Book One: A Dirge for the Fallen

Author's notes and disclaimers: Everything may be very confusing at first, so don't go all "OMG wTF?" on me. I'm open to suggestions or anything, and any questions, I'll see to it quickly.

BFR does not own ToS. BFR does own all the original concepts in the story. Except the mythological references (Which can be hard to catch. ;) ). Those were just inspiration.


~~~Chapter One: Idle

How long had it been?

Two... no, three years. Yeah.

Three, long years since the regeneration of the world. Three years since the defeat of Mithos. Three years since the revival of the Great Tree and its renaming.

Since the group went their own ways.

Since Lloyd went off on his own.

All alone.

Three years ago since Lloyd seperated from the others. Since he started his journey to eradicate the Exspheres from the world. He had remembered how the first few months of his journey weren't exactly the most pleasant experiences, but soon, his search began to pick up, an he had made relative progress over the past few years.

But his search was far, far from over. He had only fully searched the Iselia, Izoold, Meltokio regions, and had only cleared out the Asgard and Iselia ranches, and he had now taken his search to the Triet Desert. Clearing out the Human Ranches turned out to be a more difficult task than he had originally thought, and it took him nearly a month just to completely clear out the Asgard Ranch. In Meltokio, Lloyd as rather stumped on how to search, so he turned to the royalty. While the king agreed to help Lloyd in his task, the king had a difficult time getting the researchers to abandon the exspheres they possessed. Along with the entire capital. The king had promised Lloyd that he would soon have every exsphere in Meltokio within his possession within a few years. Lloyd decided that it would be impractical to wait that long, so he would continue searching, while the king dealt with Meltokio. So Lloyd continued searching, doing everything he could to find whereabouts of the exspheres, and collecting any he found along the way.

Lloyd then turned his thoughts to his companions. He remembered what they had planned to do, now that the struggle with Mithos was over.

Genis and Raine had resolved to go on their own journey, to campaign for half-elf rights and repeal laws and prejudice set against the half-elves. Lloyd didn't really think much of this at this point. But he admired their courage and determination - two people against the world. Honestly.

Presea and Regal had both gone back to Altamira. With everything out of the way, especially the trauma of Alicia's decease, Regal could now fully focus his attention on his business - running Altamira. Shortly after the defeat of Mithos, Regal once again took up the position of president of Lezareno. He could also focus on the restoration efforts for several areas in the world, most particularly the village of Ozette.

Which was, if Lloyd could guess, his thanks for having Presea forgive him. During the journey to [Argh, have't played in a long time.... gotta go for another run before the phrase goes here], after making a pact with Celsius, the village of Ozette was destroyed by Mithos, because

[ALRIGHT SKIP AHEAD SEVERAL CHAPTERS AND LLOYD GOING AROUND]

"Hey.... are you awake?"

"Lloyd, give the guy some space. Just look at him!"

"What happened...?"

Razzak slowly stirred. The voices speaking around him were making his already-aching head throb even more. He was also vaguely aware of the stinging sensations in various areas across his body, and in his hazy state of confusion disorientation, he was unaware to the severity of the damage he had received.

Razzak's eye lids slid open at a snail's pace. Once they were open, his vision was blurred and hazy, but he could vaguely make out a few colorful images floating above him.

"Lloyd!" a voice spoke angrily. The voice was muffled and faint, almost unintelligible. One of the colorful images was yanked out from his line of sight, and was replaced by another. Slowly, his vision began to sharpen, and he could now discern that the images hanging above him were the faces of three people, two of them silver-haired - one female, the other male - and the other raven-haired.

"Are you alright?" the silver-haired female asked. His vision was still rather blurred, but his hearing was now fully restored, and each word was sharp and clear to Razzak's ears.

However, he was still rather dazed and his head still throbbing with overwhelming force. He tried to get up, but an intense pain, which set his entire body on fire, soon floored him onto his back once more. Razzak let out a scream, which he partially succeeded in suppressing, causing an odd and harsh sound to escape his lips. The silver-haired female frantically stumbled back, as if to reach for something, while the other two people held him down to prevent him from flailing around and possibly injuring himself any further, along with anyone else. Razzak squeezed his eyes shut. It felt as if white-hot needles had been shoved into his body all at once, unleashing pain outside and inside of his body. Within several agony-filled seconds, the silver-haired female returned, and after a brief flash of green light, a numbing sensation caused the pain to slowly ebb away until it was replaced with a numbness that dominated his whole body.

Razzak felt his consciousness slowly fading. He found it increasingly hard to keep his eyes open as the seconds passed. His vision was beginning to blur once more, and his hearing became faint and warped. Above him, he could vaguely make out the blurred figures of the three people peering closely at him and moving frantically. He could hear calls and voices rapidly speaking in an urgent tone, but he found that he didn't care much, really.

He was tired. He closed eyes. Maybe just for a moment.


