[ walking into Meltokio hurt. this was the first time in a while that Lloyd had stepped into the majestic city, and seeing the familiar surroundings left a heavy feeling in his chest.
six months. it had been six months since Zelos disappeared without a trace, right from his bedroll. it was jarring to see most of his stuff there, but finding some choice items and his sword missing. even while they were out on their journey, it didn't take long for word of his disappearance -- which snowballed into the rumor of his assumed death -- to spread. there was even a particularly nasty rumor pinning the blame of his death onto Lloyd, as he was the one who Zelos had been with, but that one was dropped soon enough. turns out a duke, CEO, and hero of the combined worlds still had some influence in the Tethe'allan court even with jailtime.
despite all the stones thrown at him, though, Lloyd continued to look. he had just about completely dropped the exsphere quest, all for the sake of finding his friend. he refused to believe he was dead, even if all the evidence said otherwise. he knew that Zelos was alive somewhere, he had to be, and he was sure that he was the only one who believed so. before cutting off contact, the professor told him that grief was theorized to be divided into five stages, with the first being denial.
it was through sheer stubbornness that Lloyd stayed in that first stage for six months.
a part of him wanted to avoid Meltokio entirely, partly because people still believed that Lloyd was the cause of his death, and partly because it all reminded him too much of Zelos. the issue of low supplies still needed to be addressed, though, and Meltokio was the closest city at the time. so he sucked it up, decided to let things come what may, and entered the city gates. it was pure chance, really. there was an open market that day that was especially crowded and he'd been perusing a stall's wares when he heard it:
The Chosen is alive. The Chosen's returned.
he didn't hesitate. he didn't even stop to question where exactly they'd seen him. there would be two places that Zelos could have been spotted at anyway, both of them at the same level. he didn't even stop to consider that it could have been a false rumor. after breaking out of his shocked stupor, he abandoned the stall he was in, pushing through the crowds and running up the stairs to the highest district, taking two or three steps at a time, grinding to a halt when he saw a flash of red and pink.
it's him. he's really here. he's not dead-- he's alive and standing just a few yards away from him. Lloyd wanted nothing more than to run up to him, to hug him, to give him a noogie or something of the sort for worrying everyone, to... to do something. but he was rooted to the spot; he felt heavy and his feet felt like lead. he couldn't move, all he could do was stare at him with a heavy feeling in his chest. his mouth opened and closed several times, nothing coming out of it until he was finally able to croak out a single word that even he could barely hear: ]
no subject
six months. it had been six months since Zelos disappeared without a trace, right from his bedroll. it was jarring to see most of his stuff there, but finding some choice items and his sword missing. even while they were out on their journey, it didn't take long for word of his disappearance -- which snowballed into the rumor of his assumed death -- to spread. there was even a particularly nasty rumor pinning the blame of his death onto Lloyd, as he was the one who Zelos had been with, but that one was dropped soon enough. turns out a duke, CEO, and hero of the combined worlds still had some influence in the Tethe'allan court even with jailtime.
despite all the stones thrown at him, though, Lloyd continued to look. he had just about completely dropped the exsphere quest, all for the sake of finding his friend. he refused to believe he was dead, even if all the evidence said otherwise. he knew that Zelos was alive somewhere, he had to be, and he was sure that he was the only one who believed so. before cutting off contact, the professor told him that grief was theorized to be divided into five stages, with the first being denial.
it was through sheer stubbornness that Lloyd stayed in that first stage for six months.
a part of him wanted to avoid Meltokio entirely, partly because people still believed that Lloyd was the cause of his death, and partly because it all reminded him too much of Zelos. the issue of low supplies still needed to be addressed, though, and Meltokio was the closest city at the time. so he sucked it up, decided to let things come what may, and entered the city gates. it was pure chance, really. there was an open market that day that was especially crowded and he'd been perusing a stall's wares when he heard it:
The Chosen is alive. The Chosen's returned.
he didn't hesitate. he didn't even stop to question where exactly they'd seen him. there would be two places that Zelos could have been spotted at anyway, both of them at the same level. he didn't even stop to consider that it could have been a false rumor. after breaking out of his shocked stupor, he abandoned the stall he was in, pushing through the crowds and running up the stairs to the highest district, taking two or three steps at a time, grinding to a halt when he saw a flash of red and pink.
it's him. he's really here. he's not dead-- he's alive and standing just a few yards away from him. Lloyd wanted nothing more than to run up to him, to hug him, to give him a noogie or something of the sort for worrying everyone, to... to do something. but he was rooted to the spot; he felt heavy and his feet felt like lead. he couldn't move, all he could do was stare at him with a heavy feeling in his chest. his mouth opened and closed several times, nothing coming out of it until he was finally able to croak out a single word that even he could barely hear: ]
Zelos...?