Disclaimer: I do NOT own any of the characters from Tales of Symphonia, I own NOBODY!
Protection of the heart.
Lloyd curled up in his father's arms, sobs bursting from his tiny throat as he watched his mother being mercilessly pulled away by multiple people wearing metal armour like the knights from some light-hearted fantasy novel. But there was an air that made the boy frightened of the men and, as they took his mother away, he couldn't help but cry out as he waved a podgy little arm out towards her direction.
"M-Mama!" He squeaked, trying to reach his mother whom was now crying tears of her own as she was being led away.
She looked over her shoulder and forced a small smile at her son, her eyes glistening with tears as they streaked down her face in neat little streams. She was smiling as if she knew that this would be the last time seeing her sweet little boy and she didn't want her last memory of him being of seeing him crying his eyes out.
"I love you, my little baby..." Her voice was soft and somewhat strained.
Lloyd looked at her face, taking in every little detail of her face. Her beautiful eyes which were eternally shrouded in mystery, her hair that was cut to a short length and had little clumps of dirt stuck in it but somehow remained beautiful, her lips that would always be willing to give him an extra kiss goodnight...even though he thought kisses were disgusting.
He whimpered, his lower lip trembling as he looked at his mother.
He didn't want her to go! He didn't want to never see his mother again! He just couldn't leave her here in this dark cruel place. He didn't know what happened to those who were taken away as his tiny mind couldn't comprehend it...the perspective of something being mistreated was insultingly downgraded into things like being forced to eat greens and stuff but what else would one expect from a three-year-old?
So, as his tiny voice started cracking, he yelled "N-No! MAMA!"
Lloyd looked up towards his father, tugging at one of his sleeves as tears finally fell down his cheeks. He could feel his father's hold on him tighten just a bit and this made the boy come to the realisation that his father, Kratos Aurion, was finding this just as hard as he was...although the boy wasn't without confusion for this.
Just what was happening, was he getting...scared? Adults didn't get scared, he thought.
"P-P-Papa, you have to save Mama! Pwease, she didn't do nothing wrung!" Lloyd begged, gripping tightly on to Kratos' jacket as he pleaded with tears trickling down his round and chubby face which was slightly dirty from all the weeks spent here. He looked to be on the verge of breaking down as he snuggled up to his father, he knew that his father would go and save her...he had to! He wouldn't just leave nor stand there, he was stronger then all of these guys put together, at least in his eyes he was.
Kratos stood there with a look of pain tight on his face. He looked to be struggling with emotions he was having a tough time controlling. His copper eyes were focused on the direction his wife had been pulled by the Desians, a horrible lot who are all made up of half-elves who try and get higher up in the pecking order by doing despicable deeds.
Every bone in his body was screaming at him to go after his wife, to save her from the Desians, but he had promised that he would let her do whatever she had to...even if he really didn't like it at all.
His son's begging wasn't making the task easier, actually it was making it much harder to listen to his obedient side as he wanted to run after her and cut all foes down without a shred of remorse if they dared laid a hand on her.
Why did they want his wife? Well, the simple answer was, she was the only one they found any complete fascination with.
Anna was originally from a Desian human ranch where humans have to work 24/7 in relentless cruel labour. She was used as an experiment for the Exsphere and it turned out, her experiment was a great success and the Exsphere she had was far stronger than others -otherwise they would have not even the slightest inkling of interest in her. Her Exsphere was so powerful that it seemed that the guards saw a need to remove it, although he had no idea what kind of effect that would have on her...
Anyways, Kratos had met Anna in the ranch and freed her from the cruel confines. The Desians eventually caught up with the swordsman half-angel and the human woman after the latter had given birth to her child: Lloyd.
Now, here they were...three years down the line. What's worse, other then on the rare occasions that Kratos would sneak out with him, Lloyd really had no interaction with the outside world. It would have been so easy to run with him but he couldn't just leave the boy's mother mostly unsupervised as the Desians hardly gave her a moments peace.
Kratos' eyes were hardening visibly and his lips were tightening as he clenched his teeth but was trying to hide the fact that his heart was hurting bad.
He looked down at his son who was still crying and his lips were trembling as his face was pinking so much that it was going red from distress.
Kratos, unable to keep his resolve strong, only hugged his son tight with one hand and firmly tussled his spiky brown hair with another as he shushed him to try and soothe his poor little three-year-old boy.