~~~


Raine heaved a great sigh. Trying to heal the man, while trying to suppress the intense pain that he was experiencing, was tiring. Even with the help of various gels, Genis's primitive healing spells, and even one elixer, he just wasn't showing any signs of improvement.

The wounds the man had on his body were gruesome: a huge, bloody gash on his stomach, a cut along his tricep that nearly severed an artery, gashes on his shoulders, a nasty-looking burn on his upper back, and many, many ugly-looking bruises land-marking his body. Other minor and unseen wounds included cuts, a bruised eye, and both of his legs broken.

That wasn't even the gist of it. The strange thing was, no matter what healing method Raine used, the wounds would only twitch insignificantly at the soothing and healing light. Furthermore, Raine doubted that the pain the man was experiencing was caused by his wounds. The man had an unnaturally high fever, and he constantly flailed and thrashed about in his bed. Raine had to take measures to restrain him, and even then, he sometimes began to seizure, at which Raine could do nothing but release the man's restraints and leave him be until he stopped seizing.

Exasperated by all the efforts made to heal him, Raine plopped herself down onto a nearby chair. The man was now soundly asleep, but she had no doubt he would have another one of his episodes, whether it be a seizure, screaming, or having his fever escalate to a dangerously high temperature.

Raine massaged her temples. She actually considered sending Lloyd or Genis off to Flanoir to get the doctor there, but it was practically on the other side of the world. The doctor, knowing him, would probably charge them an enormous sum because of the tremendous distance between here and Flanoir.

Raine looked over at the man as he slept. He wore an odd attire - it was unlike anything that she had ever seen in the world. Also, when they had retrieved his body from the Hot Spring, his body was freezing cold to touch, despite the fact that he feel from the sky almost on fire.

And... something about the man just seemed so... odd.

It was impossible to explain. His very presence made her feel uneasy. It had nothing to do with emotions, it just.... was.

Raine studied him a bit more. The man looked to be about 20 years of age, most likely around her age. His face seemed to bear that same oddness about him.

Raine began to think. A man doesn't simply fall out of the sky everyday. Let alone get up there in the first place. Or catch on fire while up there. The whole thing just seemed so strange. After getting over the thought of him falling out of the sky, Raine began to think of other things. How or why did he get into the sky in the first place? How did he fall? What was he doing?

For someone like Raine, figuring out puzzling things are something she specialized in. However, the incident was so odd that it stumped even Raine.

Everyone else was confused, too, but they were more concerned for the man's health then his origins. Raine, however, was more concerned with the latter. they could end up getting into a great deal of a mess if they involved themselves any further with this man. The sheer abnormality of the situation sure seemed like a good reason to be suspicious.

Raine remained there for a few more minutes. Sheena was the one who would be watching over the man tonight, should he would have another episode, and and Raine would be needed. Raine needed rest tonight, so she could have the sufficient energy to continue with the caring of the man. But if he was to start acting up again while she slept, she would be woken immediately. Lloyd and the others decided that they would do this for the next few nights until he was healthy enough to be transported to a more ideal location, or at least conscious once more.

