While I rewrite Of Mana and Psynergy (because I really need to rewrite it) and wait for a new Wii so I can continue A Dragon's Boon, I thought I'd pay a visit to the Tales of Symphonia and Golden Sun crossover section, again. This department needs some love, you know? I'm using Golden Sun and TLA, not Dark Dawn so much, so now everyone can understand it.
Summary: It was only supposed to send Kratos to Derris-Kharlan, however, the Eternal Sword ran out of power, it seemed. The instance mana spiraled out of control, it took Lloyd with it. What's this about Alchemy? The Aurions are absolutely confused now… Post GSTLA & ToS. Slight [AU] Pre-DD.
Obvious Father and son relationship building in this, and let's not forget to say hi to Garet!
If you haven't played Golden Sun yet, I'm sorry to say you will get spoiled by this story. That is your warning.
I don't own Golden Sun or Tales of Symphonia. If I owned either of them, Golden Sun wouldn't end in FREAKING CLIFFHANGERS *glares at Golden Sun: Dark Dawn in particular* and then Dan Green would have voiced Kratos instead. Also, Golden Sun would have an anime adaption. There goes the disclaimer, enjoy please.
-x-x-x-
Tales of Alchemy
Chapter 1: Fathers and Sons
-x-x-x-
A gentle breeze blew by, making grass blades whisper as it whimsically danced by. The sun blazed upon their bodies, their shadows cast from the light. Footsteps were heard nearing them, one being smaller than the other, they could hear it.
"Daddy! Look at them!" A chirpy young boy's voice squeaked, echoing into the mind of one of them. "Th…They're hurt, Daddy! You have to heal them!" The boy sounded as if he were pleading, begging his father to assist them. A sigh later, what appeared to be larger steps drew closer, and the palm of a man's hand touched their backs. He whispered something which was jumbled to their hearing at the moment. However, seconds later, they felt as if the very earth gripped them tightly in a gentle embrace, soothing all their aches and pains away. It felt like some form of healing magic.
"There…" they heard the man's voice, however, he sounded more like a teenager. Strange… "They'll wake up soon. Let's wait for them, all right?"
"Okay." The young boy's voice replied.
-x-x-x-
"…Ugh." Lloyd mumbled as he opened his eyes slowly, his vision blurred as he attempted to adjust them. The bright, blinding sun's light was too much for him, but he eventually saw through it enough to notice the sky. However, that wasn't the only the thing he saw. The brunet found his eyes upon a boy with spiky blond hair, innocent, large pale-blue eyes and wearing a white shirt, a small, blue jacket over it and dark red pants. His hands were covered in brown leather gloves that fit him, and he was also wearing brown boots to match. Around his neck was a white scarf to keep him warm and dry.
"Oh! You're awake! I'm really glad!" the boy chirped softly, but happily at the same time. "Are you okay? You and the other mister were lying down here."
"Huh?" Lloyd wondered, and then suddenly gasped. He found his voice…squeaky. Like a child's, almost like the little boy who was talking to him. What in the world? Ignoring it for now, he got up, the other boy sitting up with him. They were about the same height, except Lloyd was an inch taller. "What other mister?" He asked. The spiky-blond boy pointed over to a taller man lying in the grass, with auburn hair, wearing a purple outfit that the brunet soon recognized.
"Kr-Kratos!" the boy reacted, standing up. He was shorter now, what the heck? Whatever! Lloyd shot off towards the unmoving man, panicking his little heart out. What had he done? Where they on Derris-Kharlan and the impact just shocked him? No, that couldn't be right. This place wasn't as…dead as it had been. If this isn't Derris-Kharlan, then where the heck is this? Lloyd wondered in thought, trying to shake the man in purple awake. "Kratos, wake up!" The red-clad swordsman beamed in his annoyingly squeaky voice. If the shaking of his body didn't stir the man, then Lloyd's voice did. The auburn's eyes blinked open in a light hurry, but he stayed there, wondering if he misheard.
