Author's notes: I had all these excellent Halloween titles (and costumes) for each of the characters and just wanted a way to show everyone. It was Halloween, so I decided, what the heck, I'll do a one-shot for it.
Disclaimer: I don't own Tales of Symphonia, if I did they would have had more character titles, namely the ones featured in this tale told of collective one-shot's.
Halloween:
The dark and chilly October night made for an eerie atmosphere. The Iselia Forest was far too quiet for a usual autumn night; animals and insects alike remained silent by some unspoken suggestion. The full moon shone brightly, piercing the darkness of the forest, yet, in its wake, leaving numerous shadows for one to hide amongst.
A small house in the depths of the forest was the only sign of life within the woods. Noises emanated from the house, loud laughter and pleasant conversation a soothing change from the deadness of the world. A light came from inside, the glow of candles and a warm fire place gleaming in the dark, uncaring of the blackness.
"Colette, hand me that plate of cookies would you?" a small boy with silver hair asked as he pointed to a platter full of Halloween cookies.
The boy's skin was tinted blue, as if in death, and his silver hair only added to the effect. His eyes were shadowed and made to look glazed over and empty. His white shirt was dirty and unkempt and the blue pants were torn around his ankles. Fake blood was liberally splattered over his apparel.
"Oh, sure thing Genis," a blonde haired girl said as she grabbed the plate of ghost and pumpkin shaped sweets.
She wore a vibrant green dress that fell just below her knees and a small silver flower tiara sat atop her head. Her hair was pulled back by two braids that kept the rest of her hair from framing her face and more easily revealed her shining crystal blue eyes. A pair of pink, segmented wings completed the look of 'Fairy Princess' despite the fact that that they didn't match the rest of her outfit.
"Careful Colette!" another boy said as he caught her from tripping over the edge of the dusty brown rug that had been placed on the ground.
He wore two fake wolf ears that really made him look silly as his ears were still clearly visible beneath his slightly longish hair. A furry brown wolf tail was pinned to the back of his ragged red outfit, and hung limply. Fake wolf fangs extended out of his mouth as he grinned.
"Oops," Colette said as she quickly righted herself. "I'm sorry Lloyd, Genis."
"At least you didn't drop the cookies," Genis commented lightly as he took the platter from her and set it on the table.
A light breeze emanated from the direction of the front door. "What's with Colette tripping all the time anyway?" a female voice questioned as she stood in the doorway of the house.
"Sheena!" the three children all exclaimed at once.
Sheena smiled and waved over at her friends. She wore a tight black one piece outfit that buttoned in the back. She had black boots that went up to her mid calf, her pants disappearing beneath the leather material. Long gloves with sharp, almost claw-like nails adorned her arms, and met with the mid-length sleeves of her clothing. Two cat ears stuck up in the midst of her spiky black hair that was pulled back into a messy pontail and a black tail hung down to the floor.
"Hey, it's been awhile," the ninja greeted with a smile.
Lloyd blinked. "Sheena, you're early," the boy said in surprise.
"Yeah. I guess I just couldn't wait to visit you guys. I mean, it has been like what, a year now?" the successor to Mizuho responded with a shrug.
"Cool!" Lloyd grinned. "Um, well, what are you?"
"I'm a cat, Lloyd," Sheena stated, rolling her eyes.
"Really? You look good for being a cat," Lloyd responded stupidly.
"W-well thanks," she ducked her head, hiding her blush.
Sheena gained the title: 'Catgirl' her looks are sharp, but beware, so are her claws.
"W-what about me Lloyd? Don't I look good?" Colette asked nervously, tugging on the hem of her green dress.
"You're beautiful Colette," Lloyd replied honestly.
Colette gained the title: 'Fairy Princess' she's so tiny, and pretty too. Just like a Fairy Princess!
Sheena's head snapped in his direction, and the ninja sent him a dirty look. "W-well, what are you Lloyd?" she asked in order to change the subject.
Lloyd sent a rather loud, terrible, imitation of a wolf's howl. "I'm a werewolf!"
Lloyd gained the title: 'Howl in the Night' Every full moon a beast wild and free replaces the boy and searches out its next meal.
"Really?" the ninja responded skeptically, giving his costume a critical eye. "You look ridiculous!" she concluded.
"Sheena! That's not very nice!" Colette cried.
"Hey!" Lloyd threw his arms out behind him, and glared at the ninja.
Sheena humphed loudly. "Well it's true," she snapped.
"A group of naughty little children we have here," terribly grating voice spoke from the doorway.
"I couldn't agree more." A normal sounding male voice stated calmly.
The group of four turned to look at the two people who just arrived and, to their horror, spotted one of the most ghastly creatures. It had a large hump back, a black witch hat and dark robes, and disgusting, wrinkly green skin. The gnarled old staff it held only completed the look.
