Author's Note: Ah, my first fanfiction of the Summer. And it's... almost half-way over. ... Ouch. Anyway, I suddenly got the muse to write this and wasted no time in doing so. It happened to be three'o'clock in the morning but *shrug.* I was a little iffy at first because I always thought it was a little weird to write a story with Kratos in first person. I don't know, it seemed kind of out-of-character. In my mind, you could compare it to writing a journal, which, I don't know about you, I wouldn't imagine Kratos doing. But I wrote it that way anyway and what do you know, now that I've actually written something like that, it doesn't seem so weird anymore. Wonder why that is... And a note: Dispite it being listed with the characters Kratos and Colette, this is not Kratolette (actually, its a bit Colloyd.) Thank you for understanding. Anyway, without further ado (besides the disclaimer) may I present my fanfic.
Disclaimer: I don't own Tales of Symphonia. And if I did I'd be rich! Filthy rich!
Her Name's Colette
A Tales of Symphonia Fanfiction
It was quiet, save for the sounds of an owl in the nearby treetops. There was also the low hiss of the dying fire and breathing. I kept watch, while the Chosen's group rested, each steady breath keen in my ears.
The teacher and her brother were curled together on the far side of the glowing coals; the Chosen lay on her side, farthest from the group. And… my son, Lloyd, lay on his stomach, facing away from my post. I leaned against the broad trunk of a tree, close to the edge of our camp, where I always stood when I took night watch, which was quite often. Not having to sleep made me well suited for it.
I surveyed the clearing, and the four bodies in it. The Chosen's Group. I did not count myself among them. How could I? I was so unlike them. Though the Chosen was on her way to becoming like me. A Lifeless Being. I suppose that's all I was now. Or maybe that's all I ever was.
Even now, having released the second Seal, where she lay, the Chosen was only pretending to be asleep. She knew all she needed to know, she was willing to give her life, and yet, up until the very last moment, she would be ignorant to the truth behind it all. This was how it always was. I… pitied her I suppose.
While I was lost in my thoughts, a noise, sharpened by my heightened senses, drew me back to the clearing. Ahead of me Lloyd shifted and there was the crackle of paper. Without any groggy hesitation, he rose and came towards me.
"Hey, Kratos," he whispered, drawing up the map in his hands. "Point out to me where exactly we are."
I stared at him a moment. It was at least halfway through the night and he was completely alert. I had not even been aware he was still awake. Though I suppose if I had paid closer attention, I might have heard his more lively breathing over those of his sleeping companions.
I glanced down at the piece of parchment he'd thrust at me. Even after millennia, I still found it strange to see the lonely Sylvarant without it's sister country, Tethe'alla.
"Have you been deliberating over this the entire time?"
"Well yeah," Lloyd concluded. "I'm trying to figure out where we need to go next." He eagerly nudged the map towards me again. So much like a child. My lips curled ever so slightly.
"We head for Asgard," I told him.
He lowered the map and looked at me with quizzical brown eyes. "How do you know?"
I sighed inwardly. Knowledge can be a burden sometimes. "The angel said the Wind Seal was to the southwest. It seems like a good place to start."
Asgard, the City of Ruins, the Village of the Wind. I already knew that the seal was really at the Balacruf Mausoleum, but in order to enter, we would need to go to Asgard first.
"Yeah, well…." Lloyd gave me a look of indignance. He never liked bending to my will. He saw me as a rival. Such a free spirit. Like his mother… "What about Luin? It's southwest of here."
"Yes, but we've already been to Luin. There is nothing there."
Once breaking the Wind Seal, the Chosen would again suffer from what the teacher had dubbed, "Angel Toxicosis." We would need to go back to Asgard so she could rest.
"But we should go to Luin anyway to restock our supplies, right?" he persisted.
And again, I stifled him. "Asgard is only two days' travel from here. Our supplies will hold out. Asgard will supply us with everything we need when we get there."
