A/N: This is going to be used to publish a fan manga which will also contain a disclaimer on the first page of each volume.

Lloyd, Angelic Warrior of Cruxis

Chapter 2: Traveling to Welgaia and Lloyd's Childhood

The next morning, Dirk was the first one awake. After gently and carefully waking Lloyd, he headed downstairs, the toddler following in his wake.

Lloyd asked curiously, "Daddy okay? We wake him up?"

Dirk smiled, "In a little while…your dad was hurt pretty badly yesterday and needs his rest."

Lloyd seemed to understand and nodded his head, "Me hungy! Me hungy!"

Dirk nodded to him, "Right then, I'll fix you something. Come on." He walked over to a cupboard and took out a few ingredients, "Does stew sound good to you, little master?"

Lloyd giggled and nodded, "Stew good! Daddy make stew all times!" He got a little too excited and began running up and down the stairs, making a lot of racket.

Dirk tried to stop him, but Kratos got there first, picking up Lloyd as he headed up the steps the second time, on his way down. Dirk apologized quickly, "Sorry 'bout the noise, Kratos. Little Lloyd got all excited about breakfast."

Kratos shrugged, "It's all right. I needed to be awake anyway." He began to tickle Lloyd, his three-year-old son squirming in his arms and laughing. He flopped onto the floor and continued to keep Lloyd occupied while Dirk cooked breakfast.

Dirk told them, "Hate to interrupt your time with your son, Kratos, but breakfast be ready."

Kratos nodded, "All right then." He sat down in a chair with Lloyd in his lap. He told Dirk, "I won't need anything to eat, but I'm sure Lloyd will eat enough for the both of us. He's growing up fast."

Lloyd giggled, "I a big boy!" He rammed his head into Kratos's stomach, unaware of the injury on his father's side.

Kratos gave a slight wince, but then shook his head at Dirk, quietly telling him, "It's all right, Dirk. He doesn't know. I'll manage."

Dirk sighed, but then nodded his head at Kratos and told Lloyd, "Indeed you are. Eat up, Lloyd."
As Lloyd ate, Kratos looked at Dirk, "I'm taking him back to Dherris-Kharlan with me, Dirk. I want to raise him on my own. If any questions come up about where he came from, I won't hesitate to tell them what happened between Anna and me."

Dirk nodded, "Aye…but what about the Exsphere? What do you plan to do with that?"

Kratos sighed, "I plan to give it to Yggdrassil. It may have been Anna's, but I have no use for it since I already have one. Lloyd's not old enough to use an Exsphere yet…" He smirked a bit, "though I had considered just keeping it and giving it to him once he comes of age."

Dirk smirked, "Smart plan…how you plan on keeping Yggdrassil from finding out you have his favored Exsphere though?"

Kratos replied, "I'll tell him it was lost in the forest and that I tried to find it."

Dirk sighed, "But what if he sees you give Lloyd the Exsphere? What then?"

Kratos responded, "I'll deal with that when the time comes." He looked down at Lloyd, "Are you ready to go?"

Lloyd smiled and nodded, "Ya ready. Where going, Daddy?"

Kratos answered, "We're going to Welgaia, a city in the sky."

Lloyd gasped in wonderment, "Ooo…the sky! We fwy?"

Kratos nodded, "Yes, we will fly there. Though, I will be the one doing the flying. You'll just be along for the ride."

Dirk replied, "You two just be careful, all right?"

Kratos answered, "All right, we will, Dirk. Thank you for everything."

Dirk smiled, "Aye…I'm just going along with the teachings. Dwarven Vow #7: Never abandon someone in need."

Lloyd hugged Dirk, "Tank ou a lot fow help."

Dirk laughed, patting the small boy heartily on the back, "No problem, little fella. You two'd best be on your way though. Last night I got a letter from Kvar at the Ranch and he's sending some of his Desians to inspect me house."

Kratos replied, "Then we will trouble you no more. Goodbye, Dirk." Standing up and taking Lloyd into his arms, he ran out of the house and kicked off the ground, heading to Dherris-Kharlan.

Dirk waved after the two until they were out of sight.

Lloyd laughed as he held tightly onto Kratos, "Dis fun! I lub dis daddy!"

Kratos smiled at his son, "I'm glad you like it. Now hang on, we're almost there." He put on arm securely around Lloyd's shoulders as he sped up a bit and soon they were in Welgaia.

Lloyd shivered a bit, "It cold here…."

Kratos placed his purple cape around his son like a blanket, "Better?"

Lloyd nodded, "Tanks Daddy."

Kratos smiled, "No problem, Lloyd."

Yuan was walking the streets when he spotted the two. Slightly alarmed, he steered the two into a small alleyway, "Kratos…what is your son doing here? What happened?"

Kratos sighed, a small frown forming on his face, "I will tell you later, Yuan. Right now, I must get Lloyd to my hovel. I don't want Yggdrassil to find out about him, not yet."

Yuan nodded his head in understanding, "All right. Do you want my help in raising him? I may be no Martel, but I did help her as much as I could in raising Mithos."

Kratos gave a small smile and nodded, giving a shrug, "Sure, if you want to. I'll warn you though. He's a handful."

Lloyd looked confused, "How I handful? I no fit in Daddy's hand anymore…"

Kratos and Yuan both laughed at this.

Yuan collected himself and told the boy, "That's not what we mean Lloyd. You'll understand when you're older."

Lloyd nodded his head to Yuan, "Otay. Who you?"

Yuan replied, kneeling down to meet the toddler's gaze, "I'm Yuan, a friend of your dad's."

