[What-if] What if Martel was Lloyd's mother? What if he was born a few years before the Kharlan War? What if Lloyd unintentionally became the next Chosen? Tales of Symphonia "what-if", partially follows the game/manga/OVA. [AU]
Just a head's up, Lloyd will still have brownish hair, etc. He'll just have…quarter-elf blood in him, still classified as a "half-elf". Story contains spoilers. That's the warning. Also, I have no idea what the combined Sylvarant and Tethe'alla was (don't think the game, manga and OVA ever mentioned it, either), so I'm calling it "Aselia". Correct me if I'm wrong, though.
Enjoy.
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The Goddess's Son of Mana
Chapter 1: Beginnings
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The sun was up again, filling the sky with its beautiful, gleaming radiance. A wave of grassland spread across the fields, the wind picking up the blades of grass whimsically, rushing them off side to side. A dirt road crossed through these fields and walking upon them were four people. There were two, young adult men, a young adult woman and a child, around ten years old. They were a group of friends, having been together for quite some time and bonded with a strong friendship.
One of the men in the group had wild auburn hair, his long bangs covering the left side of his face, over his eye. The top portion of his hair jaggedly strayed upward, swaying leftmost as well, and lastly, the rest of his hair fell towards his shoulders. He was dressed in a purple outfit; it had details of diamond-like patterns etched onto it, gloves covering his hands and having a swallow tail trailing behind him. His eyes were the same shade as his hair apparently, and he carried a sheathed sword fastened to his left hip. He looked no more than eighteen years old.
The second man of the group had an unusual hair color of blue, having emerald green eyes. He was wearing a red vest-like shirt that buttoned up towards his neck. A navy blue shirt was underneath, a white long sleeves under that, having white pants with navy blue tunic strips with gold hems hanging off the sides. He wore navy blue gauntlets over his white pants where his knee caps ended, leaving his red and same colored boots upon his feet. His long blue hair was tied into a ponytail, ending near his rear. His bangs were brushed off to the right side of his face, and his ears were lightly pointed. He appeared to be the same as the man with auburn hair.
The young woman in their mist had long, light green hair, her short bangs over her face. She seemed very cheerful, always having a reassuring smile on her fair skinned face. Her eyes were a pale gold color, loving and caring. She wore a completely black outfit, having green hemmed around the edges of it. A little bit of her mid-drift chest was lightly exposed, however she naturally wore a dark gray shawl over her shoulders to cover up. She had long gloves covering her arms mostly, though ended around the backs of her hands. She was walking very closely with the man in purple, them sharing hands together as they held them closely.
Last in their small group, the ten-year-old appearing boy had blond hair that was straight but still wild, flatly. His bangs swept across his face, covering a little bit of his face, but still displayed it. His eyes were as crystal blue as the sky. He was wearing white robes which left his skinny arms bare. The hems of the white robes were strung with navy blue; his pants were also the same color and he wore white, small boots. Around his wrists were gold bracelets, which he adored. His blond hair was short, ending around his shoulders as well.
They weren't far off from the road until the young boy took notice of something. "Sister! Look!" He squeaked excitedly, motioning for the young woman. He ran ahead, finding a small field of flowers. They were simple, white daisies, but to the boy, they were beautiful. The sun's rays made them stand out, almost glowing. "These flowers are so pretty!"
The other three walked up to catch up to the boy, all smiling in their own way. The green-haired woman laughed lightly as she knelt down near her brother as he grinned. "Mithos, they are very beautiful." She told him, calling his name. "How about we sit here and look at them for awhile?"
The boy beamed brightly. "C-can we?"
"Of course."
"Yes!"
The two older males of the group chuckled as they approached, looking at the young woman. "Martel, are you sure?" The one with blue hair asked her, naming the female.
"Yuan, Kratos…" She looked at them. "It's been some time since we've stopped to look at the scenery for a change. I don't want to trouble Mithos too much."
"Very well, then." The one called Kratos said, deciding to sit down. Yuan, the blue-haired man, followed suit.
When they were situated, Martel's eyes found the gaze of Kratos', the young man caught it and kept a rather stern face. She tilted her head curiously, which he didn't realize what she was trying to do. "Martel…?" He wondered, noticing her giggle.
"Kratos…Shouldn't we…tell them?" She said in between her light giggling, which caused the young swordsman to blink in surprise before finally getting it.
"Wait, what?" Yuan blinked as well, though in confusion. "Tell us…what?"
"Huh?" Mithos added in the confusion.
Kratos looked down, his hair falling with him. However, he was actually blushing and trying to hide it. However, the green-haired woman noticed it well and continued her light chortles. Yuan and Mithos shared confused glances with one another, then towards their friends. "What…? What is it?" They asked simultaneously. Martel smiled, holding her hand over her stomach very lightly. Yuan watched her movements, suddenly getting it, however Mithos didn't. Why was his sister doing that?
"Mithos, Yuan. Kratos and I…are expecting." She announced.
"…I see." Yuan replied, smiling. Deep down, however, he was hurt. He loved Martel, though he never voiced it to the woman. She had her eyes on the auburn more and he found it would have been rude to admit his feelings to her when she loved someone else, who also returned her feelings. Kratos looked up to see his friend's expression, though was more concerned for Mithos. The poor boy was even more baffled.