Fire Seal, Light Seal, Wind Seal, Water Seal. And with each one, the Chosen would come closer to becoming a Lifeless Being, a vessel for Martel. All according to Mithos' plot. She had already lost her appetite and her need to sleep. With this next Seal, she would lose her senses, and after that, her voice. Finally, her journey would be completed and she would ultimately lose her soul.
"How do you know so much," Lloyd pestered, his voice laced with skepticism. "You're only a mercenary.
I am an angel of Cruxis, the organization that presides over this world. I am a lord, a Seraphim in their ranks.
"A traveling mercenary," I corrected.
Lloyd's face grew sullen. "I thought I was the one who made the group's decisions."
It would be best to simply appease him. "Your job is to help the Chosen on her Journey. I merely point you in the right direction." I had lost track of how many times I'd assumed this role. Guiding countless Chosens to their appointed fate. "Now get some sleep. The Chosen needs your strength." I dismissed him and went back to my duties as sentry; my conversation with him had distracted me long enough.
He didn't move and I could feel his eyes boring into me. "Her name's Colette."
"What?" I looked back to find his eyes staring intensely into my own.
"Her name's Colette," he repeated with deadly deliberation. "Not 'the Chosen.'"
I met his glare with a calm, even demeanor. "Forgive me."
He didn't let up. "You're always so cold and distant. I barely know anything about you; it's like you're a complete stranger." His lip pulled back, the way his mother's always did when she was upset. "If you're going to work for us, you could at least be a little friendly."
I may have been immortal, but I did not have time for this. The boy was criticizing me and was now trying to psychologically profile me. I tried to appeal to the source of his anger to sate it. "I will endeavor to use her name in the future, Lloyd."
His frown flashed deeper when it had left my lips. "You only ever say my name. Say hers. Colette, say it.
"Colette."
His eyes darkened. "You don't mean it," he muttered.
This was becoming rather pathetic, and I was tiring of it quickly. Still he went on.
"Why do you separate yourself from us so much? Especially Colette. Martel! I don't think you've ever even spoken to her once! Why?"
His eyes demanded I answer that simple question. I chose the simplest answer. In my mind, this was the quickest way to end the conversation that had already dragged on too long. "I have been assigned to protect the Chosen. She is a client, not a companion." For Lloyd's empathetic side, I added, "I prefer not to hold any emotional attachment to my clients, lest I fail in my task."
Lloyd was silent. Then all too suddenly, his arms shot out and seized my collar, slamming me back against the tree I'd been leaning on. His strength startled me.
"What do you mean, 'fail?'" he demanded in a volume that made me worry that the others might wake up.
"You must understand," I explained calmly, "that there is a certain chance that I will not be able to protect her and she will fall-" He jolted me once more, making my head strike the bark uncomfortably.
"No, you made a deal. You're gonna protect her just like I'm going to protect her and Raine and Genis and everybody else! We are going to help her see this journey through to the end and we are going to help her Regenerate the world so that everyone can live in peace and she can go home and just have a normal life!"
I was stunned by the fervor in which he said this. Which made it all the more bittersweet. He has no idea….
Still, I had misspoken, and had to make amends. "You're right, Lloyd. Forgive me, I don't know what came over me."
His grip loosened, then fell away.
He said no more before he backed away. His face communicated it all. We won't fail.
He stooped down to collect the map he'd dropped earlier, folding it before proceeding further into the camp and laying down.
Once he'd settled, my eyes traveled over to the Chosen, Colette, who must still have been awake. It was likely that she had heard. Lloyd cared for her very much.
And at that moment, my heart was rent in two, between my duty, what I had been sent to do from the very beginning, and what Lloyd wanted, everything he had just said.
And for a moment, just a moment, I chose Lloyd's way. I chose Colette's life over my duty. But just as soon as it had come, I pushed that thought away, because I knew that it could not be.