"…Lloyd's voice…I must…be dreaming."
"No you're not, Kr—Dad!" the young squeaky voice pitched in.
Kratos snapped awake further, turning his head to meet the sight of the voice's owner. It was definitely Lloyd, his son, his only son, but that wasn't why he appeared so shocked. The usual seventeen-year-old appeared to be…three? Did they go back in time? Fourteen years ago? Lloyd was still wearing his usual red and navy blue outfit, with the suspenders and everything. All except, his swords' sheathes; they didn't quite fit at his sides anymore. His hair was still wild like it used to be. The boy's large, dark brown eyes were the same, and they were staring back at him, looking concerned.
"What…did you call me?" He asked, uncertainty in his tone, and baffled for words.
"I called you 'Dad'." The brunet replied.
Kratos sat up, glancing down at his son. He…he reverted to a three year old? Just by visiting Derris-Kharlan again? What kind of insanity is this? Before he could get anymore thoughts going on, the presence of an angelic power was approaching them. The auburn, thankfully still had a sword with him, began for the hilt of it when he noticed it was the boy from before, coming near them. His innocent eyes stared at them quizzically, and he seemed very shy. "Are you two father and son?" the child asked rather maturely for his age. Kratos and Lloyd exchanged quick glances before nodding.
"Yes." The taller man replied. "We were…traveling…"
"Oh, I see. Me and my daddy are, too."
"Oh." Lloyd wondered now. "Hey, what's your name?"
The young spiky-blond turned to him, shyly of course. "It…It's Matthew."
"Matthew." Lloyd repeated, catching the name in his mind. "Mine's Lloyd, and this g—my dad's name is Kratos." He caught himself quickly.
The shy blond nodded, twiddling his fingers. It remained silent for a long time until another angelic presence caught Kratos' attention. It felt familiar to the boy's, but at an even stronger level. The seraph rose to his feet as did Lloyd, who could feel a masking of the energy his father felt. "Kr—Dad, do you…feel that?" The brunet wondered anxiously, trying to get used to calling the swordsman by his parental name. After all, after several months of calling him by his first name, it nearly felt foreign. Matthew stepped forward, lightly smiling. "…Don't worry. Th…That's my daddy." He pointed out as a young man stepped out from behind some bushes, carrying supplies in his hands.
Kratos and Lloyd stared at Matthew's father, believing they were seeing doubles. They looked at the shy boy then to his father, then repeated a few more times; they looked nearly identical! Lloyd and his father shared resemblances of course, but these two were like spitting images of each other. The spiky-blond's father also shared the same colored spiky hair, albeit differently as it swayed more to the left as Matthew's swept towards the right. That was pretty much the exact opposite of Kratos and Lloyd's hair. He was wearing a blue tunic, a red and gold breastplate of armor across his chest, a long-sleeve white shirt underneath, black leather gloves, darker blue pants, brown boots, a sheathed sword and a simple yellow long scarf around his neck. His skin was smooth and the young man appeared as if he were a teenager!
"Matthew, it seems our friends woke up. Did you behave yourself?" The teenager-man father asked his son.
The boy nodded. "I…I did."
"Good." He turned from his son, putting the bag he was carrying down. "I take it you two introduced yourselves to my son?"
"W-we have." Lloyd said as he stared up at the older spiky-blond. Dang, he was going to get annoyed by that. Why was he so small?
"I see. Well, my name is Isaac, and this is my son Matthew." The blond introduced.
Kratos nodded. "I am Kratos," he looked down at the frowning brunet beside him, feeling almost weird to be saying what he would be spilling out next. "And this is Lloyd, my son." Ah, it almost felt so good to be calling the boy that again, and proudly to boot. The one called Isaac nodded them, smiling all the while. The enormous amount of mana Kratos felt from these two, especially the father, went unnoticed though. It seemingly surpassed anything angelic, recalling the sensations he normally felt when around angels. These two appeared to be normal human beings, so how could they possess such vast amounts of mana? And this place; it was obviously not the place he wanted Lloyd to send him to, so this couldn't be Derris-Kharlan.
