Lloyd listens silently as Kratos explains his reasoning on why he thought Anna and his Lloyd were dead for the past five years, and from what Lloyd knows about this world, it all checks out. There's a moment where he's left wondering about the survival rates of being hit by a cannon, but then he thinks about how the warning shot fucked them up from inside the mines, and thinks yeah, there's no way someone could survive that.
Until he remembers something. A simple, friendly spar turned PTSD trigger, Malos struggling to keep himself together in the face of Zelos's fiery orange ether. It's not his fault, Malos had said, and Zelos is an Aegis, used to power…
Oh.
Oh.
Lloyd is going to set fire to the whole of Tethe'alla's government.
The realizations that Anna and Malos had been hit by the cannon, at least semi-directly enough to be traumatized by it, and that Zelos had been used to power the shot, wrack through Lloyd's mind. Anna's entire village had been obliterated, apparently, but they still survived. It's not even like Lloyd can do anything with this knowledge right now, given that every associated party is asleep. What the fuck is this world even.
"No, no," Lloyd says, looking away, squinting into the forest in thought. "You're alright, I… I don't know how they survived it, but. I can guarantee Anna and Malos were caught in that cannon blast. If I were to guess, the ether overuse scars have something to do with it?"
He does look back at Kratos, though, face softening up into something akin to understanding and sympathy. "I believe you. That you would have looked for them had you known. Cannon hit or not, Anna should have told you," he pauses, scoffing again. "Should have at least found her fucking son."
And then Lloyd hesitates, because bringing up his adoptive father around his alternate dimension's self's real one may be a little awkward, but he decides to go for it anyways. "If it makes you feel any better, if he's in Iselia, he's definitely with Dirk, who's my adoptive father in my world. He's the best, honestly. Your son's in good hands."
Not knowing how else to comfort this Kratos (or any Kratos, really. Not like he ever got too close to his), Lloyd hesitates before bringing his hand up to place on Kratos' shoulder.
listen he's valid, lloyd's in a perpetual state of anger
Until he remembers something. A simple, friendly spar turned PTSD trigger, Malos struggling to keep himself together in the face of Zelos's fiery orange ether. It's not his fault, Malos had said, and Zelos is an Aegis, used to power…
Oh.
Oh.
Lloyd is going to set fire to the whole of Tethe'alla's government.
The realizations that Anna and Malos had been hit by the cannon, at least semi-directly enough to be traumatized by it, and that Zelos had been used to power the shot, wrack through Lloyd's mind. Anna's entire village had been obliterated, apparently, but they still survived. It's not even like Lloyd can do anything with this knowledge right now, given that every associated party is asleep. What the fuck is this world even.
"No, no," Lloyd says, looking away, squinting into the forest in thought. "You're alright, I… I don't know how they survived it, but. I can guarantee Anna and Malos were caught in that cannon blast. If I were to guess, the ether overuse scars have something to do with it?"
He does look back at Kratos, though, face softening up into something akin to understanding and sympathy. "I believe you. That you would have looked for them had you known. Cannon hit or not, Anna should have told you," he pauses, scoffing again. "Should have at least found her fucking son."
And then Lloyd hesitates, because bringing up his adoptive father around his alternate dimension's self's real one may be a little awkward, but he decides to go for it anyways. "If it makes you feel any better, if he's in Iselia, he's definitely with Dirk, who's my adoptive father in my world. He's the best, honestly. Your son's in good hands."
Not knowing how else to comfort this Kratos (or any Kratos, really. Not like he ever got too close to his), Lloyd hesitates before bringing his hand up to place on Kratos' shoulder.