Disclaimer:I don't own Tales of Symphonia,nor any of the characters present in my story.

I am from France,so my English is very bad.I would accept every corrections.

Resentment,Hatred and Vengeance:

Prologue:

Zelos and Lloyd stood 6 metres apart from each other, both ready to fight as hard as they could against each other.
It was intended to be a friendly match where no real harm would be done to any of them, but they both would do their best.It all started the day before:

"Hey Zelos, where did you learn to fight?"

"I was taught to fight for self-defence purposes, by swordsmen at the service of the Church of Martel"

"Really? I learned to fight alone" said Lloyd,very proud of himself.

"Haha, that explains why your fighting skills are so bad"

"Shut up, Zelos! I am a far better fighter than you!"

"If you say so.Would you agree to fight against me,to prove that statement true?" asked Zelos, grinning.

"Of course! I will fight you and prove that i am superior to you" answered Lloyd, returning the grin.

"okay then, tomorrow morning we'll fight on the field outside the camp"

"I agree" said Lloyd, and both fighters shook hands.

And now there they were, each one of them ready to vent his sword against the other.

Lloyd was the first to strike.Zelos blocked the blow with his own sword and pushed Lloyd backwards with his shield.
Lloyd then performed "Torment Beast".Zelos managed to block the Torment with "guardian" and then jumped backwards to avoid being hit by "Beast".Then the red-haired countered the attack with "Super Sonic Thrust".Lloyd was caught wide-open and sent to the ground.He got up to his feet quickly,only to be smashed by Zelos'sword and sent again to the ground.Zelos stood above Lloyd grining,and Lloyd glared back in response.

"Give up" said Zelos

"not yet" answered Lloyd, and with this,he knocked out Zelos'feet from under him,sending the red-haired to the ground as well.

Lloyd rolled back and got up to his feet,positioning himself at a safe distance from Zelos.Now that he realised Zelos was stronger,he had to adopt a defensive strategy.Zelos on the other hand, was frustrated that Lloyd was putting up such a fierce fight,he expected the boy to be much weaker.He resorted to throw himself against Lloyd with all strength he could muster,and end this for all at once.

Zelos performed "Super Lightning blade" Lloyd blocked the attack and countered with "Double Demong fang".Zelos jumped aside and performed "Hell Pyre",but Lloyd protected himself with "Guardian" and performed "Raining Tiger Blade", fruitlessly because Zelos blocked and answered with another attack.

They fought and parried endlessly, until they got very tired.They stood apart,breathing heavily.then Zelos gasped and lunged towards Lloyd,sword upheld.They clashed swords,each struggling to hold his ground from the other fighter,and staring at each other coldly.But Zelos slowly pushed Lloyd's sword forwards,and the brown haired felt his muscles failing and his legs slowly flinching,sweat pouring down his forehead.

"Give up,Lloyd"

"No I won't" said lloyd,difficultly because he was very tired.

"tough brat, aren't you? I am gonna trash you" said Zelos angerly, and he kicked Lloyd in the belly, sending him upwards.Lloyd was slammed against a tree and remained in the ground, pained.Zelos walked towards him at a slow pace, sensing he had won the fight,when Lloyd recovered and suddenly threw his punch at him.Zelos grabbed the fist and twisted Lloyd's arm,pulling a cry of pain from the other fighter.However,Lloyd directed an elbow to Zelos's stomach, releasing himself from the other's grip,and using again his sword he attacked Zelos with "Sword Rain Alpha".Zelos took the attack entirely,but,dominated by rage,he ignored the pain and countered inmediately with another thrust that caught Lloyd in the shoulder.Lloyd flinched, and Zelos took advantage of it by performing "Tornado Plus" on his opponent.Lloyd fell backwards,lying in the cold ground again.

But Lloyd was stubborn,and he got up once more whilst he blocked another blow from Zelos.The brown-haired gathered all the strength he had left and performed "Beast".The attack inflicted some damage to Zelos, but it wasn't enough.The chosen-one slashed his opponent across the chest,and Lloyd grunted in pain,holding the wound.Zelos kicked him in the groin and punched him in the face.He disarmed Lloyd and punched,kicked,elbowed and knelt him repeatedly,thrashing him as he had promised to do.Finally he knelt his side,causing him to stumble backwards.Zelos then knelt him in the stomach,causing him to fall to the ground miserably from the smashing blow.Zelos flipped him on his back with a kick to his side,and pulled his head up by his hair,whilst he pinned him firmly to the ground with his right foot.

"Concede defeat" he said,chuckling.

Lloyd tried yet to resist, and he struggled against Zelos,unsuccesfully.

Zelos twisted sharply the fistful of hair he held and pressed Lloyd's back even more with his foot,causing Lloyd to cry in agony.The brown-head decided to rest his chin on the ground and give up.

"I give up",he said,defeated.

"What did you say,Lloyd? say it louder"

"I give up.Please stop it" said Lloyd again.

"Good boy" whispered Zelos.He released Lloyd,who sighed in relief,though his head had fallen plainly to the ground,and walked away proudly,satisfied with his victory over the 17 years-old.

Lloyd was left in the ground breathing heavily,numbed and beaten,his face and body covered in the grass and the mud.

And,unbeknownst to Zelos,that was the origin of strong resentment,rivalry and hatred that ran deep in Lloyd since that very day.