Interrupting his thoughts, Isaac spoke up. "We found you both unconscious by Vault. Were you two traveling by chance?"
"Yes, we were." Kratos answered. It wasn't entirely a lie. While upon the lying fraction, he added, "We…appeared to have lost some of our possessions by bandits. Like our map, for one…"
"That is rather unfortunate." Isaac sympathized. "Well, we have a spare; I can lend it to you and your son, Kratos."
The man nodded in acceptance, graciously taking the spare map of the world from the older blond. As Kratos was opening it, and Isaac went to pack in their supplies, apparently, Lloyd found his gaze upon Matthew, who was shyly twiddling his fingers together. The brunet took notice of the small, machete sword in the boy's possession, merely sheathed to his back. Was his father teaching him swordplay at such a young age? Almost unfair, if one could ask Lloyd. He wished his father would have taught him something like that when he was younger—or this age. Deciding to spark some conversation, Lloyd approached Matthew, smiling as best as he could, catching the boy's attention.
"Hey, Matthew. How old are you?" Lloyd asked.
"…I-I'm three." He replied quietly.
"Oh… S-so am I."
"Really?"
"Y-yeah."
A light silence passed by them until Lloyd broke it with another question. "So your dad's teaching you about using swords?"
"Uh-huh."
"Why?"
"Daddy says it's because I need to learn how to fight and protect myself." Matthew said, half repeating what his father most likely told him through some lessons. "He says I need to control my…powers, too." This caught Lloyd's attention well enough; he wanted to pry further, just to know a little more about this kid. Maybe they could become friends, since Lloyd was practically 'reset' to his age, somehow.
"What do you mean by 'powers', Matthew?"
The boy looked anxiously at his father, then at Kratos before carefully drawing Lloyd to the side a bit. They didn't notice Kratos watching them from the corner of his eye. "Y-you may not believe me, but…I have special powers. But, my daddy says normal people can't see it."
"Why not?"
"I-I don't know why, but…"
"Show me!" Lloyd smiled, eager to know.
The blond sighed a little before relenting. "Okay…" He concentrated, a small golden glow emitting from his body. Lloyd recognized this as mana surrounding the boy; he was going to use magic! Why did he think nobody could see him using magic? Kratos glanced over and Isaac felt the usage of someone using some form of magical ability. "Matthew…" He mumbled to himself, turning around to see his son gathering power into his body. Meanwhile, aforementioned blond continued channeling his power, trying to remember the spell's name, but couldn't. However, the 'mana' responded to his mind's desire, allowing the golden energy to flood into the soil beneath them and sprout a tender but long bean stalk-looking plant. It was as tall as Kratos, if he was measured against it. Said man watched with interest.
"Ah…!" Matthew squeaked in fear, tumbling back to his rear as he noticed the presence of the plant growing from nowhere.
"Wow, that's cool!" Lloyd beamed in delight.
"Y-you saw that?" Matthew asked, bewildered.
"Yeah. Why?"
"…Th-that means…You must be an Adept!"
Lloyd stared at him quizzically. "A…An Adept? What are those?"
"Y-you don't know?"
"No! I mean…my dad and I, we travel a lot so we d-don't hear a lot of things people talk about and stuff." The brunet lied, hoping the other boy would buy it. He did, as he stood up from his shock, nodding.
"Oh, I-I'm sorry." And he stayed quiet after that. Isaac walked over as did Kratos, glancing at the boys skeptically, each eyeing their own son respectively. The blond turned his attention upon the plant his son made from nowhere, studying it for a few seconds before smiling.
"Well done, Matthew. You're getting better." He praised the child. "However, you just need to focus on the spell you want to use, okay?"