"Raine?" the three teenagers said in unison, disbelieving their eyes.
"Raine's a witch? I knew it!" Raine smacked Genis upside the head.
Raine gained the title: 'I Knew She Was a Witch!' So… All those concoctions she called 'food' were really potions?
"Genis! That's very rude to talk to people like that," Yuan shook his head disapprovingly.
Lloyd blinked. "Yuan? I don't remember inviting you to this party."
"What?!" the man cried with disappointment. "B-but, I'm all dressed up! It's not like I do this often you know…" the seraph said, pouting childishly as he glanced down sadly at the floor.
Indeed he had 'dressed up' as it were. The Seraph wore all white clothing that was frayed slightly around the edges, and looked rather worn. He didn't have any sort of shoes, to the surprise of everyone in the room, and his skin was so pale that they all thought he had simply dumped flour over himself, which, in fact, he had. Even his hair had been turned white due to the substance. What completed the look were the chains attached to each of his wrists, which rattled ominously with every step he took.
"Lloyd let him stay," Raine insisted firmly, using her 'teacher' voice. "I said he could come because he didn't have anywhere else to be."
"B-but professor! He tried to kill Colette and me!" Lloyd protested loudly.
"Colette and I, Lloyden," a new voice cut off any more protests the boy could spew out.
"Hey Kratos," Yuan waved at the other nonchalantly.
Kratos gave him a nod of acknowledgement. "Yuan," he said as a form of greeting.
Kratos had a dark cloak wrapped over black clothes. The collar of it went so high that it covered the lower portion of his face, and his hair hung down so that hardly anything could be seen aside from his mouth. One thing stood out in that there were two, fake, shiny vampire fangs that hung from beneath his upper lip.
"Kratos…?" Everyone stared at him in surprise.
"What?" the man asked in confusion. "Yuan did you dump flour on yourself again?"
"What?" Yuan huffed in irritation. "It was an accident! I was baking some peanut butter cookies when all the flour fell on me. I had to make them without flour," Yuan finished with a solemn nod of his head, pulling out a bag of peanut butter cookies.
Everyone in the room sweat-dropped. "Here, let me take those," Genis went up to him and Yuan handed him the bag with a pout.
"But they're my cookies!" he complained.
"O-kay…" she sent him a weird look, before turning her attention back to Kratos's state of dress. "Yuan's kitchen mishaps aside; Kratos actually dressed up for Halloween?" she asked in disbelief.
Yuan grinned at that. "You can thank me later!" he said happily.
Kratos sighed. "Indeed, seeing as Yuan was the one who forced me to wear this ridiculous attire," the man muttered as he shook his head lightly, one gloved palm on his forehead.
All eyes turned toward Yuan. "What… did you do?" Lloyd asked him slowly.
Yuan smirked. "I said I'd force-feed him tomato soup if he didn't."
Lloyd gasped in horror, and ran over to his father. "He really made a threat like that?" the boy asked wide-eyed. "That's terrible!" he cried.
Kratos nodded solemnly. "Indeed. It was for that reason that I chose the lesser of the two evils."
"You guys are being ridiculous!" Genis cried exasperatedly, giving a shrug of his shoulders and a shake of his head.
The door slammed open. "All right! The great Zelos Wilder is finally here! Ladies beware 'cuz…" Zelos stopped short as he stared at Genis. "Uhh… brat? What are you wearing?"
Genis shot him a dark look. "I'm a zombie, you idiot!" Raine promptly smacked the boy upside the head. "Ow!"
"Genis, that is very rude," Raine said sternly, sending her brother a sharp look.
Yuan spoke next. "Even so, Miss Sage, that doesn't mean you have to hit the boy. I'm certain a simple reprimand would have sufficed," he said as he crossed his arms over his chest, the chains rattling along with the movement.
"Don't tell me how to raise my brother!" she snapped, trying to hit him with her staff. Needless to say, Yuan hid behind Kratos.
"A zombie, huh? What are you going to do? Eat Lloyd's brains or something?" Zelos asked sarcastically. "Oh wait, he doesn't have any!" Zelos laughed hysterically at his own joke.
Genis gained the title: 'Zombie Boy' Brains?! (1)
"Hey!" Lloyd shouted angrily at him.
Kratos glared down at him. "Did you just… insult my son?" the man asked slowly, his left eye twitching slightly.
"What's your costume supposed to be Zelos?" Colette asked in an attempt to change the subject.
Zelos wore a black outfit that was somewhat baggy and had the skeletal framework of the human body on both the front and back, so as to make him look like a skeleton while confined in the shadows. A black mask that was made to look like a skull covered his entire face except for his eyes and mouth. The oddest part though, was that his long scarlet hair, which always curled at the ends, hung freely down his back, and made for a sharp contrast to his black and white attire.
