summonerd | i just wanna know: who broke it?

i just wanna know: who broke it?

[Sheena'd thought she was all done with dimensional travel, now that the two worlds were united. But here she is, having fallen asleep in one world and woken up in a Tethe'alla that's just different enough from the one she knows to be constantly jarring. Her connections to Aselia's summon spirits dangle loose, snapped by distance - not even Origin's power could follow her here, it seems. That's more than a little unsettling.

It takes her some time, alone in a bizarro version of Meltokio as she is, but eventually she stumbles on a lead - an old scientific journal, a mention of the power of something called an Aegis being able to transcend space and time, at least in theory. And a little asking around tells her that Tethe'alla has its own Aegis, though no one's seen it for years. Well. Worth a shot, right?

Somehow she manages to talk her way into the Tethe'allan castle where the Aegis's core crystal awaits being woken up, with a series of smiles and her very best politicking - yes, of course she's got nothing but loyalty for Tethe'alla, of course she's skilled at this, of course it'd be a great honor.

(Zelos would be proud, she thinks, wryly.)

They're dubious, but her persistence wears them down, or maybe they're just desperate enough for a return of the Aegis's power to let her try, and the orange core crystal is offered out to her.

She takes a deep breath, and reaches out to touch it.]

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Lloyd is grateful that Anna seems willing to drop the subject, not really emotionally steady enough to deal with the complicated relationship he has with his father, not in front of her, not without making it obvious that there is more going on to this than she realizes. Honestly, Lloyd wishes he could understand his father, wishes he could understand Kratos past the grief that clouds your faith in the future, shared between father and son from completely different, yet sickeningly similar scenarios.

But her words break through his walls, just a little, and he’s able to shoot her a weak, but genuine smile. Maybe Lloyd will never have the love of his own birth mother and father, but this Anna seems cool. And knowing that another Lloyd will get to enjoy the attention of his mom, that Dirk is probably filling in the blanks that Kratos will leave behind - that helps him swallow down the sadness that lingers on his heart like a leech. Lloyd’s still hurt, he’s still - he knows why Kratos wouldn’t want him - (Lloyd killed his brother) - But. At least he’ll get this, even if Lloyd knows he’ll have to give this up, too, this ground he and Anna stand on.

“Thanks... mom. I’m glad I got to meet you.”

The dried teartracks on his face feel itchy, so he wipes at his face with his sleeve. He tilts his head in the direction of the campsite, with an expectant glance, antsy to get back to Sheena, ready to continue ignoring the shit he’s packed away and refuses to talk about. “Ready to get back to camp?”

"I'm glad, too," Anna says. That he gets this. That he... made her see some sense. But she can hold that truth close to her heart, too embarrassed to say it aloud.

She nods towards camp as well. "Let's go."

The spar helped to recenter her, quieting the worst of her thoughts, but she's still a little restless. Sheena does a few cooldown stretches while she waits for Lloyd to come back, but there's no sign of him.

Well - Anna and Malos are out there, too, and there's no signs of commotion. It's fine, most likely. It's only been a few minutes. And there's something she'd been meaning to ask, too. So she finishes her stretches and wanders over towards Zelos where he'd settled off to the side of things.

"Hey," she says, a little awkward again now that the worry of being found is fading with their view of Meltokio and there's nothing else to distract her from the fact that haha yeah here's someone new with the face of her dead best friend but none of his memories. "You holding up alright?" If he's barely been out of the castle before, it's not like he's ever been camping. She half-expects some theatrical whining from him about how hard roughing it is, honestly.

Watching the stars is something Zelos had grown used to doing even before Sheena broke him out of the castle, but watching the stars outside is an entirely different experience altogether that he quickly finds a quiet joy from getting lost in. Sitting on a log and watching the little white dots twinkle above, the galaxies painted across black splotches of night, the moons dancing and gliding over the stage set--it's nothing like what Zelos has experienced while inside his cages in Meltokio.

After a while, he finds himself chuckling. How can humans have these sights and still focus their efforts in fighting each other, a part of him wonders. How could they have inherited this world only to seek to destroy it? Zelos sighs and lazily leans back on his palms. Wonders if he'll ever get to understand what it is that drives humanity's whims, what it is that makes them such stupid, terrifying, irrational little creatures, then abruptly decides that it simply just doesn't matter. So he hums, sighs. Cranes his neck just enough to take in another constellation he vaguely remembers reading something about three lifetimes ago, some information stored into his core in some childish attempt to safeguard the little things for himself, now put to use as he tries to pinpoint more and more.