"Okay…Daddy."
This…magic… Kratos wondered, feeling it to be mana, but suddenly, different. In fact, this world was overflowing with mana. It was enough for Kratos to unleash five hundred Judgments if he wanted to. Lloyd continued staring at the stalk-plant, marveled by it. He'd never seen earth-related magic like this; not even his friend, Genis, could cast something similar to this. Perhaps if he tried, he could be able to pull it off. Then again, how Matthew summoned up the mana and without chanting surprised him. Maybe he did it in his head?
The blond looked at Kratos expectantly, figuring the man and his son could see what his son had done. There was no hiding it, after all. "So I take it you both can see it?" The auburn and his child glanced at Isaac; his tone held no surprise to it, but rather, something like a small amount of fear. What was this man afraid of? The two nod simply in response, which Isaac sighed to himself. They couldn't tell if it was a sigh of relief or not, by how he had done it.
"…I see. Then, you two must be Adepts." When the pair gave him a questioning gaze, Lloyd more than his father, Isaac continued. "…People who are attuned to the elements and can manipulate them. So you're either Adepts or most likely…descendants of ones." He concluded. "Other than that, I can't think of any reason why. Normal people cannot see it. It's invisible magic to their eyes." Seeing as they were rather inconvenient being here, the Kratos decided to go along with Isaac's claim for now.
"We might be—"
As if the man gained the ability to read minds, he asked, "You're both not from around here, are you?"
Well, that question just suddenly came out of nowhere. Kratos stared at Isaac blankly, nearly surprised. He and Lloyd said nothing about their coming from another…world. Was Isaac really that perceptive? Or, did he just know and didn't ask until now? Matthew caught onto the conversation, interest sparked, although the shy toddler said nothing. Sensing the expressions he was most likely getting, Isaac continued. "I had a feeling you both weren't from here. I got a large kick out of sensing your energy. It isn't normal, but then again, neither is mine." He ran a hand through his spiked locks, grinning. "Your clothes are pretty odd, but they'd at least help you blend in. I'm not one to pry on your personal business, nor will I tell, so wherever you came from, it doesn't matter to me."
Kratos couldn't help but offer a light chuckle. This man was honest with every word he spoke. "Thank-you. However, I am curious to wondering how you knew this?"
"Other than sensing your powers out right away, I just had an idea. Maybe you can tell me sometime where you're from." The blond handed Kratos an extra bag of supplies as well as two, small swords.
"What are—?" Lloyd wondered, looking at the two sheathed swords and the bag.
"You'll need traveling supplies while you're with us, you know. And you need to protect yourself, Lloyd." Isaac said with a slight wink. "I know a talented swordsman when I see one. Your father must have trained you every day."
"Yeah, h-he did." The brunet admitted, blushing lightly. He glanced over to the blades, Flamberge and the Vorpal Sword. He knew he couldn't use them now, or for a while. They were too big for him to wield, even with his applied angelic-given strength. Kratos noticed his son's gaze upon the two swords; he picked them up, sheathing both in their rightful sheathes and putting them away. "How'd you know I used two swords?" The brunet asked.
Isaac shrugged. "It was a hunch."
The boy easily strapped the blades to his waist, gripping the hilts. They felt comfortable, and he knew his power would be cut in half. Regardless, it would have to do. Isaac slung his pack over his shoulder as did Kratos. "Where to?" the auburn asked bluntly. The older blond smiled as he northeast.
"To Imil. It's a really cold place, though. My son and I were traveling around, visiting old friends."
"I see."
"Well, we can come too, right?" Lloyd wondered, glancing up to Kratos hopefully. If he was this age, stuck this way—which he still hadn't any idea how he got trapped in his three-year-old body—he may as well act like his son. "Can we, Dad?" This stung Kratos' heart; he thought he'd never hear that word again, and even having his son 'reset' back to the age in which he lost him once. The auburn-haired father nodded to his child, then to Isaac, who smiled again. "I have no problem with you two coming with us. In fact, it might be better if you did. I'd feel guilty, leaving you both here by yourselves, in this strange place."
