This is the beginning of part 2. Just for the warning, I have a feeling the rating of this fic might go up to M in the future.

A friendly reminder, don't skip the interlude! It contains some important information.

LoD Sony

Chapter 11

Lloyd opened his eyes and was greeted by the sight of Meru's big eyes staring at him.

"He's awake!" she announced.

Ilgu and a male wingly whom he didn't know quickly entered the room. Ilgu quickly kneeled beside his bed and apologized.

"Kruzra, I'm so sorry!" Ilgu said with teary eyes.

Lloyd frowned but ignored it. He got himself into a sitting position.

"Where am I?" he asked.

"In an inn in Lohan. You fainted from exhaustion and slept for 3 days." Meru answered

Three days… No wonder he was starving.

He put his boots on and got up from the bed.

"Where are you going?" Meru asked.

"Get some food." he said.

However, Ilgu and Meru quickly pushed him back to the chair near the table.

"Aaah… You should just tell us" Meru said.

Ilgu and Meru got out, leaving him with a guy he wasn't familiar with.

"I'm Guaraha, Meru's fiance. Nice to meet you, Lloyd." he smiled.

"Oh, nice to meet you too."

"Meru talked a lot about you"

Lloyd sneered, "Oh really? I doubt they're pleasant."

Guaraha shook his head,

"We admire you! You traveled the human world alone, defying the rule, had some adventures to create a better world while everyone was hiding in the forest, kicked some asses, got a girl. Oh, Soa! You should tell me more about it!" his eyes were beaming.

Lloyd was dumbfounded. What's wrong with this guy? He had never expected anyone to view him that way. Also, what's up with getting a girl part?

Thankfully, Ilgu and Meru returned with some bread and saved him from a more awkward situation.

"Th...thank you…" Lloyd said hesitantly.

He was confused, why everyone was suddenly treating him nicely.

"Don't mention it! That's what friends are for!" Meru smacked Lloyd's back.

Friends?

Haha! Do you really believe anyone wants to be your friend?

You, weirdo!

"Go on, eat!" Ilgu said.

He started to eat. It felt a bit awkward to eat alone while having some people looking at him with a smile on their face, so he finished everything quickly and headed towards the door.

"Where are you going?" Meru asked.

"I need some fresh air."

"I'll come with you!"

Meru said as she grabbed his arm. The sudden touch sent some sort of electricity through his body. He had never been touched by a stranger so sudden like that.

The girl waved her hand to her fiance. The boy waved back at her, smiling.

So, he walked around the town with a girl, who used to be his enemy, clinging on him. It felt so strange. However, that's not all of it. Some strangers started to greet them "good morning" or "how are you". Meru greeted them cheerfully while he just nodded at them.

The town was no longer the Lohan in Lloyd's memory. It now looked more like a wingly town with many platforms only reachable by flying. Also, it was really ugly, just like the wingly settlement post-Dragon Campaign.

"Why there's no human here?" he asked.

Meru stopped walking.

"Well, this is a wingly area, the humans are on the other side. Hahaha…" Meru laughed awkwardly as she scratched her head.

Lloyd cringed. So, the magical barrier separating both species were gone, but that didn't mean they mingled.

Suddenly, they were approached by some winglies who handed Lloyd some flowers and vegetables.

"Master Kruzra, please allow me to express my gratitude for saving my husband." said a female wingly.

"Me, too… You saved my sister!"

Lloyd was confused. He wasn't sure how to handle it when people started putting gifts on his hand.

"This is not necessary." he said.

However, soon he was holding too much stuff on his hands with more and more people surrounded him.

Seeing how her companion was in an awkward position, Meru interfered.

"Alright! Alright! If you want to thank him, just drop your gifts and fanmail in the inn. He has other things to do!" said Meru as she returned some of the gifts and dragged Lloyd away from the crowd to run away as quickly as possible.

They stopped running once they got away.

"Phew… Fans can be scary…" said Meru.

Lloyd didn't react. Instead, he stared at Meru.

"What? Is something wrong with my face?" she brought her palms to her face.

For a moment, he felt like he was being transported to the past.

A freckled brunette girl dragged the raven hair boy away from the crowd of female admirers.

"Alright! Alright! Please, make way! My brother still has a lot of work to do! If you have something to give, just leave it at our home."

"Lloyd?" Meru waved her hand in front of his face.