"I'm skeleton my cute little angel," Zelos responded evenly, a slight smirk playing on his lips.
Zelos gained the title: 'Bones a' Plenty' The moon reveals him for what he is.
"Um," Colette frowned in confusion. "But Zelos, I'm not an angel. I'm a Fairy Princess!" she chirped cheerfully.
Zelos smiled lazily. "Of course, my cute Colette. Now, should we get this party started or what?"
"But Presea and Regal aren't here yet!" Genis protested loudly. "I wanted everyone to be able to try my Halloween cookies."
"Don't worry," Lloyd grinned broadly, "they'll be here soon. They promised."
Yuan frowned at that. "Indeed," he snorted sharply. "As if we all know promises are never broken," his voice dripped with sarcasm as he turned on heel and walked away in a huff.
"What's his problem?" Sheena yelled angrily, glaring after the man. "I mean, sheesh, we're here to have fun aren't we?"
"Someone's having mood swings," Zelos muttered with a shake of his head.
Kratos sighed. "Miss Fujibayashi, do not take it personally. Yuan tends to speak aloud his frustrations in a sardonic manner as he knows no other way of expressing his emotions."
Everyone stared at him. "Can someone tell me what he said in the common language, please?" Lloyd asked.
All of his companions sweat-dropped. "In other words, whenever the Ancient One is upset or mad, he takes it out on all of us by making us listen to his sarcastic comments." Zelos explained, waving his arms to add emphasis to his words.
"Oh! That makes sense," Lloyd grinned again. However, his smile soon turned to a frown as he thought about what had just been said. "If Yuan is so upset then shouldn't we try to help him cope with his past problems instead of leaving him to his own devises?" Lloyd asked aloud, his head tilting to the side in thought.
Yuan gained the title: 'Ghost of the Past' He covers his ghosts with a scowl and glare, but he can't hide them forever.
"Lloyd!" Raine exclaimed happily, "you used the word 'cope' properly in a sentence. I'm so proud of you!"
"Hey!" the boy glared at her. "You're making fun of me aren't you?"
Kratos shook his head at the childishness. "Lloyd," he spoke to get the boy's attention. "Do not worry about Yuan, I will handle him. I would suggest you see to our new arrivals in the meantime," Kratos rose and went to follow Yuan out the back door.
"New arrivals…?" Lloyd squinted and his forehead creased in confusion. "Wait… Oh! Presea and Regal must be here!" he shouted excitedly.
"Alright! Looks like all my hunnies are finally here!" Zelos smirked a little. As an afterthought he said, "Oh, and pops too of course."
The sound of knuckles rapping on wood echoed through the house and Lloyd ran to the front door, bouncing on the balls of his feet. "Coming!"
He threw the door open before Regal even had a chance to put his hand down. They stared at each other. "You know, you're the only one who knocked," Lloyd stated.
"I do not know how these things work in Sylvarant, however, in Tethe'alla at least, it is considered rude to intrude into someone else's home without first being invited in," Regal responded professionally.
"In other words, Lloyd," Began Zelos, "he's a vampire."
"But Regal's not a vampire," Colette said in confusion, "Mr. Kratos is a vampire. Regal is Frankenstein," the blonde then indicated his choice of costume.
Regal had on blue pants and a black, long-sleeved shirt. His skin had been painted a sickly green color, and his eyes had dark circles beneath them. Two fake nails stuck out on either side of his neck and his blue hair hung down in a low ponytail. He did not have handcuffs on like he had the last time they had seen him and his fingernails seemed longish, and unkempt.
"He's Frankenstein's Monster," a quiet voice came from near the tiny kitchen.
Everyone turned to stare at Kratos and Yuan, who had just returned. Yuan, who had spoken, had faint signs of tear tracks running down his cheeks, which had turned the flour on his face into a pasty, off-white substance that clung to his face. He quickly wiped the gunk off his face, and continued staring at them with sad, solemn eyes.
"Huh?" was the only thing Lloyd could articulate at this time.
Presea, who as of yet had not spoken, said, "What he says is true. Regal is not Frankenstein himself, as he is Frankenstein's Monster. It is a popular misconception that people refer to Frankenstein as the monster despite the fact that is not the case," the girl stated in an eerie, matter-of-fact voice.
"What Miss Combatir said is accurate," Kratos confirmed with a nod toward the pink haired girl. "Frankenstein is the doctor who created the creature, and not the monster itself."
Regal gave a knowing smile. "Well, I guess I am Frankenstein's Monster then," he said amusedly.
Regal gained the title: 'Frankenstein's Monster' A monster of unstoppable might, and all those who see him run in fear of what they have unleashed.
