?"

"Yep. Life is dangerous when you're the Chosen. There are plenty of people who'd be glad to see me dead. That's why it's good for me to have ways to protect myself. Stuff that people won't be expecting too, you know?"

"I guess," Lloyd answered, mind wandering elsewhere. He remembered all too well how the Desians had tried to interfere with Colette's journey. No matter how much he hated them for it, he could still understand what they'd been trying to do. But... "I don't get it though. People try to hurt you just because you're the Chosen?"

"Yup." Just like always, Zelos's voice was cheery and unconcerned, but his eyes gave more away—Lloyd was getting used to that now. He was starting to know what to look for. When Zelos continued in the same blasé tone, Lloyd found himself attuned to the frustration that lay beneath. "The Chosen is second only to the royal family in Tethe'alla. It means we have a lot of sway on how things are run, and that means you end up with lots of enemies. Then there are the folks who would rather someone else was the Chosen, the ones whose own lives and dreams were messed up by the mana lineage—hell, some people want to kill us just to show they can."

"Why..." There was so much in the world that Lloyd had been blind to for so long. Lloyd shook his head, disgusted. "Why is it all so messed up? How did the two worlds get like this?"

For a second, it seemed that Zelos hesitated to respond. But then he reached over, ruffling a hand through Lloyd's hair and laughing at the way Lloyd angrily tried to bat him away. "Aww, cheer up, bud. It's not so bad. At least this way you get to enjoy my awesome company, right?"

Indignantly, Noishe yelped.

"Easy," Lloyd soothed him, and grinned at the way Zelos instantly raised his hands in surrender. "But yeah, I guess. I'm glad you're here, not there. And thanks for helping." Lloyd waved loosely at his torso, and the wound that Zelos had just healed. "When I was travelling before, Professor Sage used to keep us all on our feet. Well..." Lloyd didn't like to mention it, but it felt dishonest not to say the whole truth. "... her and Kratos. Now that I think about it, you and him fight kinda alike."

"What?" Zelos snapped back, so quick and so indignant that Lloyd stared in open astonishment. "Me and that guy? Nuh-uh. No way."

"Wait," Lloyd hurried to interrupt, and immediately he saw the way Zelos froze; as if he'd just been caught in a lie. Lloyd scowled, stepping closer. "You know Kratos?"

"I mean, not personally," Zelos answered, and then he nodded and shrugged, all that glibness rushing back to him. Lloyd hadn't wanted to throttle Zelos in weeks, but suddenly that was rushing back too. "But you know, Sheena told me about him. He travelled with you guys when you were unlocking the seals, and then he betrayed you at the Tower of Salvation. He's the guy who delivered Colette to Cruxis."

"Right..." Now it was Lloyd who hesitated, caught offguard by Zelos's thorough description. He didn't want to remember that day—he couldn't keep himself from remembering it all too well. Before Lloyd had been able to pull himself back from those memories Zelos had continued rambling on.

"What a jerk. Like, seriously, travelling with you for all that time, acting like he was your friend, and all so he could pull a stunt like that? And poor Colette must have trusted him too. Of course I hate that guy. I hate anyone who messes with you." Lloyd jolted slightly as Zelos suddenly laid a hand on each of his shoulders, leaning a shred closer to look him straight in the eyes. It gave Lloyd that peculiar sense again, that feeling as though Zelos's confidence was shrouding something different, something more complex. "Because I'm your friend. Right?"

Lloyd wanted to ask more questions. He knew something about this wasn't adding up right. But with memories of Colette clouding his mind, with that sense of Kratos's betrayal stoked for the first time in months, and with Zelos looking at him as though the weight of the world might be resting on his answer... what else could he say. "Yeah. Of course. We're friends."

Zelos grinned and clapped his hands against Lloyd's shoulders, all buddy-buddy as he dragged Lloyd close enough to sling an arm around him. "That's my good man. Now come on, let's get going! If we move now, we might make it to Hima before nightfall, right? I could really use a bed tonight."

And reluctantly, Lloyd had allowed the moment to pass. There would be other chances, he told himself, and vowed not to forget. There were things he wanted to learn about Zelos, but it didn't all have to happen at once. They had time. He'd get there.

When a chance did arrive, it wasn't at all in the shape that Lloyd had expected.

-

"So. This is where you've been hiding, Chosen One."

Whatever Lloyd had been expecting from Yuan's sudden and unwelcome appearance, it definitely wasn't that Yuan would blank him entirely. Lloyd took another step forward, chin raised defiantly and swords drawn before him. When he risked a quick glance over his shoulder, Zelos was blinking owlishly. "Zelos, you know him?"

For a moment it seemed like Zelos wasn't sure how to answer. But then he shrugged and waved a dismissive hand in Yuan's direction; Lloyd grudingly fixed his attention back to the enemy in front of them. "Well yeah, I guess I do. He's the leader of the Renegades, plus a regular visitor at the Tethe'allan royal court. But I don't know what he's doing here."

"I might well say the same of you," Yuan replied dryly. Lloyd's scowl deepened.

"I don't care what you're doing here. You tried to kill Colette! Do you think I'd just forget that?"

"Oh!" Zelos piped up behind him; Lloyd recognised the sound of Zelos clicking his fingers as though suddenly remembering something important. "Yeah, that's right. This is the guy who told us the Chosen of Sylvarant was starting her Journey of Regeneration. He helped broker the deal between the royal family and the vice-chief in Mizuho so that Sheena could come here as an assassin."

That... was a lot of information to take in at once. Lloyd hurried through the detail of what he was hearing, then tightened his grip on his twin swords. That meant... "You're the one who sent Sheena after Colette! I can't believe you!"

Yuan was looking at Zelos as though he wanted nothing more than to squash him there and then. But when he answered, he finally had the decency to at least look in Lloyd's direction. "Our only goal was to prevent the completion of the Regeneration ritual. If that meant the Chosen had to die, then so be it."

Lloyd could feel his fists shaking. "You bastard."

"Interesting that you lay the blame at my feet, Lloyd Irving." Yuan's look had become appraising; apparently he didn't like what he saw. "You're the one who failed to protect her. Like father like son, as they say."

Adrenaline sat like a bonfire in his gut, sending embers through his chest. Dirk? "What does my dad have to do with any of this?!"

"Easy, Lloyd." Lloyd almost snapped free from Zelos's touch on his upper arm, catching himself at the last moment. Zelos flashed him a quick reassuring smile before stepping forward to draw level with him. The two of them against Yuan—Lloyd liked those odds. Zelos tilted his head, voice conversational even as his hand rested on the hilt of his sheathed sword. "You wanted Sylvarant's Chosen gone. So what, you've come to do the same to me, now?"

"That isn't happening!" Lloyd cut in, shoulders hunched and blades angled ready. Yuan barely glanced at him, but he felt Zelos's look; a flicker of consideration before his attention returned to their foe.

"I've come," Yuan said, "To gauge your intentions."

He was speaking to Zelos and Zelos alone. Lloyd wanted nothing more than to force Yuan to start taking him seriously, but Zelos replied and Lloyd held himself back. "Welp, you can see for yourself. I'm living in Sylvarant now. So long as I'm here, Tethe'alla can't try anything, right?" Yuan's expression was faintly disgusted, but he nodded for Zelos to continue speaking. "If you kill me, the Church will just have Seles named as the next Chosen. Kill her and they'll keep on moving down the line. But if you leave me alone out here, seems to me that works out pretty great for both of us, right?"

Lloyd felt that he was only halfway understanding this conversation, but after a thoughtful pause Yuan nodded once again. "Ever the coward, Chosen. But, you may be correct."

"I usually am," Zelos agreed glibly. Yuan's expression hardened.

"But know this, Chosen One. We will keep watching you. If you give us cause to eliminate you, it will be done."

And it seemed as though that was supposed to be the end of it. Yuan's stance relaxed, one hand raising toward his chest. "Wait!" Lloyd snapped out, yanking his arm free from Zelos lingering grip and ignoring the affronted sound that followed. "Don't you leave! I'm not through with you yet!"

But Yuan was through with them. Lloyd charged forward, blades raised and ready, but when his first sword swept forward only the fading after-image of Yuan remained.

Furious, Lloyd tossed his blade at the empty earth before him. "Damn it!"

-

It wasn't until hours later, perched atop a fence near the dock that shipped out toward Thoda Geyser, that Lloyd was calm enough to try and get the rest of the story out of Zelos.

"So you already knew him."

Zelos was leaning back with his elbows propped against the fencing, gaze fixed out over the fields of Sylvarant. When Lloyd spoke, he turned his attention up to smile. "I mean, I wouldn't say I know him. But yeah, we've met before." Lloyd could still remember the look on Zelos's face when Yuan had first appeared; as though he didn't know what he was supposed to say or how he was supposed to act. Whatever had made Zelos hesitate back then, it didn't seem to be bothering him any more. "It's because of Renegade technology that Sheena and I were able to travel from Tethe'alla to Sylvarant. And it was the Renegades who brought Exspheres to Meltokio for the first time. Now we use those things all over the place." Belatedly, almost apologetically, Zelos dipped his head. "Of course, we didn't know how Exspheres were made. I didn't learn about all that stuff until I got out here, except the bits that Sheena told me."

"Mm..." Lloyd kicked his legs absently from where he was sat, thoughts wandering back over that earlier encounter. Behind him, lying along the edge of the fenceposts, Noishe whined. "If he really is the leader of the Renegades, I don't get what he was trying to do back then."