He snapped out of his thoughts.

"Is there something wrong?" she asked.

"No. Nevermind."

She grinned.

"Welcome to the human part of Lohan! Miss Meru would be your personal guide!" Meru said cheerfully.

Lloyd kept his face straight.

"Can't you at least act a bit excited?" Meru mumbled.

Lloyd just frowned.

"Come on!"

Meru pulled his hand. Lloyd stumbled a bit. They ran through the part of the town familiar to him to the game arena. Meru went to the ticket office.

"Yo, Meru! Long time no see!" the guy in the ticket stall greeted her.

"Yeah! Been busy lately!" she replied.

"Who is that? Your new boyfriend?"

Meru shook her head and waved her hand, "Just friend. Rob, this is Lloyd. Lloyd, this is Rob."

"Lloyd? Could it be Lloyd who won The Hero Competition 7 years ago? Oh My Soa! Yeah, It's you! It's been a long time and all winglies kinda look alike. I'm your fan! Can I have your autograph?"

The man handed him a paper and a quill. Lloyd was confused, but he simply signed it. He was pleasantly surprised to find that some humans were still friendly towards winglies. It seemed things were not as bad as he had imagined before.

"Here are 10 tickets as my thanks." he handed Lloyd 10 tickets.

Meanwhile, Meru's jaw dropped watching the scene that was unfolding before her. She didn't expect Lloyd was famous even among the humans!

"Are you okay?" Lloyd asked her.

She got herself together and snatched the tickets from Lloyd.

"Yes! Let's play!"

She pushed him to one of the game stalls.

"What?" he asked

"Play!" she said.

He walked away, "You play. I'll wait."

However, Meru pushed him again.

"C'mon!"

"Why don't you do it yourself?!" Lloyd said, slightly annoyed.

"Because I always lose. There is a hairband I really want and they don't sell it anywhere else. Pleaaaseee…!" she said with puppy dog eyes.

"Play with me, brother! Pleaaaseee…!"

Lloyd sighed, "Just this once…"

"Yay!" Meru jumped in excitement.

It wasn't too bad. He just needed to guess which guy had the bird hidden under his head. He could easily guess the right one.

"Satisfied? He asked.

"We need 50 tickets." said Meru.

"What the fuck?!"

"Please…" Meru grinned apologetically.

Lloyd rolled his eyes and repeated the game. It turned out he was really good and guessed everything correctly. That bored Meru and she pulled him to the next stall where he needed to memorize the decor and find the differences. He won on the first try. Meru and the guy who worked there gave him small applause.

Meru then dragged him to the obstacle course.

"Let's do this one!" she said.

Lloyd immediately said, "No."

"Pleeeaaassseee!"

"No!"

"This one gives more tickets. Just 1 more time and we are done!"

"..."

In the end, Lloyd gave up and did it. And he did it very well. Meru was astounded. She expected he would get hit and she could laugh at him, but no.

"Congratulation! You're the first person who won on the first try!"

The owner of the stall threw him some confetti. It was super awkward.

"Here are your tickets!" he handed them 3 tickets.

Lloyd glared at Meru, "You lied to me!"

Meru ran away as Lloyd chased her.

"We have enough tickets now!"

She stopped in front of the ticket office and traded them with a cute hairband. Lloyd rolled his eyes. He had been taken advantage of.

"Thank you, Lloyd!"

Meru suddenly gave him a peck on the cheek. Lloyd sighed in defeat.

"You did much better than Dart and Guaraha." she said.

"Oh, that sounds comforting." he said sarcastically.

"Come! Miss Meru will treat you to dinner!"

Meru took him to a tavern. Again, the owner greeted them warmly.

"You got a new friend?" the owner asked.

"Not really new. An old one!" she said.

"Wait! Aren't you Lloyd?!"

Meru went agape. How could everyone know Lloyd?!

"I was a fan of yours. Well, I still am! Can I have your autograph? I'll give you free food in exchange."

And so, Meru's plan to treat Lloyd was in ruin.

After they were done with the autographing business, the owner took their order.

"What do you want to eat?"

"I'd like a pork medallion!" Meru said.

Lloyd looked at her in surprise.

"And you?" she asked Lloyd.

"Same."

This time, it was Meru who was surprised.

"Wait! Wait! I'd take creamy chicken!"

She wouldn't take the same stuff as him…

"Alright!" the owner said.