Raine looked forward to the latter. She wanted answers, and quickly.

~~~

Nightime had arrived.

Full moon was up.

Razzak slowly stirred from his state of dreaming. As he groaned groggily, his eyes slowly slid open.

Razzak did not know he long he lay there, awake. He just remained there, staring at the ceiling, waiting for his senses to return to him. But they never did. Instead, he merely felt a warm, pleasant sensation enwrap his entire being. The sheer comfort of it all made him want to close his eyes again...

But Razzak resisted. He knew, that even as he lay there, that the world grew ever closer to danger. He needed to get out of here. In a burst of strength, from the determination in his mind, he forced his eyes open, and wrenched himself from the bed he lay on.

Or, he would've, if he had the power to move his limbs.

He lay there, still as stone, looking almost dead. The only things that indicated any signs of life within him were his eyes rolling rapidly in their sockets, and the cascade of panic-induced sweat down his face. In his mind, Razzak felt petrified (In both senses). As much as he willed or strained himself to move, his body simply wouldn't respond.


[INCOMPLETE]

The rest will be finished at some point.

Meaningful notes:

Characters (1 and 2):

-Brynamir - Brave protector. Or something like that.
-Arazar/Alderick - Power
-Rasael - Made-up
-Lavanya - Grace
-Kali (Yuga) - The Iron Age; Age of corruption and greed
-Vintersorg, Muspelborg, Uhrjiiad/Athanasior, Hilja/Arsis - Winter's Sorrow, Fire's sorrow, Immortal, Silence
-Agamanion - Steadfast, or something like that
-Charnate, Clade, Zarek, Verilia, Gabriel, Reanna - made-up, made-up, made-up, (I forgot), normal name, Maiden
-Xenocratos (God of Elements) - foreign/strange power
-Saridia (Goddess of Spirit) - I forgot, but something to do with spirit.
-Tempus (God of Time) - time
-Martel/Saharachna (Goddess of Creation) - Dawning Creation
-RAIGA IS NOW CICEROTHUS - Speaker
-Sverkanouf - I forgot
-Damousium - I forgot
-Glyndir - Ice
-Abigail - My father is joy
-Nebilim - Fallen
-Fallen
-Phyrraizar, Rinzar, Katatheraega - Fire, Cold, Black hoof
-Abaddanaettos* - Destruction

Note that these names are spin-offs of the actual words and names. I just twisted them a bit to make them sound nifty. <_<

Basic gist of plot: Stranger asks Lloyd crew to gather Devil's Arms. Helheim is unleashed. Mithos' betrayer is revealed. The origin of the world is revealed. The one who unleashed Helheim - his purpose is revealed. He goes back to his home planet and basically becomes a God.

Basic plot of all other books:

Cicerothus, after submitting to Vessaydjius, because they share similar beliefs, go out into other worlds, using madd transdimensional powers, to add to the power they now possess. All for one reason - to exterminate all the gods that ever existed. Razzak becomes a Heavenseeker through blessings of the god of time, and goes after Cicerothus. Then the entire thing becomes a war of beliefs, an observation of how the gods control humanity, and a neverending battle between Razzak and Cicerothus. The basic idea is that there is no line between antagonist and protagonist.

Little details:

-Follows the Kratos path, but is AU (Zelos lives, but ends up in a freakish coma, similar to Razzak's condition at the beginning, only more severe.
-Raine dies
-Maybe Regal dies
-Zelos suffers emo pwnage, or freezes to death, or lives
-The cruxis crystal Cicerothus possesses is from Mithos; the key crest he possesses is a memento of his mother
-A new Summon Spirit Temple is introduced in this fic: The Temple of the Damned, home to the Seal of the Summon Spirit of Chaos, Vessaydjius. It is located under the ice of Flanoir
-Vessaydjius was sealed away permanently because he rebelled against the Goddess and everything she created. He wants revenge against her because of this-Vessy was freed by Cicerothus after he betrayed Mithos.
-The Spirit of the Tree, "Martel," is actually the remains of the Goddess of Creation. When she was "revived," she was fused into the tree, the cause of her revival. But her memory of a goddess was gone.
-"It's all a melting pot. People at the bottom burn, while the all the scum floats to the top. And the gods control it all. Hence, why, I aspire to end this madness." - Vessaydjius
-"There but for the grace of God, goes God" - Some guy whose name I forget.

You don't believe that this is being updated (Albeit slowly), do you? ;)

No, you can't kill off Raine!

Other than that, this looks extremely interesting... I have to see more.

Uh... I'd read, but I never played ToS. So yeah.

