Author Notes: I suppose you can call this an Abyss crossover, but since the word crossover creates expectations, I kinda want this to just stay a Symphonia fic. If it comes to having equal parts Abyss and Symphonia, I'll toss it in the crossovers bin.
Disclaimer: Everything Tales of related is property of Namco-Bandai, even if they treat their fanbase like dreck.
To say Dirk was one stressed dwarf was an understatement. It wasn't over being one of the few dwarves living above ground. It wasn't because he chose to dwell close to a town whose major was a discriminating bigot who managed to insult him when begging for the dwarf's help.
Dirk sighed, breathing in the disappointingly short silence.
"Three, two, one…"
As he finished his countdown, he could hear their voices, from practically a mile away. He had hoped that one would grow up to be the quiet one, but fate had a sick sense of humor and alas, both of his sons grew up to be loudmouths. Reckless loudmouths at that. When they were younger, they had a nasty habit of breaking everything they could get their hands on, intentional or not. Those were the most trying days, but eventually they grew out of that habit and even learned to repair all the damage they had done. It was almost a shame they weren't actually brothers, but Lloyd and Luke were close enough.
He could hear their laughter now. Lloyd was the one telling the joke this time, because he could hear Luke's laugh, spaced by heaving breathing. They settled down once they got to the door, signaling Dirk to stand to greet them.
"We're home, Dad!" Luke greeted cheerfully.
"Welcome home, boys." Dirk said, nodding. "How was your day?"
On cue, the two prattled on as the dwarf resumed his work. He grunted and nodded, acknowledging that he heard them, and often laughed at their antics and teasing. When they were done summing up their day, finishing their last pokes and jabs, Dirk shooed them off to do the homework he knew they weren't going to do. Luke did put in the effort to start, but got lazy in the middle and started scribbling in an attempt to convince their teacher that it was just his handwriting. Lloyd rarely ever bothered, always counting on his best friend Genis to help him out in the morning.
Once they were "done" with homework, they headed outside to talk to Lloyd's mother's grave and spar. It was strange. They both referred to her as "mom", but whenever they spoke about her, Luke called her "Lloyd's mom". He seemed to make it a point that she was Lloyd's blood mother. Dirk saw no discomfort in the redhead's behavior however, and eventually accepted it.
The sound of wooden sticks hitting each other filled air, along with the crackling hearth and harsh, banging metal that accompanied blacksmithing. The noise of tools eventually changed to the noise of pots and pans in the kitchen while the wooden sticks continued to clunk against each other. The two were not to be trusted at the stove unsupervised. Lloyd proved to be a decent chef unless the recipe called for tomatoes, but with Luke with him, the brunet often became distracted, a deadly state in the kitchen. Luke, on the other hand, was well on his way to become a chef that would make even the mythical Wonder Chef cry tears of pure anguish. Luckily for Dirk and his limited cooking skills, Lloyd wasn't too much of a picky eater. Luke was however the boy was grateful enough to not complain about anything but fish, just like Lloyd was entitled to voice his grief over tomatoes.
Life grew simple enough once again when Dirk grew used to caring for the two boys, a peace he wanted to keep forever. But the dwarf knew that peace would never stay. Lloyd and Luke seemed to know unconsciously and were preparing for something. It wasn't until that day Dirk realized what would be the catalyst for a great change in their life.
Luke glanced at Lloyd from the corner of his eye and smiled a little. 'Heh, asleep while standing. Nice.' He thought to himself, and pretended to read in the book spread out on the desk in front of him. His head remained in place, not even drooping while a neutral expression resided his face. Unfortunately, Raine read straight through both of them and nailed them with chalkboard erasers.
"Ow!"
"Hey!"
"Honestly you two," Raine chastised. "You're not going to learn anything if you just sleep in class."
The rest of Raine's lecture was cut off by a blinding light invading the entire classroom. The oracle was here.
"Everyone, settle down." She said over the sea of small voices.
"That was the oracle, wasn't it?" Luke exclaimed, instantly negating the calm the teacher attempted to reinstall.
"Settle down." Raine said more firmly. "I'm going out to check." She looked at Luke and Lloyd and sighed. "Just stay here and study." As soon as she left, twin grins sneaked on a certain pair's faces. The two got up and began to saunter over to the exit.
"Lloyd! Luke! Where are you two going?" Genis cried out in protest. He already knew the answer, but asking gave him hope that they would listen this time. "Raine'll get mad if you leave!"
"She's already mad at us, it's not like this'll make a difference." Luke waved off.