"Back when?"

"Ages ago. In Triet." One of the few places he still hadn't visited with Zelos yet. "Genis and I had been trying to catch up with Colette and the others, but I got taken in by Desians. Except they weren't Desians, they were the Renegades. I didn't realise it back then, but Yuan was there, so they must have been Renegades, right?" Lloyd shook his head, combing one hand through his hair and wishing desperately that Professor Sage were here to make sense of this. "But it doesn't add up! What did they want from me if they weren't Desians? I mean, we hadn't even met up with Colette yet..."

Zelos hoisted himself up to join Lloyd on the fence, side-by-side against the ocean breeze. "Well, he's a pretty weird guy. Don't worry about it."

"Really? Just forget about it? Sometimes I swear it's like you don't take anything seriously."

Zelos grin was brilliantly bright. "Yup yup, that's me. The great and carefree Zelos." Zelos said it so easily, so dismissively, that Lloyd was almost sure there had to be something more to it. But then Zelos continued, and Lloyd let himself get swept along with the distraction. "Anyway, this is good news for us, right? I mean, it sounds like he's gonna leave us alone from now on."

"Sure, unless we give him 'cause to eliminate you'," Lloyd quoted, being none too generous in his imitation. "But yeah, I guess it's okay..."

Maybe Professor Sage could have figured out what the deal with Yuan was, but she wasn't here. For now, Lloyd had other questions to think about; and these were the ones he knew Zelos could answer. "So, who's Seles?"

From his comfy seat alongside Lloyd, Zelos very almost lost his balance completely with how sharply his head jerked up at the mention of Seles's name. "Wha?" He blurted out, eyes wide, and Lloyd wasn't sure whether he wanted to grin or apologise for causing such an extreme reaction.

"You said that Seles would be the next Chosen after you." He really didn't want to let go of this intriguing mystery, but he couldn't deny being taken aback by Zelos's response. Lloyd held up his hands. "It's okay if you don't wanna talk about it."

But by then Zelos seemed to have regained his composure, hopping back down from the fence to pace a few steps away and stretch his arms out over his head. "Nah, it's cool, it's cool. She's my sister is all." When Zelos turned back around, he was himself again. "A real little lady, our glorious Miss Seles Wilder. There are plenty of folks back home who'd have been much happier having someone like her as the Chosen. You know, someone well-mannered and demure. But, poor them. They got stuck with me instead." Zelos's chuckle was low and dry.

"Don't say 'stuck with'. I bet you were a great Chosen."

"Seriously?" Zelos waved one hand around them, as if to say look where we are. "I ran away from my responsibilities, remember? Left Tethe'alla behind to save my own selfish skin? Not exactly perfect Chosen material, bud."

It was... a little difficult to argue against. But Lloyd sat up straighter, more assured than ever that he knew how he felt about it all. "Okay, maybe you weren't a good Chosen. But it's not selfish to want to live. I'm glad you're here. Even if you are a lousy Chosen, you're still a good person, Zelos."

Zelos didn't reply right away. "You really mean that, huh?" He said, and the softness in his voice made it sound like a question. But then he raised his hands over his head again before flinging them out wide; an invitation if ever Lloyd saw one. "Aww, hunny! Well, it's not like I can blame you. Everyone falls for me in the end. Now come here and give your buddy a hug!"

"Ew!" Lloyd threw back immediately, more red-faced than he wanted to admit, but then stupid Zelos advanced on him and started prodding his sides until he got so tickled and unbalanced that he did fall off the damn fence. Which Zelos found hilarious, leaving Lloyd no choice but to take revenge. By the time they were done tickle-fighting Lloyd could barely catch his breath, and the stars were beginning to appear overhead.

It wasn't until he was falling asleep that night, tucked into bed inside the House of Salvation, that Lloyd found himself thinking about that quiet surprise he'd heard in Zelos's voice. Staring at the ceiling, thinking back on the weeks they'd spent together, Lloyd found himself adding one more mission to the tally of things he owed to the world.

Zelos was his friend. And Zelos didn't just deserve to be alive—he deserved to believe he deserved it.

Chapter Text

Palmacosta turned out to be every bit as fancy as Zelos had hoped it would be.

Yeah, sure, it wasn't Meltokio. But that had its benefits too, didn't it? Instead of walking around with every eye constantly upon him, Zelos had found himself free to explore the white stone streets, the vast open air market set down on the quayside, to cross the bridges that spanned those points where rivers met the ocean. There had been a vast steam-powered warship docked in the harbour, just floating there like some ancient historic wreckage dragged up from the deep. Zelos had never seen anything so ridiculously outdated in his life, and yet the people of Palmacosta had stood in wonder of the technological achievement, and their earnest awe had been weirdly endearing.

"What's it even for?" Zelos had asked Lloyd, and when Lloyd had proudly told him fighting Zelos had scoffed and amended, "Yeah, but fighting who?"

Lloyd had stared at him like he'd just been made to notice the colour of the sky for the very first time. "Uh... bad guys, I guess."

It was at moments like that that Zelos wondered what he was still doing in this moron's company.

There were other things to be seen in Palmacosta, though, and one of them caught even Lloyd by surprise.

The city had a central plaza, surrounded by the offices of the Governor-General, the Church of Martel, and an academy of learning renowned all over Sylvarant. It was the academy that Lloyd had been planning to take him to, but instead they'd found themselves distracted by a new addition, added in the time since Lloyd had last visited. A statue, erected in the centre of the square, crafted of white marble with a slim shallow fountain set around the base.

Even as he and Lloyd looked up at the saint-like woman depicted before them, a pair of children ran over to flip coins into the water. Their mother followed close behind, smiling indulgently.

"I'm gonna wish for a new boat," The younger child announced proudly. His mother corrected him without anger.

"This isn't a place to make wishes, it's a place to offer your prayers to the Chosen. You should think about something you'd like to give to someone else, not yourself. The Goddess will look kindly on you if you do."

Lloyd watched in silence as the scene played out, his face a dull mask as the children each contemplated their prayers and dipped to their knees before the statue before clambering back up and heading on their way. Their mother bowed her head before she followed; Zelos watched them go before looking up at the statue once again.

So this was her, huh? This white marble goddess was the Chosen of Sylvarant. Zelos looked at her hands, clasped before her in prayer. Looked at the long hair pouring down her back in stone-crafted waves to end well below the small of her back. Her slim proportions, her gaze upturned to the heavens, even the wreath of flowers the sculptor had opted to place around her head. Wings, feathered and beautiful, curled from her shoulders to gently encapsulate her form.

Serene and devote. The Chosen of Regeneration. The total opposite of him.

Beside him, unexpectedly, Lloyd huffed. "That's not her," He said, and turned to march away across the plaza. "It's nothing like her."

Zelos made himself look one more time before he followed. One more time at the holy image that had been crafted, untouchable and pure. Made in Colette's image, or made in the image most comforting to the people who'd sent her to die?

It was all too easy to imagine how he would look sculpted there alongside her. What a pair they'd make. What a convenient couple of lies.

-

It was in the Palmacosta Academy that he finally got to meet the illustrious Professor Sage who Lloyd constantly spoke so highly of—and her obnoxious little brat of a brother as well. Zelos hadn't had much time for the kid, but after Lloyd and his buddy Genis had cleared off, Zelos found himself blissfully left alone with the cool, intellectual beauty of his dreams. Raine, her name was—though there was something about Professor that got his blood boiling too.

Or there should have been, anyway. She was every bit the incredible woman Lloyd had always made her out to be, and gorgeous as well. Here he was, finally able to spend some time alone with a super cool super sensual hunny. And what was he talking about?

"That Lloyd, he never cuts himself any slack. Has he always been like that?"

"Not really." Raine sat across from him at her desk, giving their conversation a weird sense of formality. "As a student, Lloyd always held the remarkable ability to bounce back from criticism as though it never happened. I could never decide if that was an admirable quality, or merely a sign of my own shortcomings as his teacher."

She looked thoughtful as she continued; sombre, and reflective. "But when we travelled, I recognised my mistake. Lloyd held on to lessons more than I realised, once the stakes involved played to his sense of justice. He challenged the world around him with a tenacity that anyone could envy. I only wished he could have used that eagerness a little more thoughtfully."

Zelos considered that. "Yeah, that sounds like him. Hot-headed, quick to dive into things, always got way too much energy?" Raine nodded, her smile faint and melancholy. "But he's always running around like he's never done enough. You'd think he'd have earned a break by now, right? But the way he goes on it's like he's never done a good thing in his life. And then there's poor little me, always getting dragged along for the ride. Life is so cruel."

"I'm sure," The Professor replied dryly, making it perfectly clear what she thought of his self-pitying performance. "But for Lloyd, it isn't that simple. Until he can find a way to forgive himself for what happened to Colette, he won't allow himself respite."

Forgive himself for what happened to Colette, huh? Forgive himself for sacrificing a Chosen. Zelos propped one elbow on the desk and leaned closer, aware of the way his smile had narrowed. "And what about you, my cool beauty? Seems to me you're living the high life out here."

"Are you asking me if I've forgiven myself?" It was strange talking to someone who could read between the lines. He'd spent so long around Lloyd he'd almost forgotten that there were people out there able to speak his language. Raine rose to her feet and turned her back to him, as though something on her chalk-covered blackboard was suddenly interesting. "When I think about Colette, the girl who sat in my classroom and worked without complaint, who smiled for everyone else's sake no matter how much she continued to suffer in silence? No, I haven't forgiven myself."