Pfeh... Looks like I'll have to wait before school's over before I really get started.

Now for some random thoughts:

There are four books, one of them being a prologue. They are as follows:

Here and Beyond: A story that basically describes why events, such as Cicerothus going mad or why Uron'Thaea is so enwrapped in such a horrifying World War, are explained.

Heavenseeker 1: A Dirge for the Fallen This is the one I am currently working on. It's the story of a seemingly cliche "The World is gonna asplode/Hey, you just saved the world but time to save it again" type plot, but there are a few twists, some of which are oddly mysterious that makes it expand far, far beyond that.

-Cicerothus' ambition becomes to free all the worlds from the hold of the gods. Hence, he acquires the power of a Heavenseeker through obtaining three artifacts of war that originated from Uron'thaea: The Vintersorg (Winter Sorrow) - the sword he stole before he fled to Aselia; The Avaerasis (Wind and Earth's Rage) - the sword that he ends up ravaging Aselia in search of; and the Muspelborg (Fire's protection), the sword he obtains when he obtains the other two swords and returns to Uron'Thaea.

-Note: Razzak's name is now Theodulus.

Heavenseeker 2: The Apostle and the Heathen And so begins the story that transcends time and space. Cicerothus and Theodulus have returned home; Cicerothus is now trying to get his hands on the Muspelborg; Theodulus is trying to get there before him; and an apocalyptic war is slowly swallowing Uron'Thaea.

It is soon revealed that Cicerothus is actually after something else - an item called a Sanarenatus, or, a Fragment of Time, masses of pure mana that assimilate into one's being, almost enough to make them a Heavenseeker. Cicero takes the Fragment, and becomes a true Heavenseeker; Theodulus, meanwhile, is racing against time to acquire the Muspelborg.

He acquires it, but not before his fiance is killed by Cicero. By what is believed to be the influence of insanity, Theo unleashes the Muspelborg's full power, and nearly obliterates Cicero, who escapes at the last moment via slipping into another dimension.

And, Theo gains the power to slip into other dimensions because I said so, and the concepts would take years to type out.

(For a better understanding of the concepts here, google "Fireaxe - Food for the Gods" Mainly because I find it impossible to put my ideas in word right now)

This part of the story takes place in multiple dimensions: All in Cicerothus' search for the Citadel of Dreams. Theodulus chases him down, meeting him at every possible corner. Soon, the line between protagonist and antagonist begins to blur....

(Fire Emblem, Modern Day (1), Modern Day (2))

Concepts:

Mana: In this story, mana is perceived as the material that composes everything. Earth, water, lightning, even atoms. Mana cannot be proven in science. While everything today that isn't magic is governed by science, mana is what enables everything to have form, ability,etc.

In short, it's the ****ing everything of everything. Like the soul.

Magic is based off mana: Magic is the manipulation of mana. Hence why magic can't be described by science. Magic is basically manipulating the mana, and the effects range from trivial to apocalyptic.

Humans' (And the "sub-groups") "souls" are mana, but more concentrated. Although, like all mana, is drifts away into nothingness unless something holds it together: The human's physical body (Think: AT field). Once the body expires, the mana drifts around for a while. At this point, the soul has two options: to live on within everything and "live forever," or, become one of the "fallen."

Fallen: When souls drift in the mana stream, they still live. When the soul is in any kind of turmoil, however, it retains its form. If it remains like this for too long, it is eventually dragged into what can be described as hell. In every world, in every dimension, there is one "Niflheim" (where demons lie) and one "Helheim" (Where human spirits lie). The souls are tortured by demons and dark spirits, being driven closer to the edge of sanity over time. The souls eventually take physical manifestation, and become a part of the Fallen army, an army of undead. The king of the Fallen, Mephistopheles/Abigail/Kali Yuga, is a Heavenseeker, as it turns out, who lost hope in all of mankind and now wishes to grant them their last salvation by utterly destroying everything.