The sight is breathtaking. It's just about enough to completely steal his attention away from his companions as they spar and talk, or his ever-whirling thoughts. To blanket him in a momentary peace as he soaks in a taste of something he thinks is perhaps similar to conditional freedom.

And so engrossed he is in the spectacle that he doesn't really notice everyone has left until Sheena's standing close by, snatching his attention right back by asking him if he's doing alright.

Oh, right. Hm. Zelos blinks at her at first, then averts his eyes and pouts as if in deep thought, one hand flying under his chin as he hums out loud. He tap-tap-taps his index finger against his cheek. "Well," he finally says, "aside from my back being completely and thoroughly fucked up forever from sleeping on the cold hard ground so much, I'd dare say the property damage is down to a minimum otherwise. So." Zelos lowers his hand and leans back again, gives Sheena a grin. "Could be worse!"

Edited 2019-04-05 23:38 (UTC)

Wow, she hates that. It's enough to derail her train of thought, propping one hand on her hip as her eyes flash with annoyance. Literally flash, actually, as they reflect the faint glow of Zelos's ether. "Don't call it that," she says, hating it a little more every time he refers to himself as less than human.

"It won't be for that long, anyway. You get used to it." He can handle a week or so. Travel pains aren't the same as injuries, but if he'd healed that wound from yesterday, he can manage a sore back. But she sighs, crouches down close-but-not-too-close to him so that they're at the same eye level. "...It's good to be out of the city, though, right?"

Sheena's literal and emotional flashes of annoyance come as a surprise to Zelos, and as they come and go he's left blinking in confusion at his driver. He doesn't really get it, honestly. Don't call what what? A part of him is tempted to ask, but then Sheena distracts him by crouching next to him, close-but-not-really, giving them both enough space for it to not be uncomfortable. At least she's merciful, Zelos thinks. Not too bad.

Her eagerness to socialize is adorable, so obvious and amateurish in its execution that he has to laugh. At least he softens it with enough genuine amusement for it to pass off as actually amused, though. "Yeah, yeah," Zelos replies, looking back up to the sky. It's hypnotizing. He takes a second to take a deep breath, releases it in a loud sigh. "It's so much cleaner out here, don'tcha think? Even the ether tastes different."

Edited 2019-04-06 02:37 (UTC)

Sheena follows his gaze, taking in the night sky. It's familiar, despite how far she is from home - but that makes sense, for an alternate version of the world. "Yeah," she says. "I don't always mind cities, but they're kind of overwhelming even when you're not running for your life." She laughs, soft but dry, then tilts her head back to watch the sky a moment or two before she remembers what she'd actually wanted to say when she came over.

"...Actually, I meant to ask. Yesterday, you wanted me to try and use your sword, right? I still don't think I'd be much use with it, but did you want to give it another shot?" She's kind of curious, even if she doesn't have any plans to use it in battle. He'd been so adamant about her learning to use it, but why?

Apprehension is an unwelcome visitor that Zelos shuts the door to their link on. He replaces it with more amusement instead, with interest and something he hopes feels a little lighter than that. "Oh, you still curious about that?" he asks, turning only slightly to look at Sheena over his shoulder. Then he remembers what happened the first time she tried to summon his sword and he grins devilishly, both eyebrows raised at her as he laughs. "Well, I mean, you probably should, right? How else are we supposed to function!"

Mmmmmaybe after everything that happened the idea of letting her wield his sword is a little terrifying now, but. Unfortunately, as we all know, he kind of needs a driver, so he might as well play along and get her up to speed. Because, yeah, how else are they supposed to function otherwise? Come on, Zelos can't just wield it himself. That's weird.

"Wait, what do you mean?" she asks, with a frown. "You were using it yesterday and it was fine, right? You're the one who knows how to fight with a sword, anyway." She'd noticed his hesitance with the sword, but she'd thought-- she's not sure what she'd thought. The fact that he'd just woken up, maybe. Sheena twists to face him again, searching his face quizzically to understand why her wielding his sword would be so important.