To her credit, she turned around. She looked him square in the eye as she said her next words. "But when I think about Sylvarant and its people? I would make that same choice again."

"Cold as ice."

"This is who I am. I won't ask you to understand." Slowly, Raine took her seat opposite him once more. "And what about you, Chosen of Tethe'alla? Can you live with yourself, knowing that you have condemned the people of your own world to misery?"

"Oh yeah I can." Zelos leaned back, and graced the professor with a smile unlike anything he'd worn in weeks. "Doesn't bother me even one little bit."

She nodded, her expression equally ironic. "Then I think we may understand one another after all."

And Zelos had agreed, and decided that yeah, he liked her. At least she had the guts to give it to him straight instead of trying to hide behind piety and denial.

But that didn't get him any closer to solving the problem of Lloyd. Or to understanding why he gave a damn in the first place. What was it to him if Lloyd wanted to tear himself apart for the sake of the world? He deserved it, right? Yet the whole thing just kept niggling him, a frustration he couldn't settle. Why the hell was Lloyd getting to him so much?

Weirdly, it was the brat who brought him one step closer to finding an answer. The next day, as Lloyd and Zelos had been preparing to depart, Genis had dragged him aside and given him a look somewhere between appraisal and suspicion.

"I don't get it, but Lloyd likes you. So I'm only telling you this for his sake, okay?" Genis didn't wait for him to respond, which was probably for the best. "It's gonna be Colette's birthday tomorrow. I told Lloyd he should stay here with us, but he won't. So it's up to you to keep an eye on him, okay?"

Zelos had teased the little brat, of course, and the kid had whined and complained that he didn't want to depend on a dumb jerk like Zelos but Lloyd wasn't leaving him any choice. If Zelos was the only person Lloyd seemed willing to keep around, then it would just have to be on Zelos not to screw this up.

The only person Lloyd was willing to keep around, huh? Yeah. Zelos was really starting to wonder about that.

Chapter Text

Maybe if they'd been closer to Iselia, he'd have gone to visit Dad.

At least that's what Lloyd had been telling himself, camped beneath the shadow of Hakonesia Peak and watching the first evening fireflies begin to light across the grass plains before him. Dad wouldn't have needed him to explain anything. Dad would just welcome him home with open arms and understand why Lloyd might not feel like chatting. Dad would get it.

Zelos didn't.

Okay. It was true that Lloyd hadn't tried to explain. He hadn't told Zelos what it was about today that made it harder than any other—how it was one year ago that Colette had received the Oracle that designated her the true Chosen of Regeneration. That it had been her birthday, and Lloyd hadn't even finished her birthday present on time. If he'd known... if he'd known everything that was going to happen, he would have...

But it was way too late for would have. He knew that better than anyone.

For some reason Zelos had been even more obnoxious today than usual. It almost felt like Zelos was trying to bug him on purpose, like he was trying to force some kind of reaction out of him—and in the end Lloyd had lost his temper and demanded that Zelos just leave him alone for a while. Except Zelos hadn't really done anything wrong, which left Lloyd no choice but to take it back and apologise.

You'd have thought an apology would have been the right thing to do. But instead Zelos had gotten annoyed at him, way more annoyed than he'd been when Lloyd snapped at him in the first place—and that had just pissed Lloyd off all over again, and now stupid Zelos had flounced off somewhere and Lloyd wasn't sorry to have seen the back of him.

... Well, fine, he was sorry. It really, really wasn't Zelos's fault. But today of all days, Lloyd couldn't handle it. He'd find some way to make it up to him tomorrow, once they'd both had a good night of sleep. Lloyd sat back, resting his weight against the warm familiar wall of Noishe curled at his back. When Noishe whined, long and low, Lloyd reached back to pet his fur idly.

"I know," He said, with just the two of them to hear it. "I miss her too."

It must have been close to an hour before Zelos showed up again. Lloyd had just been starting to worry. As it was, Zelos marched up across the fields with a handful of bold purple wildflowers clutched in one hand. Lloyd stared, perplexed, as he approached. "You're not giving those to me, are you?" He asked blankly.

"Hell no," Zelos immediately replied, but contradicted himself by holding the bouquet out for Lloyd to take. "Look, if you're not gonna just tell me like a normal person then I guess I have to go ahead and say it. It was her birthday today, right? I know we can't do a whole lot for her way out here, but these are for her, okay?"

"What?" Bemused, it took Lloyd another moment to fully process what he was hearing. "But, how did you--"

"Don't you mind about how I know. It's true, isn't it?"

"Well, yeah..." Not much use in denying it now. Lloyd reached out to accept the purple blossoms, unsure what else he could do, but quickly enough he lay them to one side. This wasn't right. "Thanks, Zelos. But don't worry about it, okay? You don't need to do anything."

Zelos raised an eyebrow. "I don't need to do anything when my friend's having a hard time?"

Usually Lloyd would have teased him on the use of the word friend. Today, distracted, he simply shook his head. "It's nothing to do with you."

The moment stretched out silently between them, a chill in the evening air. When Lloyd finally glanced up, he was struck by the cold expression on Zelos's face. "Nothing to do with me, huh."

It didn't sound so good when he heard it repeated back. Lloyd clambered to his feet and Noishe stood up alongside him, the one source of support he'd allowed himself to accept. "Zelos..." Lloyd started, unsure how else to explain this. "I don't mean it like that. It's just... this is my thing to deal with, okay? It's my problem."

"Nothing to do with me," Zelos repeated back at him again, his lip curling to an incredulous smirk that Lloyd instantly hated. "And I'm not just a Chosen-shaped reminder you've been dragging around to keep yourself feeling bad, right?"

"What?" Lloyd tensed, trying to make sense of what Zelos had just said. "What are you talking about?"

But now that Zelos had gotten started, he didn't seem ready to stop. "I'm talking about you looking at me and seeing Colette. Even your little buddy Genis said it—I'm the only person you're willing to keep around. Why? So you can use me as another way to keep on beating yourself up."

"You're crazy!" Lloyd felt the heat rising to his face, a mix of anger and humiliation he wasn't sure how to explain. "That's not true at all! Colette wasn't anything like you!"

"But she was a Chosen. Just like me." Zelos spread his arms wide, as if inviting the world to witness him. "One lost little Chosen all alone out here. You think keeping me alive is gonna bring her back, Lloyd?"

"No one ever said—!" Lloyd tried to interrupt, but Zelos still carried on right over him.

"It's too late, bud. She's dead. Nothing you're doing is gonna change that."

"You think I don't get that?!" Beside him Noishe grumbled, ears tilting back at the strained sound of Lloyd's voice. "I know that better than anyone! You really think I don't know she's gone?!"

"You tell me! Because you know, from where I'm standing? It seems to me like you're the only one who hasn't let her go."

Just what the hell was Zelos asking him to do?! "How can I! She's gone because of me!"

"Yep. You let your girl die, so now you're running around trying to fix the past with your shiny new  Chosen along for the ride."

"Zelos, I'm warning you—!" Lloyd tried to interject again, too angry to consider how much he hated the sound of a threat coming from his own mouth. But still Zelos wasn't willing to let it go.

"Oh, you're warning me, huh! What are you gonna do? It's not like you can hurt me. Not when you still need me around to soothe your busted ego." Zelos had kept his arms spread open, taunting and smug. "Or is it so you can keep feeling guilty? Just keep on looking at the dumb pathetic Chosen so you can't ever forget your own stupid—"

"I said that's enough!" Lloyd finally snapped, and when he rushed forward his fists were raised. Professor Sage had always told him he had too much of a temper, but he'd never considered himself the type to be goaded into a fight—but when Zelos dodged back with a harsh bray of laughter Lloyd had gone after him again, and once that first fist connected it wasn't long before Zelos was giving just as good as he was getting.

It didn't last long, but it was long enough. An angry, messy, ugly scuffle with no one but each other to bear witness. Lloyd couldn't even remember the last time he'd fought someone like this, fist against fist instead of blade combating blade. The adrenaline poured through him like the breaking of a dam, a short-lived torrent that ended almost as suddenly as it had begun. When Zelos threw his hands out in front of himself and yelped, "Okay, enough, hunny, that's enough--!", and when Noishe rushed to fill the space that opened between them, growling low as if to keep the fighting at bay... it didn't matter any more. Lloyd had already felt the last burst of aggressive energy falling away from him.

His knees hit the soil, damp evening moisture seeping through his clothes, and then he tilted forward to slam his fists powerlessly into the soft earth beneath him.

He didn't have words for this, but he couldn't keep it inside any more. "Damn it! Damn it!" He smacked his fists down again, peripherally aware of Zelos crouching down beside him. "How can I move on? How can I let it go? How am I supposed to do that when Colette won't ever get another chance?! She won't ever get to laugh again! She won't get to smile! She won't have another birthday!" Lloyd jerked his chin up, aware of the hot tears coursing down his face. He didn't care if Zelos saw. "I don't know what you want me to do. I can't forget her. I won't."

