Shit, of all the people for him to run into, it had to be Raine. Her bullshit detector was better than anybody else in the party (barring Kratos, but he'd probably just give him a good sock in the jaw), and he wasn't in top form.

He had to take a moment to collect himself. For Zelos, that in and of itself was a dead giveaway. Aside from trying to calm himself down, it's taking him a moment to connect the dots. Everyone else had definitely managed to do something, alright.

"The tree, huh? Don't think I made it there."

He shrugged his shoulders. Definitely hiding something, alright.

"The great Zelos Wilder? Seriously hurt? Don't worry babe, I've had much worse than this."

Finally able to work a bit of his jovial personality back into it, it still sounds somewhat forced. The wincing didn't help.