"Besides, I'm kinda curious about what's going to happen to Colette when the oracle comes today." Lloyd quickly interjected. "The books don't really talk about all the details."
"Did you even read one?" Genis asked suspiciously. Lloyd scowled at his tiny friend.
"They make it seem so boring." Luke whined. "Isn't there that one saying? It's better to experience it firsthand, as a part of research. And it's not like we get to see these kinds of things every day, so we should take advantage!"
"You're totally abusing that excuse…"
"Colette, you wanted to go right?" Lloyd brought up, to which the girl quickly nodded.
"Fine." Genis sighed, giving into his best friend's whims.
"So, where to?" Colette asked innocently. Luke and Genis gave each other a look, and sighed together.
It seemed that going to the temple had been the right choice at the time. Desians were attacking, killing the pastors and priests inside. Fortunately, the four school children made it in time long enough to distract them from killing Phaidra. Unfortunately, that meant that Vidarr's attention was focused on smashing them into bloody pancakes.
"Damn it, this guy's way too strong!" Luke cursed. He sent a Fang Blade at the man, but it didn't even make him flinch. Vidarr continued his assault, this time aiming to kill Lloyd. The impossibly large ball and chain swung around and hurtled towards the red clad brunet, but never made its target. At the very last moment, a strange man stepped in and deflected the attack. Luke took the opportunity to scramble over to Lloyd's side. The man regarded them momentarily and immediately went for the attack. In what seemed to be a flash to the boys, he defeated Vidarr with ease. The two Irvings stared at him in shock, ignoring the retreating Desians.
"That guy's amazing!" Genis exclaimed.
"Yeah…" Luke muttered. He glanced over to his brother. Lloyd was still gawking at the man, but with a strange expression Luke had never seen. He looked back at the man. He was certainly handsome, with auburn hair and a strange fashion sense. Seriously, who wore purple spandex with a cape? But the man's mentally scaring outfit was hardly enough to warrant the kind of face Lloyd was making. He never looked at the adults like that, but Luke knew what Lloyd's infatuation face looked like, and it was most definitely not it. He couldn't hear what Lloyd asked him, but it didn't seem important since he ignored him.
"How can I ever thank you for saving the Chosen?" Phaidra said, breaking Luke from his trance. He didn't even notice the older woman approaching them.
"…I see. So this girl is the next Chosen." The man spoke. His voice was unusually deep for a man his age, but Luke figured he was probably older than he thought. As if his words reminded her, Colette began to fret. Luke didn't pay attention, choosing to focus on the strange man.
"W—Wait! I'm going too!"
Luke's concentration was once again broken, this time by Lloyd's loud interjection.
"Yeah, if he's going, I'm going too!" He hastily joined in. Lloyd beamed at him. The man, Kratos if Luke was listening correctly, Crotch-toast if Luke couldn't stop staring at what the spandex refused to hide, narrowed his eyes.
"You'll only get in the way. Be good boys and wait here."
"What did you say!" Luke decided he didn't like Kratos, but Lloyd only grinned.
"Gotcha!" He said, clamping a hand over the redhead's mouth. "Then we'll just follow you on our own. Isn't that right, Luke?" His brother glared at him, but nodded. Lloyd removed his hand and grinned at Kratos, while Luke forced a smile. The man sighed in defeat.
"Fine, do as you wish."
"Oh we will."
"Let's go, Genis!"
"Honestly, I can't tell which of you is the bad influence for the other."
The grins on the Irving brothers' faces never disappeared. "I don't know what you mean."
They ran into several monsters had been in the temple, giving Luke an excuse to watch Kratos. The mercenary was aloof between battles, but was keeping a close eye on Lloyd. Whenever Lloyd accidentally left himself open, Kratos immediately covered him. He rarely did so for even Colette, which the white clad redhead found very odd. Eventually, they made it up to the altar and the thought escaped Luke.
"That must be the Cruxis Crystal." Lloyd commented.
"That's right. They say I was born with that in my hand." Colette said.
"Look at that light!"
Before he could look, Luke's head began to pound. An angel descended from the light, and the closer he came, the worse the headache was. Lloyd quietly shuffled over to his side
"Luke?" He whispered, making sure not to disturb the ceremony.
"I'm fine Lloyd." Luke whispered back, giving a weak smile. Lloyd frowned a little, sliding an arm around Luke and held him up. "…Thanks." He tried to listen to the angel, but the loud ringing in his ears canceled out all other sounds. The ringing turned into small and even reverberations.
"—seal. My daughter."
Just as soon as it came, the headache and ringing disappeared. Luke blinked. Where did that angel guy go? He heard Genis' voice, but couldn't hear his words.