Gently, Zelos took hold of his shoulder. "I know, bud. I know." Eyes burning, Lloyd swallowed; listened. "But how about you stop telling me all this stuff she isn't ever gonna do again, and start telling me about her, huh?" Zelos shook his head; pushed his hair back from his eyes and gazed off at some star shining overhead. "I know it's kinda late now, but we Chosen should be sticking together. I wanna know about her, you dig? And I don't mean that girl in the statue. I want to hear about Colette. Okay?"

When Zelos stood Lloyd wanted to follow, but it wasn't until Zelos offered him a hand that he managed to find the strength. Struggling back to his feet was graceless and awkward, but Zelos didn't let him go, didn't release his grip from Lloyd's hand or shoulder... and for some reason, despite the burning in his eyes and the heat in his face, he found himself able to smile. Hurt, griefstricken... but able to smile. "Okay," He nodded, and squeezed Zelos's hand a little tighter. "Okay."

-

Colette the klutz, who could fall over her own two feet even after she had wings. The girl who left holes in walls wherever she went, no matter how careful she tried to be. Colette, whose grades had never been that much better than his own, but had always been willing to try and help him in class. Even after Genis had given up hope, Colette had always been willing to keep on trying. Colette, who had never been allowed to leave the village unaccompanied, who had wished she could come and play with him and Genis in the forest but always hid those feelings away behind a smile.

"You kinda do that too," Lloyd told Zelos, and knew by now how to recognise the second of unguarded surprise that would flit across Zelos's face whenever Lloyd said something like that. "You're doing it again right now."

And so Zelos had, with a wry laugh and a shake of his head. "You think so, huh?"

They talked for so long Lloyd thought it must be close to sunrise, but Zelos had insisted Lloyd still go and sleep. "We don't have anywhere to rush to, right? Take it easy, bud. We've got plenty of time."

Maybe there was something healing in what they'd spoken about. Maybe it was just hearing Zelos granting his exhaustion the right to exist. Whatever it was, Lloyd found himself steeply aware of just how tired he was. He'd been tired for months, now, hadn't he? Tired for so long he'd stopped recognising it for what it was. When Lloyd nodded his agreement, Zelos spoke again. "Tomorrow, let's figure out something we can make for her, okay?"

"Like a birthday present?" Lloyd asked ruefully. "I'm tired of always giving her her presents too late."

Zelos chuckled back at him, one hand coming up to ruffle through his hair. Lloyd was pretty sure he was supposed to shove Zelos's hand away, just like how they usually messed with each other, but somehow he'd ended up leaning toward the touch instead. He was glad when Zelos continued, no hesitation in his tone despite Lloyd breaking their usual habits. "I was thinking something more like a memorial. But a proper one, you know? Something for Colette the girl, not Colette the Chosen. Let's do something for that Colette, okay?"

And Lloyd had rubbed the back of his hand across his eyes, too worn down to be embarrassed any more. It made sense. It made so much sense. Why hadn't he been able to think about these things before? "Yeah," He answered, and leaned a shred deeper into Zelos's touch in his hair. "Yeah, let's do that. Thanks, Zelos."

Chapter Text

He had sworn to himself, the day Sheena dragged him out here, that he was never gonna let himself get too comfortable. That he wasn't going to accept this runaway life so easily.

He wasn't sure how he'd let Lloyd slip past all those defenses.

Sure, Zelos still knew how to talk all the talk. If you'd asked him about it, he would have gladly told you everything he missed about his gloriously easy life back in Tethe'alla. The adoring fans, always ready and waiting to sing his praises. The servants prepared to cater to his every need. His luxurious house with its even more luxurious bed, and of course, all the luxuriously agreeable companions willing to join him there.

Yeah... he knew how to paint a pretty picture with his words. Some days, he could almost make himself believe it.

He never would have guessed how sharply his heart would flatten into the pit of his stomach the day he saw Sheena again. Not her fault, not at all—she was one of the only good things that miserable world had going for it—but as she hurried toward them with urgency in her eyes Zelos knew the dream was up. It had been a blast, but Tethe'alla was finally catching up to him.

It was always gonna have to end sometime, wasn't it? But it had been fun while it lasted. Watching Lloyd's expression shift from excited to concerned as he recognised the tension in Sheena's approach... yeah, they'd had fun. A weird, unexpected, stupid kind of fun. Like nothing he'd ever experienced before.

He didn't want to let it go.

"Hunny!" Zelos crowed out in greeting, determined to get the first word in. Zelos, the idiot Chosen of Meltokio—the shapes of it slipped back over him like a well worn cloak, almost as though he'd never taken it off. And what did it say about him that this was still so easy after so long? No wonder Tethe'alla was coming back for him—it seemed that part of him had never really left.

"Sheena, what's wrong?" Lloyd cut across, much more sensible, and despite his flippant greeting Zelos stepped in closer as well. This was the first time she'd come looking for them since he'd arrived here. Whatever this was, it was going to be serious.

"Lloyd, Zelos. Whew...!" Sheena bent her knees for just one second, taking the moment to catch her breath before straightening back to her full height. "I got here as fast as I could. You're still not easy to find, you know."

"That's the whole idea, remember?" Zelos tossed back to her, expecting a jab of irritation in her next response. What he didn't expect was the way she looked at him with something sorrowful in her eyes.

And nothing could have prepared him for what she'd say next.

"Zelos, I'm sorry. They're making Seles perform the Regeneration ritual."

Seles. Fire and frost pulsed through his veins. "What?" Zelos heard himself respond, the snap of his words softened by disbelief. Beside him, Lloyd was still putting the pieces together.

"Seles... Zelos's sister, Seles?"

He didn't have time to deal with Lloyd's questions right now. Zelos moved in a rush, practically seizing Sheena's arms in his eagerness. "What are you talking about? Seles can't do it. They know that."

Sheena was tense in his grip, but she didn't try to break free. "I know, but people are getting desperate enough to try anything." Now that the worst of it was out, Sheena seemed to find the rest of the telling easier. Frustration thrummed through her words, and usually Zelos would have appreciated hearing that genuine anger being expressed for Seles's sake. "No one can find you, and Tethe'alla's starting to feel a dip in the level of mana. Monster populations are spiking worse than they have in hundreds of years. It's the beginning of the decline, and everyone's freaking out. The King and his advisors needed to be seen to be doing something. So... the Church and His Majesty declared you dead."

"Dead." Zelos finally let his hands fall back to his sides, releasing his grip on Sheena. "Right. The Pope's been waiting to say that for years."

"They've had Seles named as the next Chosen, and recalled her from the Southern Abbey. She has a Cruxis Crystal."

Zelos couldn't remember the last time he'd wanted to hit something so bad. "Of course she does! My Cruxis Crystal!"

"I know," Sheena hurried to tell him, sympathy underscoring her anger as she kept speaking. "But for most people, seeing the Church call her Chosen and her standing there with a Cruxis Crystal? That's enough for them." Sheena shook her head, disgust clear in her tone. "They want to believe it."

"Of course they do. Damn it..."

His Cruxis Crystal... he'd never imagined it could backfire on her like this. It was supposed to empower her, not endanger her. He'd given it to her because she was the only person he could trust with it. And now... damn it, now...

Sheena shook her head. "Zelos, I'm sorry. They were getting her ready to leave when I came here to find you guys. I tried to stop it, but the royal court doesn't have a reason to listen to me any more. I went to Mizuho for help, but everyone's too caught up in their own problems. They weren't willing to intervene, but--"

"But we are."

Lloyd. Stupid, unstoppable, do-gooder Lloyd. Zelos had almost forgotten him. But there he was, looking back at them both with one fist clenched before his chest. Zelos stared right back at him, feeling... tightness, unexpected, constricting something inside him. Lloyd?

"There's no way we're just gonna stand by and let Seles suffer. Come on, Zelos! We're gonna go save her."

Zelos could hear the dismissal in his own voice, the disbelief at what he was hearing, and hated himself for it. "Are you joking? Don't be an idiot, Lloyd. We're talking about Tethe'alla, here. This isn't about your world and it isn't your problem. You don't need to get involved."

There was a pause, and then Lloyd's voice exploded. "Are you joking? I don't believe you!" The scowl on his face was furious, his clenched fist trembling with the strength of his conviction. "It's not my problem? You're the one who told me how selfish that kind of thinking is!"

"Lloyd—"

But Lloyd wasn't even close to done with him. "If I can help someone I'm gonna do it, no matter what. And it's my problem because it's your problem. You said it yourself! How can you expect me to stand back and do nothing when my friend is suffering? We're supposed to look out for each other, aren't we? I'm not gonna abandon your sister, and I'm not gonna abandon you!"

Behind him, Sheena's laughter was low. "You know," She finished fondly, "I had a feeling you'd say something like that.

The selfish part in Zelos wanted to tell Sheena to stay the hell out of this. The angry part of him, the harsh angry untrusting part he usually pushed below the superficial surface, wanted to tell Lloyd not to spout that kinda crap unless he really meant it. He wished all those stupid bastards in Tethe'alla would just once try to find an answer that didn't involve shoving all their problems onto someone else. He wished he didn't care, wished he could convince himself that Seles might be happy this way and leave her to figure it out for herself.

Not that long ago, he might have been able to. Seles had always been an awkward spot for him, but maybe he could have turned his back on this for both their miserable sakes. But now he knew, uncomfortably certain, that something had changed in him. And even worse, he was pretty sure he knew why.

Damn Lloyd. Zelos wished, more than anything, that placing his faith in Lloyd wasn't so damn easy and yet so damn hard.