The Aurions nodded, being invited into Isaac's company. It was almost comforting to say the least. The first ten minutes of walking, Kratos and Isaac shared a few moments commenting about their children and the conversation carried over to swordplay for some reason. As echoing this, Lloyd tried to start a conversation with Matthew, who had been ever-so quiet. "Matthew, do you like using swords?" The blond haired boy perked up from his twiddling fingers, pale-blue eyes glancing over to the brunet's.
"U-uh…Y-yes." He answered softly.
"Me too. I can use two swords."
"…Really?"
"Yup! I'll show you if we run into some monsters or something!"
As if prompted by a script, a few monsters had appeared from behind bushes, being simple white-fur wolves. Lloyd smirked as he took out the two short swords from their scabbards expertly. Matthew gasped lightly but went for his machete sword as well. Kratos was about to ready his own sword when Isaac stopped him. The auburn locked eyes with the other father, who nodded to their children. "Watch them first, then intervene when necessary." Isaac said. What was this man trying to do, get both of their sons killed? There were only three wolves prowling around, greedily eyeing the two toddlers first as dessert and the two older men as dinner. "They need this as training, Kratos. Boys won't learn if we keep them from experience. We have to guide them as they move forward." Isaac explained further. "I know that fatherly instinct, wanting to stay by your child and defend them from everything while they're young. I would love to do that, but around us…Adepts… It's tougher than normal people." He barely whispered the word "Adepts" in his sentence.
Kratos cast a concerning glance to Isaac. He had on the face of worry, but perfectly drowned it out. He was almost sad, if one could see.
The wolves charged the armed toddlers, who stayed side by side. "Tiger Blade!" Lloyd rushed one of them, striking with his mana infused blades. He didn't want to use up too much of his energy for these canines, so using lower-level techniques would do quite well against them. The wolf was knocked away, replaced with its beastly friend. It clawed forward, only to be blocked by Matthew shouting and casting "Clay Spire!" Sharp stalagmites materialized from nowhere, dropping down upon the second wolf before it had a chance to attack Lloyd. The brunet rushed in to deal the finishing blow, slashing diagonally, decapitating its head from its body. The blood exploding from the wolf's dislocation didn't reach Lloyd as he pulled away in time to avoid it. The third wolf growled in fury, wildly confronting the children in mad rage. It managed to claw its way towards Lloyd, its sharp nails digging into the boy's face as it left a clear, nasty imprint of a bruise.
"Agh!" Lloyd hissed, glaring angrily. He forced a Sonic Thrust through the wolf's abdomen, followed up by Matthew's simple Spire spell. The third beast persisted; it was attempting to strike one of them before it fully gave out. The boys nodded to each other, glowing in a red light. Kratos easily recognized this as a Unison Attack; they were already pulling one off?
"Demon Strike!" They said simultaneously, Lloyd using Demon Fang while Matthew quickly assisted with a Quick Strike afterwards. The wolf fell upon the combined attacks of the two toddlers. After this, Matthew turned to Lloyd, quickly casting "Cure" upon the other boy. The brunet blinked, noticing his injury had healed up, feeling the earth magic under his feet and enter his body to restore it. He gazed at Matthew who smiled warmly.
The last wolf began howling as it noticed it was outnumbered; Lloyd growled under his breath, Matthew was panicking and the two fathers finally had enough and drew their swords, glancing at one another. The wolf pack was heading their way. "Lloyd, Matthew, stay near us." Isaac instructed. The two boys backed up towards their fathers, who picked them up instantly. Before the boys could question what was going on, the swordsmen were well gone, leaving the area, however, knowing the wolves would follow them. Apparently, that was their in-mind plan. Some wolves had miraculously caught up to them, trying to snap at them from their sides. Unfortunately, that didn't go well as they were cut down the instant they tried.