Once the owner left, Meru spoke to him,

"You naughty wingly." Meru said teasingly.

"I just followed your example, Miss."

"You're lying! You must have done it before!"

Lloyd just smirked. Meru wasn't a bad companion after all...

"Does your fiance know?" he asked.

"Uh-huh..."

"And he is okay with it?"

"Nah, he doesn't care as long as I don't ask him to eat it."

Lloyd was pleased by the answer. Maybe, things weren't entirely hopeless. These young winglies were different. The humans were also different. Still, some things bothered him.

"Are we the only winglies here?" he asked.

"Uh-huh."

"Why?"

"Well…, they are afraid. I guess… Someone got beaten once."

"And you are not?"

"Meru beat the crap out of those bastards and then we beat them also." one of the guests suddenly joined in.

Everyone laughed, except Lloyd who seemed astonished by the answer.

"And what will happen if humans enter winglies territory?" Lloyd asked.

Although he had already guessed the answer...

"Nothing, really. Haha..." Meru answered, "Well, maybe there are some old fashioned winglies, but most simply don't care actually."

Even if nothing would happen, people didn't want to go out of their comfort zone. That's understandable. Nobody would like to stick out like a sore thumb and accidentally got beaten by some nutty militants. However, what would it mean for the future?

The food came. Meru cut a large piece of her food and put it on Lloyd's plate. She then stole one of his medallions. Lloyd just watched her enjoying herself.

"Tell me, Lloyd. How did you survive?" Meru asked.

"... Luck, I guess?"

"Luck?"

"I met Rose. She saved me."

"Rose? Why?"

"Her boyfriend felt guilty for ruining my life."

He paused for a moment,

"Well, to be fair, I ruined my own life." he chuckled bitterly.

Meru shook his head, "It was Melbu Frahma. You were just being lied to because you want a better world for everyone."

"You don't know me, Miss. I did what I did for a selfish reason."

"Then tell me about yourself! We are friends! I should know more about you."

Lloyd laughed, "Friends? Miss, we almost killed each other last time."

Meru brushed it off,

"That's a misunderstanding. I may not always agree with your way of doing things, but don't you think we have more in common with each other than with other winglies? I mean, that's why we are sitting here right now." she said with a tone that was uncharacteristic of her.

Lloyd realized Meru was right. Despite her easy-going nature, he could tell she was lonely. She loved her human friends, but they didn't go through what she experienced as a wingly who liked humans. The winglies might tolerate her antics, but they couldn't understand her.

"I understand your feelings. However, there are things I wish to keep to myself. All I can tell you is you are right about us being similar to a certain extent."

"Does that mean we are friends?"

Lloyd shrugged, "If you insist…"

Meru jumped from her chair and hugged Lloyd from the back.

"We should drink to celebrate this!" Meru said.

"Finish your food first!"

Meru returned to her seat and continued eating.

"Lloyd, what do you plan to do next?" she asked.

He didn't answer. He had considered surrendering himself to the authority. However, with the current situation, it suddenly sounded stupid. He wasn't too fond of life, but he wasn't suicidal either. He also knew better than playing hero again. He probably would just go back to his mundane life before all the utopia drama.

"I don't know… Get a job, probably. I need to keep myself alive."

But not really living…

Despite understanding the extent of evil he had done, he didn't entirely regret it. It was the few moments in his life when he felt living. A rare moment when he finally had a purpose in his life.

"What about going with us to Bale? We can ask Albert for a job. He needs winglies he can trust right now."

Lloyd almost choked himself hearing that,

"Are you kidding?! Didn't they tell you what happened the last time I worked for him?"

"Huh? What happened?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Okay…, but will you come with us? I don't want to lose a new friend."

Lloyd had to admit to himself, he sort of enjoyed Meru's company. He reminded him of someone from his past. Someone who liked being around him, showered him with affection, and treasured him without trying to get into his pants. However, above all...,

Meru was different. Just like him.

Maybe, it's not a bad idea…

"Alright…" he said.

"Yay! Let's drink to celebrate this!"

Hours later, he regretted drinking with Meru as he ended up carrying her on his back. He thought Meru could drink! However, she got drunk after drinking just a half glass.

"Lloyd! I'm so happy to meet you!" she shouted.

"Shut up, Meru! You don't want any wingly to see you like this!" said Lloyd, half whispering.