"Zelos," Lloyd said again, as though he could somehow hear the sounds of Zelos's thoughts. Lloyd, hot-headed and always butting in on everyone else's business. Lloyd, whose smile lit up light and easy on his too soft too honest face. "I'm gonna help no matter what. Just let me, okay?"

Too late to ask permission now, bud. Was that admittance, somewhere within himself? The confession of an unravelled emotion, too far along to ignore but still not ready to be explored?

It didn't matter. Not right now. Zelos nodded, and when Lloyd's smile brightened with renewed determination, Zelos returned the expression like impulse. A smile he didn't even have to think about? Hah. Man. What a wild world he was living in.

"Alright. Let's do this. Lloyd, Sheena? We're going. We're going to save Seles!"

Chapter Text

Lloyd had never seen Zelos so angry.

He tried to hide it, the same way as he tried to hide so many other things, but the emotions were written all over him. When he wasn't too distracted, he was making even more stupid jokes than ever before. Worse than that, he wouldn't stop pestering poor Sheena. Lloyd didn't really understand half of what Zelos was saying to her, but Sheena would inevitably end up smacking him or yelling at him for being a pervert, and her retribution would almost have been funny if he wasn't so certain Zelos was doing it as a strange way of punishing himself.

"You shouldn't bug her so much," Lloyd had tried to intervene, but that had just led to Zelos asking him strange questions about what Lloyd thought of her, how much did Lloyd like her, did Lloyd know that Sheena had a thing for him, and it was all so uncomfortable and awkward that Lloyd had quickly removed himself from the situation and left them to it.

How much did Lloyd like Sheena? He liked her loads, of course. She was one of his best friends. Maybe not the same way Genis was, or the way Colette had been. Maybe he hadn't known her as long as he had Professor Sage. But Sheena had become really important to him, one of the most important people in his life. He wasn't embarrassed to admit that. So why did he feel so much irritable discomfort when Zelos tried to ask him about it...?

Yet for every moment that Zelos was being difficult, there were just as many where Lloyd would catch him staring off into the distance. The worry and anger seemed to come off him in waves, so much more obvious than Zelos had ever shown before. Even if he wasn't willing to say so outright, it was clear how important Seles was to him.

For her sake, and for Zelos's as well, Lloyd was determined.

Sheena had brought something called Rheiards with her. She had described them to him in the past, explaining how they could be used to travel between Sylvarant and Tethe'alla, but Lloyd hadn't actually seen them before. When Sheena calmly pulled three little capsules from inside the sash tied at her waist, Lloyd hadn't known what to expect—and almost leapt out of his skin when those colourful magitech bird things sprang right up out of nowhere.

They were just about the coolest thing he'd ever seen, and that wasn't even counting the fact he actually got to fly one. Lloyd had never expected anything to be better than riding a dragon, but somehow the Rheiard was exactly that. This time he felt like he was really in control of the flight. If only there had been nothing else going on Lloyd would've happily spent the whole day trying to perform stunts between the clouds.

But they had a mission, and an important one. Determined, Lloyd had braced himself for a journey unlike anything he'd taken before. The journey to Tethe'alla. The journey to rescue Seles.

-

It took all the energy the Rheiards had left just to make the journey between worlds. Sheena had warned them in advance that it was probably going to be a rough landing on the other side, especially with mana levels already depleting in Tethe'alla, but even so it had taken Lloyd several minutes to calm Noishe back down after the dust had settled.

"Why did you bring him, anyway?" Sheena had asked.

"More like how did he bring him..." Zelos muttered, just loud enough that Lloyd could hear. Lloyd would never understand what everyone had against his perfectly normal pet, but that hadn't been the right time to try and fight them about it. And besides, even with everything else going on, it had been hard to contain his excitement at finding himself standing in a completely new world.

Part of him had imagined that everything would be different. The grass would be purple, the sky would be on fire, mana would be bursting through the ground in wild spraying arcs—it would be crazy. Which... yeah, okay, maybe that hadn't made a lot of sense. But still, it was strange how Tethe'alla and Sylvarant looked so similar. If they really were two different worlds, it would have been better if they looked more like it too.

"If you say so," Sheena had responded when he told her his thoughts, her tone incredulous enough that it reminded him of Genis. Zelos had had even less to say about it.

"Meltokio isn't too far. We should start there."

"R-right," Lloyd had stuttered in reply, and winced beneath the surge of guilt that rushed through him. And then they'd wandered out from the rocky valley from where they'd crashed, and Lloyd had finally seen it. The silent monument loomed over everything, stealing the air from his lungs as he stared.

Zelos had caught the look on his face and turned as well, his mouth settled into a firm hard line. "Can't say I've missed seeing that every morning. You okay, bud?"

Lloyd nodded, eyes still fixed on the Tower of Salvation. Silently, he felt his resolve harden.

-

Out on the plains the two worlds had seemed similar, but Meltokio was something else entirely. A huge walled city set across multiple levels, dwarfing anything Lloyd had ever seen before. You could have fit two Palmacostas inside and still have been left with room to spare. It was probably a good thing there hadn't been time to go exploring, because Lloyd was certain he would have gotten himself lost in no time. Instead Zelos led them through the busy streets in a rush, paying no attention to the startled shouts of, "Chosen One!", and "Master Zelos?!" that seemed to follow his every step.

It wasn't like Lloyd had ever doubted that Zelos was the Chosen of his world, but something about seeing it in person made him heartsick in a way he couldn't fully explain. The sooner they were done with this city, the happier Lloyd thought he would be.

"We can't stick around for long," Zelos had warned them as they'd approached the city gates. "As soon as word starts getting around that I'm back, people are gonna be looking for us."

"Friend, or foe?" Lloyd asked, worried he already knew the answer. It was Sheena who'd confirmed it.

"Both. The King issued a royal decree demanding Zelos return to court immediately. The Pope has had people out looking for him as well. And the people of Tethe'alla will want answers as well. Everyone wants to know what happened to the Chosen."

The smile on Zelos's face was stiffly etched in place. "Well, guess they're about to find out. Heh. This is gonna be fun."

It wasn't.

Lloyd expected them to go to the huge castle that stood dominating the highest level of the city, but Zelos seemed to have somewhere else in mind. Instead he led them to a gigantic house, easily ten times the size of Dirk's home outside Iselia. Lloyd looked around at the lush furniture, the grand portrait of a beautiful blonde-haired woman, the stack of unopened gifts, and tried to imagine Zelos growing up in such a huge place. It seemed full, but empty too...

There hadn't been time to linger on the thought; Zelos snapped his fingers to grab Lloyd's attention, before introducing him to a man named Sebastian.

"It's a great relief to see you well, Master Zelos," Sebastian said, and though his voice remained level and calm as he spoke, and Zelos responded to his concern as though he barely heard its presence, Lloyd got the very distinct impression that these two were completely sincere in their gratitude at seeing one another again.

It was good to know Zelos had at least one real friend in this weird city.

"I'm afraid Miss Seles's party have already departed," Sebastian told them, almost without prompt. "I apologise that I could do nothing more."

"It's cool," Zelos assured him, arms folded and chin tucked low to his chest, expression thoughtful and furrowed. "Did they say where they were headed?"

"The Temple of Earth is most easily accessed from here. Will you be going after them?"

"Of course!" Lloyd interjected, aware of the way Zelos's attention flicked across to him when he spoke. Sheena, lingering near the window to keep watch for anyone planning to intercept them, glanced over her shoulder to nod in agreement.

"The Earth Seal really isn't that far from here," She affirmed. "It makes sense that they'd go there first. It's that, or Shadow and the Temple of Darkness. Gnome's Seal would be easier to get to."

"Temple of Earth it is." Zelos nodded back at them both, then turned to clap one hand on Sebastian's arm. "Say whatever you have to. We weren't here, or we threatened you, or whatever."

Serene, Sebastian bowed. "Take care, Master Zelos. Your home will be here whenever you are able to return."

Silently, Zelos patted his arm again. Then he turned his back, and the mission was in his eyes once more. "Okay. We know where we're going. Let's get out of here before anyone else shows up."

They almost made it out of the city unimpeded.

The city gates were blocked by a squad of armoured men Zelos called Papal Knights; the soldiers lowered their weapons into attack formation as soon as they saw Zelos approach.

"Halt, Chosen! You are to report to His Holiness in the Cathedral immediately."

"Seriously?" Zelos called back at them, bitterness cut through his voice. "You're not even gonna pretend you answer to the King?" Then Zelos raised his voice, talking not to the men in front of them but instead to the growing crowd. "People of Meltokio! My friends! Are you going to let these traitors accost the Chosen?"

"Leave the Chosen One alone!" A young voice immediately cried out, and several more took up the call. The Papal Knights shifted, clearly unsure what to do in the face of aggravated public opinion. Lloyd edged a step closer to Zelos, hands on the hilts of his twin swords; Sheena closed in from the other side, bringing the three of them tightly together.

"Zelos," Sheena hissed, "People are gonna get hurt."

"It's cool, I've got this," Zelos whispered back, but the tightness of his voice sounded suspiciously like he was making his plan up as he went along. Lloyd tightened his grip on his swords, certain that things were about to devolve into a fight.

That was when Noishe barreled in.

Ears raised high and tail bristled behind him, Noishe bounded in amongst the Papal Knights so suddenly that two of them hit the ground in their haste to leap away from the sudden assault. "Don't hurt my dog—!" Lloyd tried to yell over the sound of Noishe's yowling and barking, but suddenly Zelos yanked his arm and Lloyd's jaw snapped shut.