Well, shit. Zelos really wasn't expecting needing to give a quick driving lesson here. God damn it, sometimes it's easy to forget that Sheena totally failed to at least read up on the blade system when she got here.

He dramatically rolls his eyes and shrugs, leaving his hands outstretched in front of himself, palms up, face twisted into something playful as he twists to face his driver too. "Sure, sure, but that's not how things work around here, hon. And since you totally didn't read up on this stuff, I guess it falls onto me to break it to you, huh?" He snorts, then gestures between the two of them with one hand to prevent her from speaking up before he does, keeps his posture lazy. "Okay, then. Look, the main thing between blades and drivers is that the driver uses the blade's weapon to fight with, and the blade transfers ether for the driver to use in battle by using the weapon as a conduit."

Zelos lowers his hands again, uses them to support himself on the log. He's still facing Sheena, playful features hardening somewhat with skepticism at her previous words of him knowing how to use his own sword. Man, what a ridiculous, stupid notion. "I really just think you should at least learn how to wield it. Like, a blade driving itself is just unnatural, y'know?"

Edited 2019-04-07 16:56 (UTC)

Sheena lets him talk, not interrupting, though she scowls at the reminder of how much she'd missed in her research. She does need to know this, after all. The emotional aspect of their link is impossible to ignore, but the rest of it is still foreign to her.

"Wait, then what happens in a fight?" she asks. "Doesn't that just make you an easy target, if you're not even armed? It'd be a pain if you couldn't defend yourself just so I could use your sword." Maybe in whatever fancy mock battles they had in Meltokio no one would focus on the blade, but Sheena has no faith that in a real fight, any enemies wouldn't focus on the big, glowing, weaponless target. She lowers herself to an actual seated position rather than a crouching one, mostly so she can cross her arms. "I mean, we can try it, but I'm not sure it's a great idea in a real fight."

Something about the way Sheena worries at his safety in battle sits weird with him, and for a second Zelos can't help but raise both of his eyebrows incredulously at her, but soon enough the moment passes. That expression is replaced with a smirk and a single raised eyebrow instead, something mocking, something teasing.

"Hey, come on, now! I'm not completely useless, you know!" Zelos adds in a disarming laugh and springs up to rise from his spot on the log, fixing up his jacket to make himself appear busy. "Blades use and regulate ether as a source of power, anyway. Besides!" he exclaims as he twists on his heel, lowers his voice, winks, and sets a hand on his crystal, body lowered forward as he faces Sheena. "Don't forget that I'm the Aegis, darling. That just means I'm effortlessly amazing and almighty by default."

Put your mask on, just smile, laugh, rise back to your full height. Pretend, pretend. To be perfectly honest, though? Sheena's words are haunting him slightly. Because, shit, she kind of has a point, doesn't she? What happens to the blade during a fight, if they're not focused enough to use ether itself to defend themselves or if their driver is careless enough to leave them to their own devices? Zelos is effortlessly powerful just by virtue of being the Aegis, sure, but he's also a walking target. And how can he even trust these humans to keep him safe, anyway? All humans ever want to do is use blades to fight their battles.

He's a danger to himself and to others just for daring to exist, isn't he?

Shit.

Ah, hup! Okay. He quickly laughs again, dismissive as he reaches for Sheena's arm and pulls her up to a stand without a care in the world. Don't think about it now, don't think about it now. "Come on, come on!" he says instead, spinning her once before releasing her, watching her stumble and then coming to a stand right in front of her, grinning right in her face. "We're wasting time! Just try it out!"

Edited 2019-04-09 23:00 (UTC)

"That's not going to matter if we're too outnumbered," she says, unmoved by his theatrics. If only four of their number are combatants - or wait, would it be three? - then that's even more likely to happen. "I--" She doesn't get to finish, train of thought cut off with an undignified yelp as he tugs her to her feet. And then he spins her, and god, one of these days, she swears. She stumbles back a step, as much because of the abruptness of the motion as to get him out of her face.

"Okay, okay," she says, expression settling back into a scowl once more. "Just... give me a minute, alright?" Where does she even start? Calling out like she would've for a summon spirit hadn't worked, but she's only aiming for his weapon, not all of him. She stretches out one hand, feeling for the strange awareness of Zelos in the back of her mind, and pulls.