"Sister…? What do you mean?"
"It means, I will have a baby soon, Mithos." She told him, his eyes widening. "You will be an uncle in nine months."
"A-ah! R-really?!" The blond gaped in glee. He was going to be an uncle! Someone else to add to his family, other than his sister. He looked at Kratos with his beaming face, now knowing the swordsman was his brother-in-law. "Kratos, that means we're related now!"
"Yeah." The young adult said, smiling.
"Yuan," Martel gazed the half-elf's way, the latter looking her way in response. "I would love it, if you could become our child's god father. Would you?" Yuan was taken aback by the sudden question. Him? Become the god father of his friend's and once-loved child? If anything, he'd be more than willing to take the child off their hands when it was born. He smiled wide; this was as close as he could get though, and wouldn't have minded anyway.
"Of course, Martel. I'll become the child's god father." Yuan replied, earning a grateful giggle from the woman and a warmer smile from Kratos.
"That's great!" Mithos beamed again. "Now we're all family!"
"Mithos, we were family when we first became good friends." Yuan reminded the boy. "We'll always be family, no matter what."
The blond nodded. "Right. No matter what our race is or our blood connections or whatnot. What's important is that we're together." He smiled brightly as the sun, his hair glistening with the rays of the ball of flames. Kratos and Martel shared glances, smiling at one another, hoping their child would be born with peace around them, like today. Their hands collapsed together as they enjoyed the scenery.
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Nine months had passed almost quickly; the group of four made it to the nearest town, Luin, and urgently rushed Martel to their medical care. They knew this day would come, and the three males were eager. Especially Kratos; the now-nineteen year old paced around outside, even taking out his sword to feverishly cut into the air. The doctors told him to wait outside for awhile; that upset him as he promised Martel he'd be there through everything. Many people glanced at him as if he had gone insane until Yuan explained to some the reason why. They all nodded and went back to their duties. Mithos was sitting down by a fountain, also worried but excited. He was going to be a true uncle today! The very thought thrilled him. Yuan tried to calm Kratos down but that didn't work as the auburn continued pacing and slashing at nothing randomly.
This is unlike him, but I can't blame him. Yuan thought as he watched the usually calm Kratos impatiently pace about indecisively. "Kratos…" He called to his friend.
"Yuan, what am I going to do?" The swordsman asked in a nervous tone. "What if it's a girl? What if it's a boy? What would a good name be? Is Martel all right? I'm such a terrible husband. I can't—"
"Kratos! Calm down!" Yuan half yelled at him, making the human angel pause. When the blue haired half-elf got his attention, he sighed. "Worrying about this isn't going to help. Just try and stay calm. I'm sure everything is going fine. Now take a deep breath."
"…" Kratos dotted silently before listening, trying to take a deep breath. All this panicking wasn't helping him, and it surely got Mithos on edge, too. However, one of the doctors came outside and said,
"Mr. Aurion? Your wife has need for your—" the man didn't complete his sentence as Kratos spun around on his heel faster than a bullet train—if it had existed—and rushed inside. He found the room Martel was in instantly and hurried to her side. She was in terrible pain, he knew it, and now wasn't going to leave her side. He held her hand in his, the young soon-to-be mother gripping his hand tighter than a rope.
"Martel, it's going to be all right." He whispered to her softly. A soft smile played upon her face before it scrunched up into frustration.
"I…I know. I'm sorry, Kratos."
"Don't be."
The other nurses and doctors were around, the one that had announced the request returned inside. He washed his hands again, and approached the couple. "Ready, Mrs. Aurion?" The pale woman nodded; her solid grip on Kratos' hand tightened. Kratos was thankful he couldn't feel anything anymore, especially physical pain, but he somehow felt this. It was not his pain, it was Martel's pain.
The pain of child birth.
A good four hours passed when a nurse came outside and found the anxious Yuan and Mithos—who was half enraged that he couldn't go in when Kratos did earlier. The two were escorted inside to Martel's room, where she was recovering. Mithos being ahead, he rushed in, opening the door and gasped lightly when he saw Kratos sitting beside a very pale but smiling Martel. He walked in, followed by Yuan, and approached the now smiling, new father, then found their eyes on Martel. Cradled in her arms was a bundle of a white blanket, but inside was a chubby, flesh of a newborn. The baby barely had any hair upon its head, with light brown over the scalp, barely. However, two small prongs of brown hair protruded from the babe's head. The skin was fair, almost matching Martel's own, and had its eyes closed.
Nearly speechless, Mithos looked at his sister, wondering what to say. His heart was filled with joy, but he was unable to express it in fear of waking the child.
"So…Boy or Girl?" Yuan asked, smiling as he watched the child shift its head very slightly.
Kratos looked up, "Boy." He replied as quietly as he could to the half-elves.
"What…What is his name…?" Mithos asked next. Maybe he could think of a name for his new nephew if they didn't have one…
This time, Martel looked up from watching the baby, her pale gold eyes finding Yuan and her brother. With a smile, she glanced at Kratos, who nodded then proceeded on. "His name…Is Lloyd Aurion. Our little Lloyd."
Galdr: I know, so cute. :D And this was short. Review if you like.