No child should have to endure this, it just wasn't morally sound. Kratos knew this all too well and, as he had lived longer than many others could dare dream of, he didn't like just sitting back and watching something happen. He may have not been in control of the unyielding hand of fate but that didn't mean he could change it.
But there was one thing that set him off...the cruel abuse sent his son's way after just moments of dwelling on his decision whether to follow his heart or not.
He was just coming to grasps with the situation when Lloyd started bawling his tiny lungs out with huge rivulets of tears crawling down each of his chubby cheeks that made up his round face, streaming down relentlessly as his huge eyes filled with innocence were filled to the brim with tears as they sparkled in the pale sunlight shining above them.
A Desian guard came up to the pair and sneered down at Lloyd "Quiet you brat!"
"NO!" Lloyd yelled back defiantly, his voice hoarse from all the crying he had done. He wouldn't back down from anybody and nobody was dare going to scare him! He wanted his mother back and that shouldn't be so wrong, unless it gives a cruel man a major headache "GIVE ME BACK MY MAMA! SHE IS INNOCWENT!"
His voice may have been small and his pronunciation may have been a slight bit off but the bravery he had was there and burning like a shield meant to deflect any killing blows. It was for the moment a dull little shield they could barely prevent the killing blow of a blunt dagger, but Kratos had no doubt that his son would eventually grow up and his shield would start to deflect even the harshest of attacks which were both verbal and physical.
However, as Lloyd had started to glare daggers at the Desian, he was suddenly met with the swift burning sting of his left cheek when he started to keep squawking with defiance.
Lloyd was stunned into complete silence as the painful tingling feeling of his cheek started to creep into his facial sensations. His eyes were wide and void of all of the previous emotions he held running through them.
He let out a shaky gasp as he looked frightfully at the man who had just delivered a great big blow to his cheek, his eyes still streaming with tears and his pupils shrunken in discouragement as well as pain.
"Shut up, whelp! you are never going to see your mother again! You are nothing but a pathetic, worthless thing that is too weak for your own good!" The Desian guard smirked evilly "You belong to us now."
It was then that Kratos was brought back to the land of the living as he had witnessed that filthy guard hit his son in such a way.
He wasn't going to let himself be restrained anymore since all of his fatherly instincts had overpowered all the self-control he had mustered up until this point and he snarled whilst he had his hand on the handle of his blade.
He quickly unsheathed his sword and didn't even batter an eye as he expertly twirled his blade in his fingers before pointing it at the man's neck, the sharp blade just inches away from the man's jugular vein.
It would be an instant death if that vein was cut. Kratos knew that.
"Do not lay a hand on my son or you WILL regret the day you first inhaled oxygen!" Kratos sneered, his eyes basically glaring flames of fury through the visor of the helmet the Desian wore.
It was obvious that the beast that Kratos had tried to keep inside had been unleashed, all because of a cruel act towards his boy! He grit his teeth and basically snarled at the man before he put his sword away and simply sent his fist flying forwards and watched with satisfaction as it collided with the half-elf in armour's face and sent him falling to the ground unconscious.
After making sure that piece of dirt was out cold, Kratos looked down at his trembling son.
Poor Lloyd's eyes were empty of all emotion and he looked as if he had been struck. He curled up in his father's arms as big fat tears rolled down his cheeks and he let out the occasional whimper that made him sound like a hurt puppy calling for its mother.
The little three-year-old's body was trembling and he squeezed his eyes shut tight as he started to try and start ridding his face of the tears threatening to fall down his face.
Kratos felt his heart break as he looked right at his son's terrified face.
He could feel the boy's sheer terror basically seeping into his soul as he gently turned the boy around so he could hug him over his shoulder. He could feel his little son's back arching just a bit as he started to quietly sob.
"P-P-Papa..." Little Lloyd spoke with a trembly tone of voice "It H-Hurts!"
Kratos decided to have a look at his son's injury and he softly slid a finger underneath Lloyd's chin, lifting his face gingerly. The swordsman now wished he had finished that filthy half-elf off for hurting Lloyd because there was now a bruise starting to appear on the child's little cheek.
Guilt gnawing at his parental instincts, Kratos held Lloyd tight and cradled him in his arms as he decided to try and comfort the poor boy "There, there, son. I know its painful and that Desian was evil for hurting you in such a brutal manner. But remember," he slowly peeled the boy away from his chest and held him up to his face "you will never be weak nor will you ever disappoint me. I have faith in you, no matter what."
