[From here.]

The hall was still as dark and oppressive as before they'd gone into that room, but it also still seemed empty, too. There was a door just across the hall from where they were, and that was what Lloyd aimed for. Unfortunately, it wasn't quite so easy to leave his feelings and thoughts behind. The memory of that picture still burned in his mind. It wasn't real. It couldn't be real. But the more the thought about it, the more in plagued him that what if it could have been? What if Dirk hadn't found him that day? What if Kratos had found him instead? What would it have been like if he'd never lost his father? To have Kratos be his Dad. If Kratos had raised him, would there have been a picture just like that?

Stop it. He blasted the angry thought at himself, trying to bury the hurt he still felt. Stop thinking about it. There's more important things. Tsurugi's not having any problems ignoring whatever they had in his box. I need to be more like him. Because the other boy was doing a much better job at keeping control of himself.

Tsurugi. Kratos. Genis. Zelos. Colette. Almost everyone Lloyd knew and counted as a friend. How did they all manage to keep a lid on what they were feeling? How did they hold themselves back when Lloyd was all but throwing himself at whatever was going on?

Taking his frustration out on the door, Lloyd did what Tsurugi had done before and smashed his flashlight against the ancient, rusting knob. It took him two tries, but eventually it broke off. The door creaked when he pushed it open, making him grimace and hesitate, shining his flashlight in. If something was in there, it would know they were coming.

"You ready?" he asked, keeping his voice down just in case.