Disclaimer: I don't own TOS. Namco does, but we all knew that, right?
Let's get started then. This series is called Give an inch, take a mile. Kratos always knew he was going to have to make sacrifices to save the world, but he never knew how much. This is not chronological but based on what he's giving up.
The first is pride.
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Pride. As Lloyd and the rest of the group approached Origin's seal in the Torrent forest, Kratos knew that he'd be giving it up. He just didn't know how much. He could only hope that Lloyd had the guts to do what had to be done.
"So, you've come," Kratos began in a neutral tone. It was best to get things moving quickly. The sooner this was over, the better. Such hopes were dashed as Lloyd began his speech about no sacrifices.
"If you want the pact with Origin, you must defeat me," Kratos said firmly, cutting his son off. Lloyd thought about it for a moment. Kratos smiled inwardly. Thinking was good. It helped people not do stupid things.
"So… That's your way," Lloyd said, then glanced back to his friends, "Guys, leave this to me!" Okay. The previous train of thought was shattered. Thinking was now bad. Resisting the urge to bury his face in his hands, Kratos attempted to subtly sway his son toward a saner course of action.
"You're going to fight alone?" Kratos asked, using the tone that he usually used to make Lloyd think twice about a rash decision. It had worked before, so why not now? That delusion was dashed too as Lloyd broke into his "my duty as your son to see things through" speech. The seraph reluctantly drew Flamberge. It wasn't as though he had much choice now.
"I'm not going to hold back this time," Kratos said, trying to sound as serious as possible. In his mind, he knew it was a downright lie. If he went full power, the world was screwed. In reality, the concept of Lloyd winning was a real laugh. In fact, all of them coming at him at once was a laugh too. He'd knock Lloyd flat on hit butt less than a month ago, not after a fight, not after a tech, but after drawing his sword. In fact, it wasn't even Flamberge but a regular long sword, kind of like the one he used at the Iselia chapel. At the same time, none of the people in Lloyd's group were dramatically stronger than him except maybe Regal if he ditched the handcuffs. Even then, they weren't in the same league. His train of thought was interrupted.
"I know. I won't either," Lloyd replied, sounding confident that he would win. He drew out the Angel's Tears and charged straight ahead. Kratos shook his head. Had Lloyd learned nothing from their training sessions or their battles during their journey? He jumped up to deliver a double overhead slash. Apparently he hadn't as though the attack was strong, it left no defense and a huge target. Kratos rammed Flamberge's hilt into Lloyd's stomach and booted him back to where the spectators stood. This really wasn't working.
"You're neglecting defense," Kratos rebuked. Okay. It was time to set some ground rules. No flying, no teleporting, no Judgment, no instant casting, almost no instant knockdown recovery… That was good enough, right? Again Lloyd charged recklessly and was sent sailing back with a Super Sonic Thrust. Scratch that thought and add only using around half the Hp he had in his held back state, no healing, no Guardian, almost no guarding for that matter, no overlimit, and most of all, the use of horrid swordplay.
"Rising Falcon!"
Kratos' eyes widened slightly. This was certainly new. Lloyd leapt back into the air and hovered for a moment before somehow propelling himself forward with rapid speed. Not that the move was bad or slow, but it wasn't near quick enough to make a seraph panic. Still, Kratos purposely blocked too high and was knocked off his feet. Lloyd spun around.
"Raging Beast!"
A bright blue force erupted from Lloyd's twin swords, sending Kratos skidding along the ground. The angel slowly got to his feet and began to chant. A brown rune appeared at his feet. Lloyd sprinted at him full speed.
"Grave!"
Kratos released the spell and smiled at his handiwork. He'd neglected to put a lead on the spell, so as long as Lloyd kept running...
"Rising Falcon!"
Lloyd rose up into the air and was impaled by five stone spikes. Kratos began casting Air Thrust. Now only about two feet away, all Lloyd had to do was get up and start slashing away like he usually did. In fact, all he had to do was not use-
"Rising Falcon!"
Kratos tried to delay his spell, but it was too late. Whether he said the words or not, he'd already let go.
"Air Thrust!"
Lloyd was caught in the vortex and tosses around a bit before being spit out at Kratos' feet. The angel punted him over to Origin's seal to let him recover. Lloyd used a miracle gel from his pack and charged once more.
An hour or so of fighting passed, and Kratos was sure that Lloyd was running out of gels. It was time for a refill. Using Demon Spear, he sent Lloyd sailing over Origin's seal, away from prying eyes and discreetly stuffed a few gels into Lloyd's pack in between punches. Soon it was full again. Several more hours passed and several more refills took place. Finally, Kratos had takes enough visible damage to claim defeat even though he was perfectly fine. In reality he'd had to do most of it by using Wind Blade on himself when no one could see. Purposely flinching, he let Lloyd send him crashing to the ground with a Heavy Tiger Blade. He slowly made his way to his feet.
"You've… grown strong, Lloyd," Kratos commented, half telling the truth, half lying. Lloyd was a world stronger than he had been when he started the journey, but that was still nothing compared to a seraph with over 4000 years of experience. Faking heavy breathing, he got up and ambled over to Origin's seal.
"Wait! You can't just-" Lloyd started.
"This is what you wanted, is it not?" Kratos asked as he summoned his angel wings and purged his body of mana. He had swallowed his pride and had let it drop to an all time low for the sake of saving the world. He had accumulated a lot of bad karma over his life, and it was all coming back to bite him at once. He fell. At least it was over now. Death was coming, and he'd paid for his sins as much as he could. At least he could pride himself that he died to save the world. Something caught him. Kratos cracked his eyes open and saw Yuan. That last shred of pride he had left was unceremoniously ripped away. He gave Yuan a death glare and sighed inwardly. He'd never planned to have his pride crash nearly this badly. Fate had just had other ideas.
Give an inch, take a mile. It was so true.
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Well, so it begins. Review if you feel like it.