As soon as the fathers stopped around a dead-end alcove, they set their sons down in unison, watching as the wolves were piling around them, believing they had the stupid humans trapped. Just as their sons connected for a Unison Attack, the two fathers reacted in a similar way. An incantation circle of magic built up from under Kratos' feet as Isaac began collecting energy for his attack, his hair and eyes flashing in a golden light. The wolves were upon them now, lunging forward, claws first, fangs second! They didn't get too close, as the two men flashed with incredible speed, casting their powers at the same time to form one spell. "Grand Lightning!" They shouted together, a large light from underneath the wolves crackled, shooting in an upward motion. Huge, sharp debris of ground controlled by thundering sparks of electricity struck through their bodies. The rocks penetrated and electrocuted them at the same time; the entire pack fell like flies, dropping dead when they crashed into the ground, lifeless. Blood matted the ground, but that didn't matter.
"…Hmph." Kratos grunted, sheathing his sword, which he hardly used.
"That went well." Isaac chuckled. His son looked up to him, almost unfazed by the death of the monstrous wolves. Kratos glanced over at the blond boy; he seemed well trained for a toddler his age to resist the images of death. His father was serious about his training. His red-colored eyes found themselves upon Lloyd, who stared up at him quizzically.
"You two did a Unison Attack." The three-year-old-stuck Lloyd said quietly. He got a simple nod from his father.
"Daddy, you and Mr. Kratos are very cool." Matthew told his father, who smiled.
"Thank you, Matthew. I think Mr. Kratos believes so, as well." The pair of blue eyes fell on the swordsman who barely smiled in response. "We'll make a great team if we stay together." The quad eventually made their way out of the area, stepping over the dead wolf corpses and headed back on the main road towards Imil. It would be a long trip there, but it wasn't much of a bother.
-x-x-x-
Night fell, and the four decided to stop for the night. They were several days away from hitting the Goma Cave, which would take them to Bilibin area and then to Imil, according to Isaac and his map. They made a camp fire, and Kratos volunteered to serve dinner, which overjoyed Lloyd. "Better than Raine's cooking…" Lloyd mumbled to himself, forgetting Kratos could hear him with his angelic hearing.
"You know, I could have taken over dinner duties." Isaac said as he watched Kratos prepare the meal.
"No, it's fine." The auburn admitted.
"Hm, if you insist. I'm calling the next few dishes."
"As you wish."
Matthew and Lloyd were sitting next to each other, silently, however, the brunet was trying to get the blond to talk some more. He didn't know why Matthew was so quiet and lonesome. He wanted to try and be friends with this kid. Matthew wasn't pushing Lloyd away, no; Matthew seemingly felt too shy to try to stir up conversations. The boy was simply reserved, keeping to himself, trying to remain as innocent as he could be. "So, Matt, you know how to use healing spells, too?" Lloyd asked, trying to get him to say something. Aforementioned boy glanced up from staring into the fire, nodding to the question.
"Uh-huh. Daddy taught me that first." was his short response.
"That's cool. So you're like my dad. He can use spells and swordplay really well."
Matthew dragged his finger into the dirt, making odd shapes. "He…must be very strong."
"Yeah, he is." Lloyd chirped proudly. Even though he and his father were quite disconnected, they felt they could say a lot about each other without worry. "Is your dad like that, too?" Matthew turned away from his dirt doodle, glancing at his father, whom had been looking at the map of Weyard, then to Lloyd.
"Yeah, he can use healing spells, too." The blond responded, smiling gingerly.