Good thing it was late and nobody was on the street. He didn't want to deal with winglies being horrified seeing a young wingly girl being drunk after violating the dietary requirement. She was too excited to find a partner in crime.

"I always want a big brother." she mumbled as she circled her arms around his neck.

Lloyd stopped walking.

Was it bad that he started having hope?

Maybe…, just maybe..., things had changed. Now that the humans knew the winglies existed, they wouldn't be afraid of someone who doesn't age after decades. Maybe the winglies wouldn't be so judgemental towards those who didn't live the way they did anymore… Maybe he could finally settle and live a normal life.

He had been living among humans for thousands of years. He simply couldn't stand living with winglies, their boring diets, their rigid lifestyle, but most of all the way they looked down on the ones he loved. So, he had left and wandered the human world. However, that came with a price.

He couldn't settle.

Otherwise, they would realize he wasn't human since he didn't age.

In the beginning, wandering the world was quite fun. However, he soon got tired of it. By tiring, he really meant it was more than just boring but punishingly exhausting. There was neither certainty nor familiarity in his life. He had to constantly move. If he liked the room he rented, he should always prepare to leave.

He couldn't build a career, which meant no stable income. Most of the time, he did lowly mercenary jobs or hunting which were enough for living. Sometimes, when he was lucky, he would get a nice job in the palace, but soon he would have to abandon it. However, there were times, hard times, when he was shunned as a foreigner and the only job available was the jobs that no one else wanted. Or even being chased out of town, because they believed someone with white hair brought death.

However, that wasn't the most punishing aspect of that lifestyle. After living a nomadic life for a while, he learned that a relationship with others was simply impossible. He would leave anyway, so what's the point of having one when he knew it would end up with a heartbreaking separation? It had turned his heart into stone. Otherwise, he wouldn't be able to handle it.

He had no family, no friends, no job, no purpose, no home. The true definition of having no life. He was merely a wandering ghost.

Meru reminded him of the time when he had been human. When he had a family and a home. He was poor and yet he had his own bed made out of a pile of straw and rags that he collected. He collected shits that had no values, but somehow he found it interesting to decorate his space. He had been extremely poor, yet he had had more than this ghost who only had what he carried on his body. When you're constantly moving, there was no point in owning anything.

Between the hope for a better life and the pressure to atone. He didn't know what to expect.

When they arrived at the inn, Guaraha was waiting for them.

"Oh, Meru! What have you done?"

Meru was too drunk to answer. They quickly brought her to her room and laid her down on the bed.

"Thank you for bringing her back." Guaraha said.

"No problem. Sorry, I shouldn't let her drink." said Lloyd.

"Nah, not your fault. No one would be able to stop her from doing what she wanted to do."

"I'll leave her to you, then."

Lloyd gave Meru one last glance. The voice of his sister playing in his head.


What a long chapter!

Lloyd came back to pay for what he had done, but he found himself in a hero position with a bunch of adoring fans. Lol.

Also… I think Lloyd didn't know they could buy tickets with money. Lol.

I made enough hints that Lloyd was being sexually objectified by the females and that made him feel uncomfortable.

But perhaps the most important is Lloyd's lifestyle. Imagine the feeling of going back home after a long trip, of finally sleeping on your own bed and using your own toilet. Lloyd had none of those because he couldn't fit in.

I talked about transracial adoption previously and some "anti-racists" (WITH QUOTES) said that adoption of a child from a different racial background should only be done if the parents raised the child within the culture of the child's racial group. Lloyd here wants to have some words with you. Again, let's look back to chapter 9. It's when Lloyd asserted himself as an individual who refused to be a slave to his racial background. Lloyd lived the way he wanted to live, ate what he wanted to eat. He treasured his individual freedom and independence and he would not trade it for societal acceptance. There is something thicker than blood that he was unwilling to give up even though he had to pay a heavy price for it. This is a story about an individual who struggled to break away from the boundary of race and culture.

At its core, this fic is about rebellion against social expectations. Both the expectation of the characters and, as I have said before, people in real life.

I have told myself again and again that I should not write too much author note, because it is more rewarding if the readers can make their own conclusion. However, I also feel it is getting harder to resist the need to express myself. As we see here, transracial adoption caused a lot of challenges for Lloyd. However, to assume that biological difference somehow led to a less meaningful relationship, I think that is a very cynical worldview.