"I can't believe Remiel is my father…" He heard Colette say, but the rest became noise. Remiel? He saw Kratos and Colette proceed back to the warp. He tried to follow, but his feet wouldn't move.
"The rumor was true." He clearly heard Genis say.
"What rumor?" Lloyd asked.
"That Colette is the daughter of an angel and is not related to her current father."
Luke did hear those rumors, but never really thought too much about it. After all, he knew he wasn't related to Lloyd by blood.
"Does it really matter?" He said, rubbing his head.
"Yeah, family is family, even if you're not related by blood." Lloyd added.
"Like Lloyd and me."
"I guess you're right." Genis said. He scratched the side of his cheek sheepishly. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean anything by it."
"Hey, don't sweat it." Lloyd clasped a hand on Genis' back rather hard. Luke winced at the sound. The fact Genis stumbled over a few steps didn't help. "Luke." Here came the worried questions. "Are you sure you're alright?"
"Now that you mention it, you look a little sick, Luke!"
"I'm fine, really." Genis stared at Luke dubiously. He could practically see the cogs turning around in the half-elf's head, and coughed. He must have realized the headaches started when that angel guy came down. "It was just a little headache."
"I've never seen you with a headache like that before." Lloyd pointed out.
"Let's just go before Professor Sage finds us."
But their efforts to sneak out were for naught. The said teacher was not pleased that they sneaked out of the classroom and proceeded to administer punishment of the corporeal variety. They were only spared additional homework when Luke decided to play his headache out a little longer. He made a hasty escape outside, ignoring the crazed laugh behind him, which Genis seemed almost thankful for. When they reached Iselia, Luke excused himself and headed to the gates.
"Luke!" A guard barked. "Do something about this thing!"
Luke raised an eyebrow, but saw what the guards were fussing over.
"You stupid Thing!" he laughed, walking over to placate Noishe. "How many times has Lloyd told you to stay outside the village? Not that I blame you, I don't even listen to him." Luke rested his head against the "dog's" neck, who whined loudly.
"Keep your pet outside next time!" The guard grumbled, but was satisfied that the unusually large creature was no longer trying to enter the village. He said something else, but Luke ignored him in favor of untangling knots in Noishe's fur. He was never particularly fond of animals, but found Noishe strangely compelling. He scratched behind the ears, pondering how he'd feel about Noishe if the creature the size of a rabbit and could talk. He chuckled to himself. He was thinking like Colette!
"Hey, did Noishe try to enter the village again?" Luke turned around to see Lloyd and Genis at the gate.
"I told him to stay outside!" Lloyd groaned. "He never listens to me."
"No one does." Genis sneered playfully and Luke laughed.
"Coming to play today, Genis?" The redhead asked. The half-elf shook his head.
"I'm visiting another friend today." The silver haired boy replied. "Besides, Lloyd has to finish Colette's birthday present." Luke nearly pulled out a chunk of Noishe's hair.
"O—Oh, right, he didn't even start on that!" He chuckled nervously. He mentally hit himself for being in the same boat as Lloyd, but luckily, Luke had a different trade skill. Since Colette's birthday coincided with her leaving, he could easily pick out the best herbs from his garden to give her. The rarer the herbs, the better, and he spent a year laboring over those Red Saffrons.
"You traitor!" Lloyd exclaimed and scowled.
"Lloyd." The guard spoke up. "Since Luke decided to ignore me, the Mayor wanted me to ask you something."
"What's that old man want with us?" Luke inquired with a frown.
The guard ignored him and continued. "Neither of you two have been playing around the human ranch, have you?"
"Of course not!" Lloyd cheerfully answered. "Even I'm not that stupid."
The guard frowned, but seemed satisfied by the answer. Luke mimicked him from behind Noishe. Hey, if Noishe couldn't speak for himself, he might as well do it for his dog.
"L—Let's go now, you two." Genis said nervously. Luke shot Lloyd a look, who shrugged. The trio departed from the village and entered the neighboring forest. Genis suddenly stopped at the fork, announcing that it was his destination.
"But that's the Desian human ranch." Lloyd protested. "Isn't that violating the Non-Aggression treaty?"
"The Desians already broke it by attacking the temple!" Genis countered sharply. The two continued to argue over the matter, and Luke felt a headache come on again.
"Do what you want!" he snapped. "Just… stop arguing over it."
Genis was taken aback by the sudden outburst. "I'm going. I have to go. There's someone I have to tell about the oracle!"
"Well I'm going with you. I'd feel uneasy if I left you alone." Lloyd said with finality in his voice. Genis smiled at his best friend. "Luke?"