"Awesome." Lloyd chirped, getting used to his three-year-old body. They still hadn't figured out how he got trapped this way, but oh well for now. They'd figure it out sometime later, or sooner he hoped. He had to have enough mana to wield the Eternal Sword again, and in his current state, he couldn't. Bummer, but at least he was making a new friend, and his father seemingly appreciated Isaac's company. They were alike in some ways; had been married, had a son, and both were considered "magic swordsmen" in some way or another. They also appeared to like talking in riddles. Half an hour passed and Kratos was finished with dinner, which was cooked chicken meat with sweetened rice, inviting the others to eat. He carefully got himself some and forced it down, despite his intermediate cooking skills. Being an angel had its issues, unfortunately, and he needed to pretend once more.
Oddly enough, Matthew didn't get a lot, but still got his fair share.
"So, who's going to do the night-watch first? I'll go first if you need rest, Kratos." Isaac volunteered.
"No, I will keep watch." The auburn-haired angel said. "You should be with your son."
"And you, to yours." The blond countered with a chuckle, glancing at Lloyd, who was stuffing his face.
"He will be with me."
There was no winning any argument with this man. Isaac sighed in defeat, shrugging now. "If you're sure about it, then very well. I'll take the second shift." After the small conversation ended, they ate in silence, listening to nature; owls hooting, the crickets chirping, and fireflies floating around in the moonlight. Once done with dinner and cleaning off the silverware and bowls, Isaac packed them away and took out his sleeping bag along with Matthew's. Kratos did likewise for himself and Lloyd, though the boy refused and attempted to get it himself. That ended roughly and Kratos ended up assisting him regardless. Isaac got Matthew to sleep within a few minutes, and Kratos was trying to get Lloyd to rest, but the boy refused. He wanted to stay up longer.
"Say, Mr. Isaac, how come Matthew doesn't talk so much?" The brunet wondered, curious. Isaac looked his way before stealing a glance at the sleeping form of his boy, closing his eyes softly. "Is it…well, is he really that shy?" Lloyd noticed a glare from his father, and slightly recoiled to it.
"No, that isn't the main reason why, Lloyd." The older blond began. "It's true, he is shy, but…Matthew could never talk when he was…well younger. He's normally a mute; his vocals weren't working before. It was only last year that we finally found a way for him to talk, but it puts a lot of strain on his body if he talks longer than it can withstand. My wife and I were hoping to find another way for Matthew, but for now, what we could take at the time, we did."
"Oh…" the boy replied sadly at the realization. "I didn't know. I'm sorry."
"It isn't your fault, don't worry about it." The blond-haired father assured him. "Well, have a good night then. Kratos, don't forget to wake me in an hour."
"I won't."
Isaac sat near Matthew, lying down next to him protectively, keeping his sword's hilt around, where his left hand could access it. His other arm wrapped around Matthew's small frame, keeping the toddler close. Kratos and Lloyd looked at his actions, then to each other. Ever since his discovery of Lloyd, Kratos wanted to reach out and hold the boy much like Isaac expressed, however, with him being so tall and older, it would have looked awkward. "You're not holding me like that…" Lloyd grumbled to Kratos, who simply stared at him.
"Hm, and why ever not?"
"B-because i-it's embarrassing, Kr—Dad."
Kratos simply smiled, which made the brunet shudder. In fact, he ushered himself into his sleeping bag, trying to close his eyes. Something told him the auburn would most likely try to bond with him in that manner. He wasn't a child anymore, even though his body 'reset' itself. That was another thing; how DID his body 'shrink' anyway? Could it have been when he was attempting to send Kratos to Derris-Kharlan? It was just a pondering question, but he had to know some way or another. Perhaps traveling with Isaac and his son would lead them to clues. Whatever clues they could find, of course, to get them to their own world while the Eternal Sword was out of commission.
Galdr: So, how was it? Remember, this is Pre-DD, and AU Pre-DD, too. It's before the world shifted and Isaac married Jenna a few months after TLA, etc. Also, Isaac doesn't know where exactly Kratos and Lloyd came from. He thinks they're from around Weyard. xD So yeah, that clears that up.
Tell me what you think. *goes back to rewriting Of Mana and Psynergy*