The kingdom of Epica: The race of Salevayjianes that were destroyed by their fellow neighbouring people. They were a reclusive race that were the only ones who understood everything, the way everything worked, and mankind themselves. They were all-knowing, yet, at the same time, were not. They were the ones who created the Avaerasis, Vintersorg, and Muspelborg, three weapons of absolutely terrifying power. When united into a single soul, the subject of this was said to be the one to decide the future of all mankind, and the universe itself.

The people of Epica were a reclusive race, keeping all their intentions - especially concerning the three swords - secret to outsiders. It was a well-known fact back then that they were up to something - one of the deciding factors that led to their obliteration.

Arazar and Kali, the destroyers of Epica, had many reasons for beginning a genocide: The Epicacians were seen has pagans, they were possibly trying to destroy the other Salevayjianes, Arazar And Kali's nations were both power hungry and greedy for resources, and, most of all, xenophobia. The Epicacians were swiftly obliterated, and only 20 remain to this day: Cicerothus and Theodulus are among them.

Salevayjiane: The first "humans" to be born into the universe (I have "a back and back and back" theory, but it would take years to explain), with longetivity of over 10 000 years. At first, they roamed across universe, populating planets they came across, spreading the seeds of mankind. They were called "Minosus Caelestis" (Bunch of names from different languages scrunched together, vaguely implying "seed-sowers of the sky.") and today, they are called Salevayjianes. The "seeds" spread by the Minosus, however, were literally inferior to the Minosus: Not only did they lack the ability of flight, but they lacked the longetivity, the wisdom, and, most of all, the intense connection to mana. Some regained this characteristic, some even surpassed the Minosus "average standard," but few managed this.

Soon, the Minosus themselves settled on a planet - Uron'Thaea. Time began to pass, but the Minosus began to deteriorate intellectually. Gone were their philosiphical thinkings (What very few that remained of this kind became Epicacians), and the reduced to deity worship - how such a thing was brought on, is truly unknown. The Minosus - now the Salevayjianes - became people who based their lives almost completely to religion and deity worship. However, they became divided because of this, for each "group" worshipped a different god. And because of this, the Salevayjianes were constantly at war over religious beliefs.

Heavenseeker: Although no one knows what a "Heavenseeker" truly is, there are a few defining characteristics:

Heavenseekers are beings who have assimilated vast amounts of mana into their souls, giving them vast control over mana, explaining their immense magical capabilities. They can develop even more "physical bodies" around their current bodies to protect themselves further, which take the forms of barriers or monstrous figures. (Think like the AT Field from NGE, only more). Even if their physical bodies were to deteriorate, their souls can still manage to hold their forms together. In this state, they cannot be harmed by anything, except powerful astral attacks, nor can they harm anything else. Additionally, they have the power to steadily restore their physical body, and they have the power to live forever, make them the only beings to ever be truly immortal.

Because they can develop barriers, they can literally travel at obscenely high speeds and survive in deep space, enabling them to go to other planets that mankind has populated (Cross-over theories go here).

Heavenseeker's physical bodies, unlike other humans' physical bodies, have vast amounts of mana flowing through them, instead of just simply blood. This grants them capabilities that other normal humans can't achieve - namely, immense physical capabilities caused by the mana flowing through their bodies. Also, the physical can withstand far more damage - it can withstand wounds that would kill a normal human, even being decapitated in two, it will still "live," and has a chance to regenerate itself through magic.

Really, they can be described as beings composed primarily of mana.

However, these are only found in the common Heavenseeker (Not that they are very common in the first place).

The Vintersorg, Ouraseidon, and Muspelborg:

The three legendary swords, representative of the elements, and representative of the human equation.

Vintersorg: Kindness, understanding, beauty, enlightenment, emptiness, clinical sterile, depravation, insanity, light/light, lightning, ice

Ouraseidon: Joy, happiness, friendship, the good things seen in life, greed, fear, envy, pain/earth, water, wind