Zelos watches his driver expectantly, honest to god curious to see where this is gonna go when he feels her pulling at their link, keeping both hands in front of himself in an overly excited manner like he's a goddamn child or something. Meanwhile he does his part, keeps himself receptive and open to her request and grants her access to his ether, taking a deep breath when she pulls, and--

He waits a second.

Two.

Aaaaaaaand by the third one it clearly becomes apparent that no, this isn't going to work, and disappointment washes down on him like what he thinks rainwater must feel like.

Oh my god.

Zelos drops his hands and exhales theatrically, playing up the disappointed card. Holy hell, Sheena, twice in a fucking row? Really? "Man, that's so anticlimactic," he whines. Then he straightens back up with a huff, sets a hand under his chin and starts circling his driver with a critical, analytical eye, his other hand resting on his hip. A combination of nonchalance and playful seriousness. He stops once he's right in front of her again, ending his seemingly oh so important examination with a snap of his fingers and a grin. "I know!" he exclaims. "Why don't you try doing your 'Aegis of Tethe'alla' bit from yesterday! That should help!"

Just the thought of it already elicits a snort from him, sharp amusement leaking into their link. That was so stupid. He really, really wants to see her do that again.

"I'm trying," Sheena snaps, face flushing. "The ether here doesn't feel the same as mana, alright? It's hard to get used to." This whole situation is humiliating. She's a summoner - it shouldn't be so hard to call a sword, especially with the sword's owner working with her. His suggestion has her eyes narrowing as she opens her mouth to shoot the idea down. Absolutely not.

But... it had felt like she was closer to succeeding, that first time. Fine. She can try it once. "Don't laugh," she warns, fruitlessly.

She sighs heavily as she settles into the formal tone she uses for summonings, reaching out for his power one more time. "I call upon the biggest pain in the ass I've ever met. I summon thee. Let's go, Zelos!"

As soon as Sheena tells him not to laugh Zelos already knows that he's absolutely going to laugh, but what he doesn't expect is to actually lose his shit when she goes ahead and calls him a pain in the ass, reciting an entire insulting epithet in an overly serious voice just to summon his sword. And perhaps Zelos should be at least a little offended that she called him a pain in the ass, but, well, if the shoe fits, then wear it, right?

That still doesn't stop this from being the fucking funniest way anyone has ever summoned his sword, though. Period. He actually wheezes himself breathless. With a burst of ether between them as he laughs, Zelos sends off a large enough portion of it to Sheena's hand, allowing it to coalesce in her grasp in a flash of bright, orange light, and as soon as the sword's in place Zelos finally just lets himself fall back onto the grass while laughing, holding his stomach as amusement and delight fill their emotional link.

Man, it really was worth it to egg her on, if only to hear that again. Zelos can't believe it. What the hell is her deal! Who summons a blade's weapon with a fucking epithet!

Please do that again next time!!

If her face was flushed before, it's bright red now. Sheena sputters, wanting to hide her face, or maybe just punch him so he stops laughing. "I said not to laugh!" she says, a touch desperately.

The flash of ether of his sword appearing is bright enough to blind her for a second, which is at least a little distracting, if not quite enough to drown out how hard he's laughing. The weight of the sword falling into her hand is more than she'd expected, and she has to bring her other hand up to grasp it so it doesn't fall. This is the least effective weapon she's ever held, but the power running through it really does feel like a muted version of Origin's. Huh.

When he steps back into the camp clearing, holding a branch above him so he can avoid hitting his head on it, Lloyd is greeted by loud cackling. Obnoxious in nature, with a high-pitched ohoho type of tone, it should be irritating, it should be a roll-of-the-eyes type of laugh that makes you want to turn around and walk away. And once upon a time, it did make Lloyd want to do exactly that. But the laugh inspires a grin to take up Lloyd's face, a surprise exhale of air that rushes from his diaphragm, because he never thought he'd ever get to hear Zelos' laugh ever again, or feel the way his heart fills with excited contentment at the sound of it.

He missed Zelos' presence. And this Zelos isn't his own, but that laugh - that delighted, sharp cackle - it's the same one. And Lloyd missed it so bad.