"A monster!" Zelos called instead, his voice carrying clear across the din. "A monster in the city!"

"He's not a monster—!" Lloyd tried to protest, but Zelos was charging toward the city gates by then and Lloyd had no choice but to give chase through the surging crowd, blades drawn at his sides.

The townspeople lurched all around them, swarming toward the knights in a chaotic mixture of fear and defiance. Cries of, "A monster!", and "Help us!", were blended equally with, "Leave Master Zelos alone!", and "Protect the Chosen One!", and then Sheena whirled around and threw something at the ground. There was a sharp crack and suddenly they were all engulfed in thick smoke.

"Keep moving!" Zelos's voice called back from somewhere ahead of him, and Lloyd followed blindly until they erupted back into clear air. They were past the gate, through the wall that surrounded the city; Lloyd turned back just in time to see Sheena emerge as well, and then Noishe leapt free to begin sprinting away across the fields.

"I think he's got the right idea!" Sheena grinned at him as she dashed by, and Lloyd's own smile was brilliant as he spun back around to follow after them.

"Great job, Noishe! You saved us back there!"

Tail flashing back and forth, Noishe yipped at him.

By the time they were finally free to slow their pace, safely beyond reach for now, they'd all been out of breath. Wiping her brow, Sheena looked back in the direction of Meltokio and sighed. "I guess we're not welcome there any more."

Zelos laughed as though that was the best news he'd heard in years.

-

When night rolled around, Zelos was the last one willing to rest.

It was the opposite of how he'd always behaved when they were travelling in Sylvarant. It wasn't like Lloyd didn't understand—he really, really did—but they couldn't carry on any longer. It had taken some persuading, but finally they'd agreed to set up camp for the night.

With a fire burning, and Sheena brewing up some kind of curry, Lloyd took a seat between Zelos and Noishe. Even now Zelos looked like he wanted nothing more than to jump back to his feet and continue the search. It was strange. Looking at Zelos felt like he was seeing a mirror to his own recent past—the Lloyd who had been constantly chasing after something he could do to make things right.

But no matter how similar it felt, Lloyd knew it wasn't the same. Seles was out there somewhere, which meant Zelos still had a chance to make a difference. But Lloyd... he'd been trying to change the past. He'd been chasing the impossible.

So had he given up now? Disheartened, and confused by his own uncertainty, Lloyd shifted a little closer. "We'll find her."

Zelos didn't reply for a long time. When he did, his eyes stayed fixed on the dark space above the crackling fire, where tiny flecks of tinder danced up to vanish against the midnight sky. "She's my half-sister really. She's been sickly ever since she was a kid. We used to play together a bit, back when she was small, but she's spent most of her life shut away in the Abbey."

"To keep her safe?"

"Something like that." Zelos's expression was dulled, the fire playing shadowy tricks with the lines of his face. "I can't believe they're doing this. They know how frail she is. They know she isn't the Chosen. They're sending her to die just so it can look like they're doing something. She's nothing to them. Just another convenient tool to be thrown away. When does it end, Lloyd?"

When would it end? Lloyd wished he had an answer.

"I'm sorry..." He couldn't just leave it at that, could he? "But we're not gonna accept it. Even if they're willing to let her die, we're not. She's important to you. To us." Lloyd reached across the evening gloom, placing his hand over Zelos's own. His friend startled at the touch, looking first at the back of Lloyd's hand and then over at him. Lloyd nodded, resolute. "We're gonna save her, Zelos. I promise."

Zelos's smile was halfway hidden in the firelight. "You sure do make a lot of promises, huh."

"Maybe." Lloyd grinned. "But I decided, back in Sylvarant. I'm not ever going to make another promise I can't keep. So I'm telling you, Zelos. We are going to save her."

"You know what the crazy thing is? When you say it like that, I actually believe you." Zelos slipped his hand out from Lloyd's grip, and something inside Lloyd stirred unhappily, but then Zelos flung one arm around his shoulders and yanked him in closer. A roughhousing kind of affection, except for the way Zelos's head leaned for one lingering moment against his own. "Thanks, bud. Seriously. Thanks."

Chapter Text

When they finally found Seles she was surrounded by an armed escort of Papal Knights. Just the sight of them gathered around her made Zelos sick to his stomach.

They couldn't have given her anyone else to travel with? Not one friendly face, not one person her own age, not even Tokunaga? But no, of course not. They'd given her an small army instead. To protect her, or to make sure she continued the journey no matter what?

Yeah. Zelos was pretty sure he knew the answer to that.

"Big brother?!"

Seles. She stared at him like... well, like she was seeing a ghost. Even the Knights didn't seem sure how to react, polearms wavering as they slowly fanned into position around her. Seles didn't even seem to notice. Her gaze was locked on him and him alone. "Brother— I mean, Chosen One. Is that really you?"

"Yep yep." Even now he was glib with her, but what else could he do? After everything that had happened between them, Zelos knew what Seles thought of him. Maybe she was going to hate him even more after this. With Sheena to one side of him and Lloyd on the other, Zelos pushed those thoughts to the back of his mind. There was no time to hesitate now.

Mind set, Zelos drew his sword. "Listen up! I'm Zelos, the Chosen of Mana, born of the esteemed mana lineage. Whatever you've heard about my disappearance was a lie. I'm here, and I'm alive. That girl there can't regenerate the world, so here's what's gonna happen. You guys are gonna lay down your weapons, and we're gonna take Seles back to the Abbey where she belongs."

The moment hung there, suspended. "Chosen One—" One of the knights began to respond, confusion clear in his faltering tone. But then Seles stepped forward, and Zelos's heart plummeted. He recognised that fire in her eyes.

"Former Chosen." She corrected. Zelos refused to flinch. "You have no authority here. I will not be returning to the Abbey. If you have nothing more to say for yourself, I request that you dismiss yourself from our presence."

Ever the perfect little lady—Seles spoke, and people listened. Zelos watched as the Papal Knights found their resolve, stances tightening as they hoisted their weapons once more. On Zelos's left Sheena remained poised for a fight. On his right... "Zelos came here to save you!" Lloyd snapped out. Zelos forced himself to keep looking ahead.

A fleeting hesitation seemed to pass over Seles. "My brother— I mean, the Chosen..."

"The former Chosen, right?" Zelos cut in, the cheerless drip of sarcasm all over his words. When he saw her expression twist once more, wounded and unsure, Zelos found himself back on solid ground. That was the reaction he deserved from her.

He shouldn't have led with that thing about taking her back to the Abbey. He shouldn't have said anything at all. It didn't matter what anyone else thought—they were getting Seles out of here no matter what. "Sorry, but you're stil my lil sis. That means I'm gonna ignore everything you say and do whatever I think is best for you anyways. That's just what brothers do." Zelos pointed his blade, mana beginning to shimmer along the edges of his fingertips. "She's coming with us. Are you guys gonna stand down, or do we have to do this the hard way?"

One of the knights stood straighter, lancepoint aimed squarely in their direction. "Zelos Wilder! You have been excommunicated from the Church of Martel. There is a warrant out for your arrest. Men! Seize him, and his companions! Don't let them get away!"

"Wait, stop—!" Seles tried to cut in, fear hitching her voice tight, but it was done. Battle lurched into motion around them; there wasn't any going back now.

"Undine!" Sheena called into the dew-dropped morning air, and Zelos found himself witnessing a Summon Spirit in action for the very first time. If only he had time to marvel at the sight. Instead he dashed across the clearing with Lloyd at his side, and between them the air flashed alive with the clash of steel on steel. They were outnumbered, but that wasn't anything new. He, Lloyd and Sheena all had Exspheres—up against that, the numbers never really mattered much.

"Behind!" Zelos heard Sheena shout, and twisted in time to block a thrust that almost skewered his shoulder. Then his opponent was scattered away by a blast of crystal clear water, and Zelos spun again. Incantations returned to him, drawing streaks of lightning and cracks of stone across the battlefield to keep their enemies at bay. Lloyd and his twin swords seemed to be everywhere, a constant flash of white ribbons trailing in his ever-present wake.

It would have been fine, if the knights hadn't tried to drag Seles away.

It hardly seemed possible that he should have been able to pick out the sound of her frail cough from amidst the cacophony that encircled them, but somehow it reached him. Somehow he whirled in time to see the two Papal Knights laying armoured hands on her, trying to drag her away from the scene with no regard at all for the way she was doubling over, panic in her eyes. "Brother!" She screamed when she saw him looking, and Zelos—didn't get there in time.

He didn't need to. Lloyd was already on it.

"Get her out of here!" Zelos yelled, and Lloyd locked eyes with him clear across the chaos of it all. Lloyd Irving, the idiot bumpkin from Sylvarant, the sucker who'd let his best friend die. Lloyd, who refused to give up, and refused to forget his own mistakes. Lloyd, who stood now in a foreign land next to a girl he'd never met, and looked willing to throw his life down for the sake of protecting her.

Lloyd Irving, who Zelos believed in. "I'm trusting you, Lloyd, you hear me! I'm trusting you! Now get going!"

Eyes shining, brow furrowed, Lloyd nodded sharply and took Seles by the arm. Then Noishe was with them, ducking low as Lloyd firmly boosted Seles up to ride atop his back, and Zelos almost found it in himself to smile when he guessed how she would feel about that. But then they were fleeing, disappearing from this danger that had threatened to take her from him, and Zelos watched as long as he was able before another attack came bearing down and he was forced to look away.

