A/N: I swear fluff is the main thing I write and yet this is my account's first fanfic, oops.
Warnings: Tragedy, gore, character death.
Disclaimer: I do not claim Tales of Symphonia as anything other than one of my favorite games of all time.
He lost his red, what was he supposed to do now? Red, red, red, red, red, red. More red. Not enough red.
Lloyd needed red. The more blood he spilled the redder things got, but they were never red enough. Never the red he needed. Never his red. Traitor they had called him. Then they made him red. Red, red, red, red, red.
Even though he had told him to trust him. Lloyd held the crumpled red letter tightly to his chest, a red crusis crystal in his palm, red blood on his red gloves. He wasn't betraying them, why else would he leave a letter like that? And yet they killed him.
Lloyd took a deep breathe, putting away the items and drawing his swords. He looked up, at his old friends. Each of them looking at him pathetically. The first time he had seen any of them in almost a year.
"All these people..." Raine choked.
Colette looked on in horror, "Lloyd...no..."
"All this time..." Genis cried, "It was really you...? Lloyd! Tell me you didn't do this!"
Lloyd grit his teeth at them, "Well what did you expect me to do?!"
"Are you kidding me?!" Sheena screeched, "Anything but this!"
Presea readied her axe, "Lloyd...we do not wish to fight you...but...this...this is..."
"...not something we can just leave be..." Regal finished.
His throat cried out, what little part of himself that was clinging onto his sanity not allowing him to listen to them, "You killed him! You killed him! It's your fault!" His yells got more desperate and tears streamed down his cheeks, "You killed him!"
"Lloyd, please!" Colette cried. "Please, stop!"
As Lloyd charged toward them, Regal quickly kicked him down, "You're not thinking straight, you can't even hold you're blade steadily. This is suicide."
Lloyd grit his teeth, pushing back, screaming, "He helped us! We got her back because of him! We survived because of him! And in return you-you all...!"
"..." Regal grimaced, using his legs to push the twin blades lightly into Lloyd's throat, not letting up.
"Regal, stop! Stop it! You're killing him!" Colette screeched, running towards them.
Raine shook her head, holding her back with her staff, "He's not in his right mind, Colette. You saw him. He can't be reasoned with."
"Raine!" Genis's eyes widened, disbelieving.
"Genis..." Presea began, "That is not the Lloyd we knew, holding back now will only cause more suffering."
"But...! But!" Colette turned to Raine, arms in front of her, "Professor, isn't there a way to help him?" She turned to Presea, "Lloyd never gave up on us…!" Tears were streaming down her cheeks, as Raine grunted and looked away. Presea shook her head, but her grip on her axe faltered for a moment.
Genis started bawling and Colette turned frantically to Sheena, "You want to help him too, right? Oh, please say you will!"
"Colette..." The summoner looked at her with pity, "It's not as simple as that..." Her words came out broken, almost lost sounding.
"HraaarrGGGHHH!" Lloyd screamed, pushing his swords back far enough to pierce through his attacker's neck, until they sliced clean through. Before the others had a chance to grasp what had just transpired, he dashed over to Raine.
"N-No...!" She jumped back, putting her staff out in front of her, "Guardian!" She yelled, just a second too late, being knocked back from the force of his tempest. Before she had a chance to get up, he cut her the rest of the way down as she let out a horrified scream, "Genis, r-" He slashed through her robes and turned.
"R-Raine...!" Genis cried, finally pulling out his precious kendama in rage.
Presea dragged her axe as she ran to him, "Eternal damnation!" She pounded into the ground, missing him by just a hair as his current target was another. Sheena started summoning but was cut off before she even began to chant as Lloyd plunged his swords into her chest. Again and again, until the sword rain ran out of thrusts, then he turned around to slash at Presea as well before being hit by a sudden stalagmite and tossed into the air.
He grunted as he flew up, but instead of focusing on landing safely, he turned mid-air, to plunge his blades into Presea on the way down.
Colette dropped to the ground, unable to do anything but watch, muttering softly to herself. "It's all...my fault..." She stared out, crying and crying as Lloyd relentlessly took down even a defenseless kid, previously known as his best friend. As Genis's body went limp and hit the ground, Lloyd turned to her. This time he was walking, slowly. He looked down at her, his anger crumbling into grief.
"Hey..." He started, seeming more himself than he had in a long, long time, "...Why aren't you trying to kill me?"
She looked up at him, unable to look away, "I...I...think I would go crazy too...If I lost you..."
"...You idiot..." He sniffed, dropping his weapons and falling to his knees. He wrapped his arms around her, "Colette..." He cried, "He's gone...He's gone."
"I know." She hugged him back, "I'm sorry. I'm so so sorry."
"He's gone, he's gone, he's gone!" He repeated, bawling into her shoulder,
"I know." She brought her hand to the back of his head comfortingly.
Lloyd sniffed, "Please...Colette...just kill me."
Her lips lifted into a grievous smile, "I can't, Lloyd...I'm so sorry..."
A/N: Goodbye feels.