Lloyd sniffled and looked up at his father, his eyes still glossy with tears. He looked to have so much faith in his father and Kratos hoped that he could try escaping with
his wife and son today, to try and get away from this nightmare of a world.
Kratos adjusted the boy in his arms and cradled him softly so he could fall asleep.
It wasn't until moments after the child was asleep, that Kratos heard a sound which he heard a shrill, blood-curdling scream carry through the air. Kratos' heart stopped dead in his chest as he found out whose scream that was, it was never a sound he wished to hear but he knew whom it belonged to...all too well.
"A-ANNA!" The man cried, losing control of his legs and speeding like a bullet towards the scene with his boy still asleep in his arms.
He looked towards his left side to discover that Noishe, a big dog-like creature with big round ears, was running alongside him with this certain amount of courage beaming within his little beady green eyes. The creature let out a growly sound as if he were already on the defensive mode, clearly ready to protect the infant whence need be.
As Kratos ran, he used his sword to cut down so many Desians who tried to stop him and he could feel his mind fleeting and his heart going into overdrive as he sprinted as fast as his legs could carry him. He knew he had to save his wife if it killed him!
He ran his sword through multiple enemies as he jumped in midair, swiping his sword in all directions, before landing with an awesome pose.
When he got over that little moment of awesomeness, though, he continued to run with his body using every last drop of adrenaline to take him to his Anna.
But, as he got close, he realised that the screams had stopped.
This run a sword through his heart as he started to think that the extraction of the Exsphere had...
He swallowed while trying to keep his tears at bay. He didn't want to think like that, he couldn't think like that! She had to be alive for Lloyd's sake, she could not die like this.
Kratos gathered his courage and slowly peered around the corner he had stopped at. He saw the most devastating scene unfolding and he had to blink multiple times to try and convince himself that it was just a trick of the light, that it wasn't what he thought it was. His heart dropped into his stomach whence he realised that what he was seeing was the naked truth.
Anna, whilst being restrained by Desians, slowly started to take shape of something else entirely. Her skin was starting to break up as her body looked like it was becoming encased with a wooden skin in its stead. The sound of splitting wood crackled through the air Anna groaned and gritted, tears streaming down her face as her short brown hair bristled in the wind.
She let out shrieks of pain that started to sound more like monstrous moans as she slowly began to grow in size and her dress was beginning to rip from the transformation.
Kratos wanted to look away but he couldn't, his eyes were glued to the scene unblinking.
He bit his lower lip as tears glistened in his copper/crimson pools and he could feel an oppression in his chest as his blood stirred uncomfortably. He felt a powerful urge to do something but he didn't know what.
He looked into his wife's face and watched as it vanished into something greatly disfigured and her arms started to grow in length as it lost all control.
"No..." Kratos gasped, his eyes swimming now as tears meandered down his cheeks.
He didn't know what he was going to do but he knew he had to do something, he couldn't just talk to her...for all he knew, she could have been lost to him forever. He put his hands over his eyes in distress as he tried not to let himself breakdown in front of Lloyd, whom he knew was fast asleep on Noishe's back.
Kratos sighed sadly, kneeling down beside Noishe and stroking his son's hair gently "I'm so, so sorry, Lloyd."
He whispered, planting a little kiss on his son's forehead as he felt his heart split in two. He knew he had to try and help his wife however he could, but every bone in his body was telling him something of the inevitable outcome that his assistance would leave him to.
Poor little Lloyd was still curled up asleep on Noishe's back, a tiny thumb in his little mouth as he sucked on it to try and pacify himself. He was oblivious to what his mother was going through.
Kratos knew that the faith Lloyd had in him would be forever smashed into pieces should he actually kill Anna but he knew that he may not have a choice in the matter. He could just imagine that look of betrayal shimmering in his son's innocent eyes and that broke his heart even further.
...Why did it have to come to this?
A/N: This is my first TOS one-shot, next I'll make a one-shot of how I think Kratos and Anna had met.
This is what I think happened before Kratos was forced to kill his wife, just before. Now please forgive me if I had made the characters OOC in this. I am still playing the first game but I'm slowly gaining a grasp of the characters.
I hope you like this.
-Chloemcg