"Presea, why don't you have a costume on?" Genis asked the girl as he saw that she wore her usual outfit.
Presea glanced down at her dark, short blue dress that was just above her knees. "I couldn't think of what to wear, so Regal suggested I use my old battle outfit and that I should bring one of my axes with me so I could assume the role of an 'Axe Murderer'." They all stared at the blood stains on her boots, gauntlets and dress.
Presea gained the title: 'Axe Murderer' She swings her axe again and again, and blood stains her pretty dress…
Regal sweat-dropped, and hung his head. "I was only joking," he said with a sigh.
Presea gazed up at him with her blank blue eyes. "Is this your idea of a 'joke'?" she questioned with a hint of curiosity, as she tilted her head to the right.
"O-kay…" Lloyd said, his eye twitching slightly. "Um… How about we eat?" he suggested, pointing to the table. "I'm starving! Now that everyone is here we can eat," he stated happily.
"Ah, Lloyd," Genis's high pitched, annoying 'brat' voice rang through the room. "Shouldn't we wait for Dirk?" he asked in his all knowing, self-important manner.
Lloyd face-fell. "W-what? But I haven't eaten since lunch!" Lloyd complained as his stomach gurgled in protest at his friend's words. "And besides, da-Dirk said he wouldn't be back till late, and it's already like, midnight!"
"Lloyd, it's just after dusk," Kratos pointed out flatly.
"But I'm hungry!" Lloyd exclaimed. He began moaning as if in pain, and holding his stomach as he rocked back and forth on his feet.
Yuan rolled his eyes. "Let him eat. Knowing a dwarf 'late' could mean late in the afternoon when it's midnight," he muttered more to himself, shaking his head.
Kratos rolled his eyes. "What is it with elves and dwarves being unable to get along?" he asked in exasperation.
When Yuan had spoken, Lloyd had been lying flat on his face and convulsing as if he had been dying, but the instant Yuan said that, he jumped to his feet. "Yeah!" he pumped his fist in the air. "Let's eat!"
Kratos pressed the palm of his hand to his forehead, and shook his head. "That boy…" he muttered to himself.
Yuan stepped up next to him. "Hey Kratos," Yuan spoke in a scheming whisper. "How about you…" he whispered something into the man's right ear and Kratos adopted a rather creepy grin that showed off the fake vampire fangs.
"An excellent idea Yuan," Kratos responded smoothly.
"Mwuahahaha!" Yuan laughed evilly, an unfamiliar glint in his eyes.
The two came to the table, and Kratos sat between Genis and his son, and Yuan sat on the other side of Genis so that he was sitting between Raine and Genis. Regal and Genis got to their feet and went to the tiny kitchen near the back of the house to get the food. A variety of different cuisine was placed before them, and a pitcher of some dark red liquid was set in front of Kratos.
The man poured himself a glass and took a sip. He promptly frowned. "Kratos?" Genis spoke from his right side. "Do you not like the punch? It was a new recipe I wanted to try…" he said in disappointment.
"It's not that Genis," Kratos responded, glancing down at the boy. "I simply thought I ordered human blood. Clearly this is half-elven," he said matter-of-factly.
Kratos gained the title: 'Bloodlust' The thirst for that crimson liquid is unquenchable…
Everyone in the room, aside from Yuan, sent Kratos a few rather disturbed glances. Zelos was the first to break the silence that followed Kratos's words. "Kratos really is a vampire! Head for the hills, women and children and me first!" he shouted as he jumped up from the table and ran out into the next room
Kratos and Yuan burst out laughing, and everyone else went buggy-eyed at their sudden display of emotion. "You gotta admit that that was hilarious," Yuan said after his breathing returned to normal.
"Zelos you're so selfish!" Sheena yelled after the retreating red-head, who, if the sound of the front door slamming was anything to go by, had just ran out into the forest.
Sheena fixed a look at the rest of those at the table. "I'll be right back," she said as she neatly pushed her chair back, and rose from the table.
They heard her walk out the door, and let out a cry of, "Pyre Seal!"
"Not the face!" was the resounding scream.
Lloyd heaved out a sigh. "They act so childish at times. It's enough to drive you insane," he said with a shake of his head.
Kratos smirked lightly. "Now you know something of what it is like being a parent," Kratos responded to his son's comment with a light chuckle.
Lloyd blinked. "What's that supposed to mean?"
Endnotes: Heeheehee! Raine's a witch! I just loved that (she kinda acts like one to Kratos in Chosen Path...)
I also meant to give Noishe (yes Noishe) a costume/title but I didn't get around to it. I will probably make that a one-shot for another time.
(1) Anyone who's seen LittleKuriboh's Yugioh the abridged series knows what this is a reference to... Yes, I made a LittleKuriboh reference, so sue me.