It was gonna be okay. If she was with Lloyd, it was gonna be okay.

-

"Corrine will find them," Sheena reassured him, and Zelos leered cheerfully up at her from where he'd slumped on the nearest softest clump of grass he'd been able to find.

"Awww, hunny. Do I look sad? Are you worried about me?"

Sheena smacked him across the side of the head, but not nearly so hard as usual. "Don't be an ass. Not when I actually thought you were cool for once."

"Hunny! You're finally ready to give in to my charms! And right when we're all alone out here!"

This time he thought she was going to whack him one. But instead Sheena collapsed next to him with a heavy sigh of her own, flopping back onto the field beneath them. They hadn't travelled far since retreating from the battle; it would make more sense for them to keep moving. But damn if they hadn't earned themselves a break, and until they knew where Lloyd and Seles had gone it was tough to go much further. Zelos thought back on that last sight of them, red and white fleeing from the battlefield together, and hummed thoughtfully to himself.

Beside him, Sheena turned her head. "What are you gonna do now?"

Now? Did she mean after they'd met up with Lloyd and Seles? Zelos wasn't sure he knew what to do with that question yet. "What about you?" He responded instead, keeping himself good and cheery for her. "The people of Mizuho wanted to stay out of this whole mess, right? Are you gonna be in trouble?"

Sheena was a lot of things, and he couldn't deny how much he admired her. But she'd never been the best at spotting an obvious deflection. Successfully distracted, she sat back up from where she'd stretched out in the grass, a thoughtful frown on her face. "I don't know. If I can talk with the acting Chief I might be able to make him understand."

"And if not, I'm sure our best buddy Lloyd will take care of you."

She shot him a sideways look at that. "You know, I was worried about you guys. Out there in Sylvarant, I mean." As if she could guess what kind of flirtatious comment he was likely to make next, she quickly hurried to clarify. "Even Lloyd would struggle to put up with a guy like you."

"Ahh, forever wounding me with your cruel words..." Zelos placed a hand to his forehead, the very picture of melodrama—unsurprisingly, Sheena ignored it.

"Actually, I was surprised. It seems like you to get on pretty well."

"Well of course! The great and compassionate Zelos is kind to all his admiring hunnies, even the idiot ones. And besides..." Did he want to admit this to Sheena? Judging from the way she was looking at him, he needed to say something else before she decided to punish him for slandering Lloyd's good name. "Besides," Zelos repeated again, glancing in the direction he last saw Lloyd and Seles. "He's a good guy. Probably too good."

He hadn't really expected Sheena to agree so easily, but she nodded with an affectionate little sigh. "It's hard not to get swept along by him, huh?"

Swept along? Yeah, that was probably a good phrase for it. Zelos didn't think he'd ever been swept off his like this in his whole miserable life.

When Corrine came running back, ready to lead them to where Lloyd and Seles were waiting—don't worry, Sheena! they're both safe!—Zelos was sure he'd done too much thinking for one day. Sheena had asked him what he planned to do next, and he really had no clue. But when he factored Lloyd into the equation, well... he thought he might have at least one idea about what the future might hold.

Hah. Lloyd Irving. Who ever would have thought.

Chapter Text

"If you know so much about my brother, how come he's never even mentioned you before?"

That was the first thing Seles had asked him, haughty and red-faced, after Lloyd had helped her down from Noishe's back and tried to explain to her just how worried Zelos had been for her safety.

Growing up around Genis and Professor Sage, he'd thought he had a pretty good idea of how siblings worked. A few hours with Seles Wilder had quickly shown him that there was still a lot left to be learned after all.

Lloyd had answered all her questions as best he could, which ended up being a much deeper dive than he'd initially expected. By the time he'd finished explaining the details of Sylvarant and its relationship to Tethe'alla, her eyes had been as wide as saucers.

"My brother has left me with a crazy person..." She'd muttered, and shifted a little closer to Noishe.

Still, she listened to what he had to say. Even if his story sounded crazy to her, she seemed willing to believe that he was a friend of Zelos's—and if there was one thing Seles desperately wanted to know about, it was her brother. "Has he been a bother to you?", she asked, and, "Were the women there falling all over him as well?", and it almost seemed as though she really didn't like him after all, except then she'd sneak in, "Was he eating well?", or, "Are you certain he wasn't injured? Will he be here soon?", and Lloyd decided Zelos and Seles weren't so different after all.

She definitely wasn't demure, no matter how Zelos had described her back in Sylvarant. And they both sucked at saying what they really wanted to say.

It didn't take long for the pair of them to prove him right, either. Reuniting with Sheena and Zelos should have been a huge relief, but almost immediately the Wilder siblings were fighting with one another.

"You can't tell me what to do!" Seles confronted him as soon as the opportunity arose. Zelos stood at least a head taller than her, but she gave the distinct impression that you wouldn't want to bet against her in a fight. "You're not the Chosen any more. You're—" She sniffed, lower lip jutting out angrily as if that could mask her emotion. "They said you were dead!"

"Sooo sorry to disappoint you, my cute baby sister," Zelos sang back at her, reminding Lloyd so much of the smarmy jerk Sheena had introduced him to in Luin all those months ago. It was like Zelos wanted people to dislike him or something. "But as you can see, I'm still very much alive. Which makes me both the Chosen, and able to tell you what to do."

"No, you can't. I'm not going back to the Abbey, never again." Whatever life had been like for her in that place, Lloyd could hear the determination in her voice. "If I have to become the Chosen to finally be free of that place, then—"

"Finally free to what? Go out and die for them?" Zelos's arms were crossed, his scowl firmly set on his face. "How the hell do you expect me to stand back and let that happen?!"

"If you try to send me back there, that's just as bad as— no, it's even worse than what they want me to do! I can't stay on that lonely island forever! I can't stand it any more!"

"But at least you'll be alive!" Now Zelos wrung his hands, as though he wanted to shake some sense into her but couldn't stand the thought of causing any more hurt. Lloyd could see that there was more to be said here than Zelos was letting on. "Just listen to me. I can't explain why, but you need to take my word for it. Go back to the Abbey, and I promise you something will change soon. I'm not leaving you to rot in that place."

"And why not? It was convenient for you these last fifteen years. Why should I believe anything will change now?" She turned her head sharply away, angry tears standing in her eyes. "I'm not going back. It would have been better if you'd just stayed disappeared!"

"You don't mean—" Sheena began to interrupt, and Lloyd was ready to do the same, until he saw the look on Seles's face. It was obvious, all over her, that she'd regretted the words as soon as she spoke them.

"Big brother—" She began, one hand flinching out toward him, but Zelos spun on one heel to turn his back on all of them.

"You know, you're right." That cheerful voice again, so at odds with his actions. "Sorry for ruining this for you. Head back to Meltokio and tell them you escaped from the awful traitor Zelos. They'll eat it up."

"Brother—!"

"See ya, sis," Zelos waved back over his shoulder, striding forward as if to leave. That was as much as Lloyd could stand to watch.

"Enough!" He snapped, marching forward to seize Zelos by the wrist and spin him firmly back around. Zelos was startled enough that he didn't try to resist, staring back at Lloyd as though he'd forgotten there had been an audience for any of that stupid stuff he'd just said. Undeterred, Lloyd dragged Zelos back toward the centre of their small clearing, and took hold of Seles with his other hand. She yelped her protest, just as surprised, and did it again when Lloyd forcefully pulled the two siblings together and placed them hand in hand.

"Seles, you have no idea how worried Zelos was about you. He came back to Tethe'alla after swearing he never would, all because he wanted to protect you. I'd never seen him scared of anything until he thought they were going to hurt you. He loves you."
"Lloyd, not cool—" Zelos hissed, a futile attempt to interrupt. Lloyd ignored it, just as he ignored the unusual spots of colour that had risen on Zelos's cheeks.

"And Zelos, you should have heard Seles this whole time. You're the only thing she's wanted to talk about. She was so sure she'd lost you. Don't just walk out of her life again. She needs you!"

"I do not!" Seles instantly objected, voice shrill and face bright red. But she didn't try to pull her hand away from her brother's grip... and slowly, finally, Zelos tightened his fingers around hers. Behind them, thankfully out of their sight, Sheena looked as though it had taken all her effort not to laugh at Zelos's embarrassment.

Lloyd hadn't been certain what he was going to say next. The words came without his thinking, an adlib that felt somehow correct. "Zelos, you're not the Chosen any more." This time Zelos really did try to interrupt, but Lloyd doggedly spoke over him. "And Seles, you're not either. Neither of you are."

That brought both of them up short, leaving Sheena to speak next. "Neither of them Someone has to be Tethe'alla's Chosen."

Hearing Sheena lay it out for him like that... now Lloyd knew what he wanted to say. It had been brewing inside him all this time, just waiting for the right moment to finally bring it out. Lloyd stepped back, leaving Zelos and Seles standing together. When he spoke, he was talking to both them. He was talking to Sheena, and Noishe, and Corrine. He was talking to Tethe'alla, and Sylvarant.

He was talking to Kratos. He was talking to Colette.

"Why should someone have to be the Chosen? I've had enough of it. We keep trying to fix all these problems by relying on someone else to shoulder the burden, but not any more. If sacrificing the Chosen leads to a world with so many problems, then it isn't the answer. There has to be a better way than this."