Already, his leftover anxiety from his talk with Anna flows out of his system, and he jogs over to where the sound is coming from, grin widening as he sees Zelos rolling on the ground, shaking with laughter. Sheena's bright red, embarrassment plain on her face, and Lloyd can only guess as to what had happened, the scene bringing memories of their previous journey, but he lingers on them for only a few seconds before he's distracted by the cool fucking sword Sheena is holding with both hands! Holy shit, that thing is huge!

It's glowing bright orange, is the first thing that strikes him, bathing Sheena in a fiery light that engulfs the purple of her outfit. And it's Zelos' orange, too, pouring out from the flat of the blade in a shape not unlike the core crystal Zelos has, the one Lloyd's only seen glimpses of. Two plus two equals four, and with the quick explanations on blades Malos had given Lloyd the night before, Lloyd's able to make the connection that this blade must be Zelos'. It's glitzy enough to be, for sure, but the color of it, the strength that pours out in waves - that's all Zelos.

Lloyd strains his eyes to look past the bright light expanding out from the blade in a fashion resembling the shape of the crossguard and the blade right below the tang, where the shape resembling the core crystal is. He can't see too much of the inner workings of the sword - wants to know so badly how the energy is being controlled within the blade, how the weight is distributed if half of the blade is simply light energy, why the choice of a crossguard that curves inward on the hilt over a deliberately straight one, or why the area right below the shoulders is shaped like a diamond -

He wishes Dirk were here. With enough time and the ability to look over the blade freely, maybe they could figure out its workings, or how to replicate it (albeit without the powerful ether that runs down the fuller of the blade). The outline of its bright glow is burning itself into Lloyd's eyesight, so he blinks down hard and calls out Sheena's name, waving. As he gets closer to the two, he finds himself glancing back at the sword, squinting a bit. Why the base shape of a broadsword? Wouldn't that leave the wielder more likely to burn themselves with the energy pouring out from the flat of the blade? Where are the pieces that keep the nearly separated blade and shoulders locked in on each other -

He needs to stop zoning out! But the blade is so cool!

(And he is Dirk's son, afterall.)

"What a cool blade!" Lloyd says out light, excitement pouring out of his voice like a kid in a candy store. "You look like you have no idea what you're doing!"

Holy shit, this is the nicest Zelos has felt in Architect knows how fucking long. Lloyd calling out Sheena's name is what snaps Zelos out of his cackling, but the delight and triumphant satisfaction at tricking her remains in his veins still even when he pushes himself to sit up on the grass, little chuckles escaping him as he tries to calm the hell down.

Sheena's holding his sword with both hands. That's a sight that makes Zelos snort; she looks like she has no idea what she's doing. Probably doesn't. Man, why'd he get a driver who doesn't use swords? This is ridiculous. Before he can linger on it any further, though, Lloyd catches up to them and starts examining the sword, singing praise for Zelos and calling Sheena out on exactly the same thing Zelos had been thinking. It makes him laugh again, a little delighted sound that he allows to come out of his chest as he rises to stand again, dusting himself off of grass and dirt.

Good lord, it's about time these people lightened up. This is a fucking riot.

"Aw, thanks, hon. I am pretty cool," Zelos calls out as he steps forward to the two of them, winking at Lloyd, the grin on his face easy and light. He stops right next to Sheena and laughs again, hands on his hips as he examines his driver. "He's right, though. Come on, that's a part of me! Hold it properly!" The grin turns suggestive almost immediately. "Be gentle with me, honey!"

Her attention snaps up to Lloyd when he calls her name, cutting through Zelos's laughter. Come on, it wasn't that funny.

"I don't," she admits, sheepish. "But Zelos wanted me to--"

-- and then Zelos does what Zelos always does, and she makes a strangled noise at him and that fucking grin, apparently speechless. She absolutely should have seen that comment coming. It's only a few steps to cross the clearing to where Lloyd's standing, and she does it quickly, pressing the hilt of the blade into his hand. "You know what? Maybe you should hold it," she says.

Hands fumbling just a little bit, Lloyd takes the hilt of the blade with a tiny yelp and an awed grin, but it doesn't take long before he's adjusting his grip, holding it with one hand and twisting it so he can observe both the back of the sword and it's front. Keeping care to hold it tight and a careful distance away from him, he unconsciously leans into its glow, the warmth of the ether pulsing through it radiating onto him. It's so pretty, the way the grooves of the blade etch and fold into each other, forming deep grooves along the crossguard, the area below the tang, and well into the flat of the blade. Without a true edge, there is no tip, but the ether densely condenses itself along the sides of the blade, giving off the illusions of them.