Muspelborg: Love, pride, rage, hatred, passion/Fire, darkness, earth

And the wielder of all blades: Reason, humanity.

The people of Epica forged these swords using all the kowledge, power, and wisdom they had at their hands, hoping one day to create a sanctuary for all souls lost in the void one day. However, as the Minosus devolved in terms of wisdom, they began to lose the knowledge of how to use it as they forged these blades. Soon, they had devolved to the point where they could no longer use it, yet, they continued to empower them. Salevayjianes suspected that the Minosus of Epica were creating weapons of war, so they destroyed the Epicans.

Legend has it, that each sword bears the power of a Heavenseeker. Whoever shall be the holder of all three blades: should he activate the true power behind it using the key that the Minosus lost through de-evolution, he will save all of time and space from self-destruction, and with it, all of humanity, those scattered across the universe.

Bleh... finally able to get something up. *SPOILERS FOLLOW*

Prologue

Once upon a time, there existed a giant tree that was the source of
mana. A war, however, caused this tree to wither away, and a hero’s life was
sacrificed in order to take its place. Grieving over the loss, the goddess
disappeared unto the heavens. The goddess left the angels with this edict: “You
must wake me, for if I should sleep, the world shall be destroyed.” The angels
bore the Chosen One, who headed towards the tower that reached up unto the
heavens. And that marked the beginning of the regeneration of the world.

Upon the event of the last regeneration, however, a revelation shall come to light. The sacred angels of Cruxis, and their leader, Mithos Yggdrassil. The Chosen of this generation escaped unto another world, the sister world - Tethe'alla. And so began the true regeneration - the reunition of the two worlds, and the revival of the Great Tree.

The story of Lloyd, the legendary hero who, alongside his companions, threw back the veils hiding the secrets of Cruxis, the organization of half-elves that keeps the world under their iron-grip, through religious means, and through the manipulation and imposition upon the instincts of human nature.

A long journey followed, but in the end, Lloyd and his companions triumphed over Yggdrassil, reunited the two worlds, and revived the Great Tree.

And this is where the tale left off, for, though many of his companions remained, Lloyd himself seemed to disappear. Though, despite that he may be gone, he lives on.

As a legend.

...

An age of prosperity was foreseen for the united world. The people were alleviation, no evil lingered over the land...

But alas, nothing lasts forever.

And so the new tale began. A tale of evil arising, of great corruption, of a lost man being driven to darkness through insanity and affliction, the tale of the revelations - the secrets - that threatens to shatter the very foundation the world bases itself upon - and above all, the plot of an evil being that will lead to power so great it will not affect not only the world of Aselia, but the entire universe as we know it, forever...

Little is known, it will not be a war between good and evil.



~Chapter 1: Idle:~

"... I suppose that's it, then?"

Lloyd flashed the waitress a nervous grin, his eyes glinting from underneath his newly-grown bangs, "Uh-hah... Uh, of course, really, that's it."

The waitress spared him one last bemused stare, before setting off into the depths of the crowded, musty, and boisterous restaurant. Lloyd slumped into his seat, which was tucked snugly into a rather reclusive corner, cleverly obscured by the sight several overhanging curtainings and awnings woven into the complex patterns of beams and branches above, which served as the ceiling of the establishment.

All the more to the "atmosphere," Lloyd thought with some amusement; it was so incredibly musty and heavily scented of alcohol in here, that the lack of sight, minimal lighting, and the sheer over-crowdedness and loudness of the place seemed to constitute a "stuffy and cozy and raucous" feel to it. Not to mention the ridiculous heat.

Lloyd diverted his attention from the restaurant itself to his own thoughts, resting his gaze on the single, fairly withered plant on the ebony table as he mused. He had been travelling a great amount for nearly the past week, in his search. When the village of Triet came into view, he could not resist the chance to grant himself rest to his weary spirit.

A bit of chaos involving a little riot at the inn followed, but he managed to get past that.