He should have seen the truth sooner. He'd wasted so much time... "Zelos made me realise. I've been acting like... if I just did the kinds of things I thought Colette would want, I'd be doing the right thing. It would be the best way to remember everything she did for us. But that's not true." He shook his head, one hand rubbing across the back of his key crest and the gem enshrined there. "When we found out what the Desians were doing to make Exspheres, we knew that sacrificing those people was wrong. Well it's just the same with the Chosen. I refuse to live in a world that will make more victims like Colette. I refuse to live in a world where any life was born just so it could die."

"Lloyd..."

It was Zelos. Zelos who was staring at him, every shred of his guard down. Lloyd smiled at him, as bright as any smile he'd had since losing her.

"From now on, we're not having Chosen. It was Cruxis who started all this, right? Then fine. I'm saying it now, for everyone to hear—Cruxis is my enemy." Lloyd nodded, fists clenched as he turned his gaze toward the tower casting its shadow across Tethe'alla.

The Tower of Salvation. The tower where Colette had surrendered her life. "Cruxis better get ready. For the sake of both worlds, I swear, I'm going to end this. Once and for all!"

Chapter Text

"You sure do talk a big game, you know."

Another campfire, but this time it was Zelos who came to sit beside him. Lloyd grinned back at him, more than a little sheepish now that he'd had some hours to think.
"It wasn't too much, was it? I bet Professor Sage would have called me a fool."

"Well, that's what you get for being a fool," Zelos agreed cheerfully. Lloyd made a face, and did so again when Zelos shoved him. "But hey, don't be mad," He finished up, the smile on his face softening a little. "I'm starting to think you fools might be smarter than all the rest of us put together."

"Oh yeah?" That didn't sound so bad. Lloyd accepted the compliment with a smug little smile. "How's Seles?"

"She's sleeping, all wrapped up in that dog of yours." Privately Lloyd exalted at finally hearing Zelos address Noishe correctly. "Don't ask me why, but she seems to really like him."

"She's got good taste."

"Right." Zelos voice was dry. "She still says she wants to be part of this."

Zelos had adamantly refused when Seles had started to insist she wanted to help, and surprisingly it had been Sheena who'd interrupted to try and plead Seles's case. Apparently Seles had attacked Sheena multiple times in the past, and although Seles had obviously been embarrassed by the tales—particularly the parts where Sheena always sent her running—she'd also been delighted to find at least one unexpected ally in their group.

Lloyd had been able to see both sides of the argument. Of course Seles would want to fight for her own future. And she might be safer with him and Sheena than anywhere else. But he could understand where Zelos was coming from as well. Lloyd had a firm hunch that this fight was far from over, and he really didn't want to guess which one of them would come out on top.

For now, he wisely switched topic. "And Sheena's already on her way back to Mizuho?"

"Yep. But she says she'll meet up with us again real soon. We know people are gonna be out looking for us, so we can't head back to Meltokio, or even to Sybak. She thinks the best thing to do is go for Ozette. It's this little backwater in the middle of nowhere—no one's likely to look for us in a place like that."

"Right. And she's gonna wait for us there?"

"That's the plan." As if the topic had never changed, Zelos added, "I'm thinking those Mizuho folks might be willing to take care of Seles. It's a hidden village. She'll be as safe there as she can be anywhere in Tethe'alla."

Again. Lloyd could already imagine what Seles would have to say to that suggestion. Instead he focused on the other side of that question. "And what about you, Zelos? Are you gonna stay in Mizuho as well?" Sheepish once again, Lloyd added, "I'm sorry I won't be there to show you around Sylvarant any more. Maybe you could... stay with my Dad?"

"Whoa there, bud. Meeting the in-laws already? You might be moving a little fast for me, hunny."

"Huh?" Lloyd blinked confusion, completely lost as to what Zelos was suddenly talking about. Zelos laughed the words away with a grin.

"Don't worry about it. But seriously, I'm sure your dwarf dad is great and all, but that might be a little too weird for me. It's not like we've ever met."

"Yeah, I guess not."

"And besides, didn't I already tell you? You and I are gonna meet Sheena in Ozette and figure out our next move from there. Someone's gotta keep an eye on your dumb ass, right?"

"My ass isn't dumb!" Lloyd insisted indignantly, but then the more important part of Zelos's answer sunk in. Lloyd sat up sharper, unable to keep the grateful smile off his face.

"But really, you're gonna come with me? All the way?"

"Yup. All the way to the end, whatever that means." Zelos sighed, even as his own smile stayed firmly in place. "I figure I at least owe you that much. And you'd probably get all demoralised without my gorgeousness around twenty-four seven. All those months with the beautiful Zelos, only to suddenly lose him? That can do terrible things to a person!"

"Oh, I'm so sure." Zelos could be such an idiot. But still, Lloyd had found it hard to imagine facing all of this without him. "Thanks, Zelos. I'm glad you're sticking around."

"At least one of us is looking forward to this," Zelos sighed back at him. This time, Lloyd shoved him hard.

They kept their laughter quiet, aware of Seles sleeping across the other side of their campsite, and soon enough their humour lapsed into a companionable silence. It was Zelos who broke the quiet. "Thanks for this, Lloyd. For coming out here, I mean. For helping me find her."

"Of course," Lloyd agreed amiably, but Zelos wasn't done.

"I'm serious. You didn't have to come, but you did. And now this stuff with Cruxis... you really mean it, don't you? You realise what you're up against, right? Angels who've been controlling the worlds for thousands of years? That's not gonna be easy. You're probably gonna lose."

Lloyd had the sense he should have been offended by that, but for some reason it just made him laugh. "Than I guess you're probably gonna lose with me, oh wonderful Zelos."
For a split second, Zelos's expression was unreadable. Then he shook his head, looking as though he didn't quite believe what he was saying. "Ugh. Guess so, huh. Don't remind me."

Lloyd shifted from where he was sitting, changing around so that he was facing Zelos a little more directly. Dusk had settled around them—faintly, in the distance, Lloud could hear the sounds of moving water. Tethe'alla was a beautiful place, just like Sylvarant. It had just as much right to exist.

And so did the person sitting opposite him. "You remember what I told you before? About making promises?"

Zelos nodded. "No more promises you can't keep, right?"

"Right." Lloyd nodded in turn, one hand raised to his chest to solidify his vow. "Zelos, I promise—we're not gonna lose. We're gonna save you."

He'd expected Zelos to brush it off, or at least make fun of him. At best he'd thought Zelos might accept his words and then try to pretend it was all one big joke to him anyways. Instead, quietly, Zelos lifted one gloved hand to trace his thumb high along Lloyd's cheekbone. Lloyd felt himself freezing in place, confused at the way his blood leapt alert inside him. Zelos...?

"You dumbass," Zelos told him, and leaned in. Right until the last second Lloyd was certain Zelos was about to push him, or laugh at him, or find some other way to show that this was just another one of his dumb games—when Zelos's lips touched his own, dry and warm and way too brief, Lloyd stopped thinking much of anything.

The moment after the moment seemed to drag forever, until Zelos finally tilted his head and asked, "You okay there, bud?"

And he was still so close—Lloyd swore he could feel Zelos's breath on his skin. Weirdly, he didn't dislike it. Lloyd nodded, finally remembering to swallow a gulpful of air. "Yeah," He rasped, and then answered louder and firmer as if to disguise his rapt bewilderment. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm okay. I'm... You just kissed me?"

"Yeah, I kinda did, huh." For one comforting moment, Zelos looked almost as terrified as Lloyd felt—just seeing it was enough to steady his nerves. "You mad about it?"

Mad about it? Lloyd shook his head, and even as the bewildered feeling continued to settle over him, even as he had no idea what he was supposed to do or how he was supposed to do it, he found himself shifting to close the gap between them once more. "Nah," He managed, and then they'd kissed a second time. A third time. Too many times to count.

It was a while before they managed to speak again.

"You really should meet my dad," Lloyd told him, hands gripped tight on Zelos's shoulders. Opposite him, face flushed soft beneath the firelight, Zelos raised his eyebrows.

"I was kidding about that in-laws thing. You know that, right?"

"Shut up." But Lloyd leaned over to kiss him again, right on the forehead this time. Now that they'd started Lloyd felt like he'd never want to stop. He hoped he'd never want to stop. He hoped Zelos felt the same way. A mass of emotions thundered in his chest, chaotic and demanding, but most of all... he felt good about this. He felt happy. "I'm serious. I want you to meet my dad. And I want to show you more places. And I want you to show me places. I want to see Ozette, and Mizuho, and every other place you've mentioned."

Zelos was looking at him as though he couldn't quite believe what was happening. Lloyd could relate. "Yeah?" Zelos managed, and for once he seemed like he had no idea what else to say. Lloyd grinned.

"Yeah. So stick with me, okay? And I'll stick with you, too. No matter what." Another vow to be kept. Lloyd didn't know for sure what this new journey had in store for them, but with Zelos beside him he knew one thing: they could handle it. Whatever the two worlds had to throw at them, they could handle it together. "Against the two of us, Cruxis won't stand a chance."

"Alright, bud. You got me. Whatever happens, I'm on your side." And the way Zelos spoke, it was like Lloyd was hearing something serious from him for the very first time; like his words carried the weight of both worlds, and he'd finally found the strength to stand beneath them. "It's a promise."