"Wow," Lloyd breathes out, eyes widening as he feels the energy pumping out from the blade. "This is so cool!"

He bites the glove off of his free hand and gently places his fingers on the edge of the shoulders of the sword, careful not to get too close to the sides, where the ether escapes freely. One third-degree burn at his father's forge was enough to learn not to play with concentrated forms of heat. For as warm as the ether is, the metal is cool to the touch, somehow not conducting the heat energy past the pure ether that forms the rest of the blade. "It's not hot," he mumbles, entirely confused on how that works, figuring it might be the magic aspect of it, but curious nonetheless. "Heat nonconductive metal. Even stainless steel conducts, even if at a lower rate than most other metals. Ether doesn't conduct, maybe?" He squints, looking closer. "Or maybe the sword's made of a special metal-like alloy."

Lloyd gives the blade a test swing, mindful not to accidentally hit Sheena or Zelos. It's heavy, but its not, hitting this weird balance of something definitely resembling a giant broadsword but not unwieldy. The ether must act as a physical matter in this case, providing weight the metal of the blade doesn't inherently carry by itself. An awed giggle pushes itself out of his mouth. "It's the ether - it's adapting itself to fit the form of the blade!"

Swinging the blade allows him to see how the broadsword base design of the blade works in its favor. Without a defined fuller and a definite tip, the large end of the blade allows for less precision but grants a bigger chance of doing damage. It's sacrificing accuracy for a larger hitbox, essentially, and even though Lloyd still holds that a broadsword was a weird choice over say, a claymore, he does see the logic behind it. "The ether burns could still happen, though," he mutters, and he's thinking, he's thinking, he's thinking. If someone is meant to wield this blade, wouldn't the massive width of the ether flames be dangerous? They could easily hurt themselves swinging this around - hell, he had to swing farther than he usually does away from his head with his own swords due to it's size. But, he thinks, and he's rambling aloud, voice low, eyes widening from a squint as he slowly comes to a realization. If the blade controls the ether, it's output and it's veracity, then what's to say the driver would be harmed by it?

"Sheena!" Lloyd calls out, turning to face her with the Eureka pasted onto his face. "Do me a favor! Put your hand up to the ether!"

Well, well, well, Lloyd takes Zelos' sword into his hands and just starts admiring it, and Zelos is inclined to just stand back, arms crossed, and observe. This is perhaps a little bit intoxicating, he finds. Because being complimented is always a delight for him, honestly, but for some reason having his sword complimented after literal years of disuse feels satisfying in a whole new way.

He's got a pleased and self-satisfied grin as Lloyd starts rambling about materials and examining the ether and all that stuff that Zelos understands in theory, since it's all very much stored in his circuitry and databases, but he can't really be assed to look further into. Still, of course the blade's cool; Zelos himself is cool, fire blade or not. He takes the compliments as if they were directed to himself. Hearing about ether and the many theories on the way it's conducted and utilized is fun, though, and with a tilt of his head Zelos lets out a thoughtful hum as he starts to consider whether or not the heat of his ether would harm his driver.

It's an interesting theory, at least. It's valid. He wouldn't go so far as to test it out, though. Hell no. But then Lloyd suggests Sheena just fucking put her hand on the ether, like it's not dangerous, like that's not his driver that Lloyd is endangering, and something instinctual snaps itself back into place and snatches the easy smile off Zelos' face as he hastily raises a hand and calls his sword back into it in a flash of orange light.

"Yeah, I don't think so, kid," Zelos laughs. It only takes a thought for the sword to close off the ether output, going into a passive state, and once it's not a danger to these irrational little humans anymore Zelos decides to be cheeky by smirking, tilting his head back, and throwing it over his shoulder, free hand on his hip. "Dunno how it is with your mana thing, or whatever, but here humans aren't made to be making direct contact with this shit."