...Ahem...

This was only his second day here, the first being his arrival. The second, he had no idea what to do, except sit on his ass all day doing absolutely nothing. For quite a while now, he was fairly high on funds, although he never knew what to do with it, since he already had sufficient supplies as it stood. So figuring he had nothing else to do, he roamed into a random restaurant.

Besides, Lloyd hadn't had much decent food in days. Lloyd had already devoured all the food Genis had prepared for him last time they met, which was nothing but a few days back, and all he had left afterwards were a bunch of beef strips and sandwiches.

Lloyd had to admit; Genis had gotten really good at cooking now. It's a wonder that he hasn't gotten a part-time job at Altamira or something.

And speaking of Altamira... Lloyd paid a short visit to the island resort a few months ago, not only to make a double-check on any exspheres that might be there, but to catch a short break - go through a ride or two, eat himself out at the buffet, and actually catch some decent sleep!

Oh, and pay a visit to Presea and Regal. Problem was, neither the pink-haired axe girl or the [whateveriusetorefertoregal] were present, Regal being at some meeting in Meltokio and Presea helping to repair the ruined village of Ozette.

Suddenly, Lloyd's thoughts began to drift onto a new subject - not just his friends in general, but the past few years. When Lloyd actually focused on the mere prospect (Breakthrough right here!), it actually astounded him.

Three years ago, right to the very moment that both he and Colette named the Great Tree. But everything ended so abruptly...

Genis and Raine took their leave of Lloyd, wishing to rid the world of anti-half-elf sentiments. Regal and Presea left, too, wanting to get started on the rebuilding of Presea's home. Sheena left for Mizuho, Colette left to clear the religous mishaps, Zelos was brought to his mansion along with his sister, where he would hopefully recover soon...

And Kratos drifted away with Derris Kharlan, leaving Lloyd completely alone.

Of course, Lloyd himself had his own journey to follow, and he could not let the ideas of isolation hinder him. The journey to find all the exspheres, and eradicate them all...

Lloyd delved further back. He had said his goodbyes to Dirk and Noishe, taken what he could, and simply left. He had wished to leave the Flamberge behind as a memorial for his mother, but... He had to take it, as he would have a difficult journey othewise.

After all, Dirk was the one who bullied him into taking it.

And so he had set off, only to find a perplexing and daunting journey ahead of him. Oh, destroying exspheres was not a problem. He could do that kind of thing for hours. The truly dismaying prospect of the journey was the reality that finding the exspheres were an entire different story. Lloyd cleared out the Human Ranches easily. It took him more than a year, for the Ranches held exspheres in every possible nook and cranny, meaning that Lloyd had to search rigorously and persistently. It paid off, as the ranches were soon all cleared, but not before putting up a fight and knocking off more than a year off Lloyd's life bar(span). Now utterly confused at where to search next, he turned to the king of Meltokio.

The King agreed to aid Lloyd without so much as a hint of hesitation. He had intiated the search and collection of all exspheres within the city, as well as anywhere that Meltokio had connections in. Promising to have the exspheres collected soon, the king left Lloyd standing there, perplexed at what to do next.

He began his search for exspheres again. Although, this time, he had next to no leads, and the most he ever did was wander aimlessly. It was a long time - no, a year - before a possibility occurred to him: The Toize Valley Mine.

And Lloyd's quest took another toll on him. Just like the Human Ranches, the Toize Valley mine was an absolute horror for Lloyd to attempt.

It was a while before it occurred to Lloyd that since Regal was the one who built the mine, it would be logical the Regal could give considerable assisstance to Lloyd.

And so, with Toize cleared (And Lloyd shamed), Lloyd set off again. And again, he had no idea where to go. He had managed to acquire a few exspheres, but nothing more.

And it was at this point that Lloyd decided that he deserved a break. Completely screwing off his journey, he went gallavanting right to Altamira.

And then some.

Then he went journeying again.

Which brings him to the point where he met Genis, went to Altamira, and....

Now.

[REST TO SOON FOLLOW GODDAMMIT]