"I still feel my head pounding." The redhead scowled. "Besides, I don't want to get a beating from Dad right after Professor Raine punched me."
"Hey, no one's going to find out." Lloyd argued, but Luke ignored him and proceeded down the path to Dirk's house. "Fine, go! I hope Dad's making grilled fish tonight!"
Luke growled, clearly frustrated. Why did Lloyd and Genis have to do something so stupid! The fact that Genis was the one who started it shocked him the most. Even if the Desians did break the treaty, that didn't give them the right to romp around outnumbered, outclassed, out-everything. By the time the redhead made it home, Noishe was sitting on the bridge. The protozoan growled at him.
"Noishe, move." He commanded, but Noishe growled some more. The white and green creature then whined loudly, and began to prod the boy with his nose. He whined and nuzzled Luke's chest, and then his left hand. He alternated poking his chest and hand, and then looked into Luke's green eyes. "He's with Genis, doing something stupid at the ranch." Suddenly Noishe growled at Luke loudly and barked at him. "Wha—hey!"
Noishe's sudden behavior shocked the redhead. He had never seen Noishe angry like that. The protozoan was practically shoving him! It soon dawned on him. Noishe asked about Lloyd. Noishe was afraid of danger.
Lloyd was in danger.
Without another word, Luke twirled around and ran back to the ranch. From the bottom of the hill, Luke could see fireballs fly through the air and hear the indignant cry of Desians. If Genis was casting magic and the Desians were reacting… The white-clad Irving cursed and scrambled up the hill as fast as he could. He heard Lloyd provoking Desians. The familiar sounds of wooden blades swishing through the air clashed against grunts, cries, and whips cracking. Lloyd was in pain! Abandoning his common sense, Luke rushed up the hill and tackled the first Desian he saw.
"Luke!" Lloyd gasped. Another Desian attempted to take advantage of the distraction, but Luke quickly drew his wooden sword and intercepted the attack. The Irvings exchanged looks and prepared their weapons.
"Demon Fang!"
"Fang Blade!"
Together, they defeated the three whip masters with ease. Lloyd cursed when backup Desians arrived, and grabbed Luke's arm.
"Hey, what the hell!"
"No time, just jump!"
"What you're cra—AHHH!"
Without another word, the brunet leaped off the cliff with a screaming redhead in tow. Somehow, just somehow, the two survived long enough to meet up with Genis at the bottom of the cliff.
"Lloyd! Luke!" The half-elf cried. "They saw your faces! I'm so sorry, this is all my fault…"
Luke, still recovering from the shock that his own brother dragged him off the cliff, said nothing.
"Don't worry about it." Lloyd chuckled.
"But…"
"We took out the ones who saw our faces. Besides, we both knew the risks and charged in like idiots. Well, he charged in like an idiot."
"H—Hey, that's not funny…"
"You have to admit, that was pretty stupid."
"I couldn't just let you two get yourselves killed!"
"Thanks Lloyd… You too Luke!"
"No problem. Just do my homework for me, okay?"
"You should really do that on your own, Lloyd." Genis chastised happily. "Buuut since I pretty much do it for you anyway, it's a deal."
"We should get back before they start looking for us." Luke muttered. He tried to stand on his shaking legs, his entire body still tingling from the experience. The silver-haired half-elf nodded.
"Right. Thanks again!" And with that, the trio split up.
As soon as Lloyd and Luke reached their home, the former stopped on the bridge.
"Luke." He said. The redhead stopped abruptly at the serious tone in his brother's voice. "There's something you should know. Something that I saw at the ranch."
"…What is it?" Luke swallowed. This could only be bad news.
"Today, I met an old lady with an Exsphere."
"That Crot—I mean Kratos guy had one."
"She didn't have a Key Crest. She said the Desians put it on her soon after she was taken there."
Luke felt a pulse in his chest again. His hand automatically shot up to his chest. He tried to say something, but the words didn't leave his voice. Lloyd looked at him and continued.
"I'm going to ask Dad to make her a Key Crest. Can you back me up on this?"
"Of course, Lloyd."
"Thanks Luke."
"Don't mention it…"
As the boys crossed the bridge, Luke's hand never left his chest.
I'm unsatisfied by how much of the dialog is pulled from the game script. Luke's short attention span should help out next time. Not expecting drastic change, but enough to make a story.
I'm currently working on a redesign for Luke's outfit. All I'm sure about is that his coat is still white, they still dangle after him, blah blah blah, but the rest of it still needs work to fit into the Sylvarant fashion.
Until next time, good day. (5/15/11)