Edited 2019-04-10 04:04 (UTC)

Sheena takes a step back once Lloyd's accepted the sword, just watching. She'd really just wanted to distract Zelos before he could make any more dirty jokes about the whole thing, but the way Lloyd's eyes light up as he turns his attention to the weapon is a nice bonus. It's been a while since he's been this intent on anything.

"He doesn't need any more of an inflated ego," she mutters to Lloyd, without much venom to it. And then he calls out to her, asking her to touch the ether, and, well -- it hadn't felt dangerous, really, while she'd been wielding it. She reaches out towards the tip of the flame, looking skeptical, just in time for Zelos to call the sword back to himself.

... okay, yeah, maybe that had been a terrible idea.

"You might have a point, actually," she admits, trying to play it off like she wasn't a couple inches from trying it anyway. "It didn't seem like it would have hurt, though."

Lloyd pouts when Zelos calls back the blade, disappointed for the lost chance to test his hypothesis. Come on, Zelos, he’s like 95% sure he’s right and the ether won’t hurt her. Besides, it’s not like Sheena and Lloyd haven’t dared each other to do more stupidly dangerous things for the hell of it before, you know this -

Lloyd pauses in his distraction. This Zelos doesn’t know him. Don’t forget that. The pout on his face threatens to droop further into an actual frown as the excitement fades away and his alertness to where he is and who he’s with settles back in, but then - bright light flashes as the blade flickers back into Zelos’ hand, and the casual, confident pose he holds the blade in barely registers, because holy fuck the sword just! It just!

“Wait!” Lloyd breathes out, his mouth dropping open, “it just shifted! How did you do that - can I see it again?”

Now without the dangers of the ether flames in the way, the middle of the blade is properly exposed, and the sword gains a metallic shaft, one that’s sharpened into edges that glint off the moonlight and a precise tip that seems to relay a more accurate performance than the dangerous and volatile flames from earlier. The sword has two forms! And Lloyd can properly observe this one!

“This is so awesome,” he says, eyes wide, observing the blade from afar, amazement leaking into his voice. “It’s - I can feel it’s power from here, so it’s no less intimidating, but it’s more functional now, easier for regular carry... And the metal alloy is the same, but it’s so well molded to shift at needed... It’s a masterpiece of a blade.”

He’s itching to see it up close again, but he’s not going to ask for it back. It’s just so unique, so distinguished and powerful, but no less a beautiful artform at work. It’s swords like these that make Lloyd want to study smithery harder, determined to one day make something as special.

Zelos snorts at his driver, raising an eyebrow at her while grinning. "Of course I have a point! Doesn't matter if it's controlled by a blade or not, ether is still dangerous to humans." He leans forward a little, mocking. "You ever hear about ether poisoning? It's not a fun condition, you know!"

He's about to say more, really, but then Lloyd claims his attention again, all excitement and loudness as he fidgets about staring at Zelos' sword, and Zelos' mouth shuts closed as he turns his head to look him up and down before breaking into a confident smirk. Lloyd's words of praise and compliments are mostly focusing on the whys and hows of the blade's function, but they still cascade over Zelos anyway, filling him up with pride at finally being recognized as the trophy that he is.

It's addictive, in a strange way. The urgent need to be wanted and needed that he'd shoved deep to the back of his conscious shifts into his frontal awareness after finally being fed after so, so long, and now he kind of wants to see if he can get any more of this praise just to satisfy an age-long need. The sword is a part of him, he tells himself, so it's only natural to claim whatever anyone says about the sword as his, too. That's all it is, that's his excuse.

That's all it is.

With another laugh Zelos lowers the sword from its current perch on his shoulder, eyes closed as his free hand reaches up to flip his hair back. "Well, it's about time someone with good taste showed up around here," he mutters, shifting his weight from one foot to another, opening his eyes and regarding Lloyd with a self-satisfied expression. His blade is in passive state, closed, so he guesses it won't be dangerous if he hands it over again, so Zelos shifts his grip on it to offer the handle back to Lloyd casually, nonchalantly, completing the look with a careless shrug. "Knock yourself out."

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Page 11 of 31

i just wanna know: who broke it?

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Comes back seven years late with Starbucks hi

guess who forgot it was her tag

You're valid

we are all valid

SAY THE THING

GOD DAMN IT

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

WHY IS THIS HAPPENING

LLOYD IS BEING A GODDAMN ENGINEER RN, SORRY

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