Lloyd tilted his head to the side, "Yu-on? That weird name…"

Kratos laughed, "Its okay, Yuan. It took him a while to get him to say my name correctly too." He looked to Lloyd, correcting him, "No, Lloyd. Not Yu-on. You-un. Can you say that for me?"

Lloyd nodded, "Y-You-un. Yuan…" He smiled, "Yuan! Yuan!" He was pleased with himself for learning the blue-haired half-elf's name.

Yuan smiled and nodded, "Very good, Lloyd. I should be going, Kratos. Yggdrassil is expecting me any moment, so…farewell for now." He ruffled Lloyd's hair playfully then walked away.

Lloyd looked to Kratos, giving a slight yawn, "I sleepy Daddy…"

Kratos nodded, "Come to my hovel then, Lloyd. You can sleep safely there." He collected the tired toddler into his arms and carried him to the hovel, placing him softly on the bed once there.

Yuan soon came back, looking slightly annoyed, "You should tell him soon, Kratos. Mithos is getting rather impatient about you and wants to know what has become of you….and Anna."

Kratos sighed, "All right…I will tell him now. Will you stay here and keep an eye on Lloyd?"

Yuan nodded, "I won't let anything happen to him. If he wakes up, I will tell him where you went. You go see Lord Yggdrassil."

Kratos responded, "All right then. See you later, Yuan." He walked out of the hovel and to Mithos.

Mithos sighed, "Kratos, there you are. Where have you been these past three years? I had Desians looking high and low and in all the usual places you go, yet there was no sign of you. What happened?"

Kratos told him, "It's a rather long story…but I will tell you. I went to the Iselia Human Ranch to make sure Kvar was doing as we wanted. I expected it to be just a routine visit, but…well; I saw a woman there, Anna and fell in love with her. I helped her escape…and we had a son. Yesterday though…I was forced to kill her because the Desians took off her Exsphere and turned her into a monster. Our son still lives though. I brought him here with me. I couldn't just leave him…"

Mithos glanced at the ground and glared back up at him, "So…you're the reason that host body A0192 went missing. You said you killed her though…because Kvar took her Exsphere. That Exsphere was going to be mine. Did you see what happened to it?"

Kratos hesitated for a split second then told him, "No, my lord. It was lost in the confusion of the struggle with Anna in her monster form."

Mithos sighed and nodded his head, "All right then. Bring your son here. He might be of some use to me."

Kratos told him, "Mithos…my son is sleeping right now. Surely we don't have to disturb him right now. He's only a toddler! I won't let you hurt him…"

Mithos replied, "All right…bring him before me when he comes of age. I wish to make him into a warrior."

Kratos retorted, "No, I won't. If anyone's going to teach him combat, it will be me. He is my son and my responsibility. I assure you, Mithos, when the time comes for the Regeneration Journey, Lloyd will be prepared sufficiently. I will have him accompany the Chosen and will also go with the Chosen personally to ensure the success of the Journey."

Mithos nodded, rather pleased, "Very well then, Kratos. I leave him in yours and in Yuan's capable hands. Mold him into a warrior."

Kratos responded, "Thank you very much, Lord Yggdrassil. I leave you in peace." He walked away, sighing. He was glad he had gotten off relatively easily. But then again, why shouldn't he? If Mithos killed him, it would release Origin's seal prematurely, causing many problems.

Yuan looked up once Kratos came in the door, "So, what did he say?"

Kratos sighed, "He let me down easily. However, you and I are supposed to train Lloyd in combat as soon as he's old enough to lift a sword."

Yuan nodded, sighing, "All right…what age do you think we should start training him? I wish there was some other way, but I guess we can't avoid it."

Lloyd yawned and sat up in bed, smiling at Kratos, "Daddy!" He launched himself out of bed and hugged Kratos's leg.

Kratos sighed and picked up Lloyd, hugging him gently. He then looked at Yuan, "I believe we should start in 8 years, when he reaches age 11. He should be physically strong enough by then to lift the smallest sword I have. I'll start him with the heavier ones as he grows more."

Yuan nodded his head, "All right then. I'll see you later." He walked out of the hovel.

Lloyd looked confused, "What wong, Daddy? You wook sad…"

Kratos gave Lloyd a sad smile, "It's nothing you need to worry about and probably wouldn't understand right now Lloyd. Go back to bed."

Lloyd yawned again as Kratos placed him in bed, "Night Daddy…" He closed his eyes and went straight to sleep.

Kratos kissed his son's forehead, "Good night, Lloyd. Enjoy your 8 years of freedom."

The eight years which allowed Lloyd to be a child and have fun passed by rather quickly, too quickly for Kratos.

Yuan sighed, "It's time, Kratos. We should start training Lloyd."

Lloyd asked, "What do you mean? What's going on?"

Kratos answered him, "You're 11 years old now, and we're going to start training you to use a sword."

Lloyd sighed, "But Dad…I don't…I don't want to kill anyone! Why?"

Yuan placed his hand on Lloyd's shoulder, kneeling down slightly, "I know, Lloyd. We're not asking you to kill anybody. You need to know how to protect yourself though."

Lloyd nodded his head, "O…okay. Dad's gonna show me how, right?"

Kratos responded, "Yuan and I both are, Lloyd."

Lloyd blinked, "Both of you together…that's not exactly fair."

Yuan replied, "That's not what he meant. He meant we'll take turns."

Lloyd told him, "Oh, okay."

Kratos trained Lloyd all day, so hard that the boy was tired at the end of the day.

Lloyd panted, "Can we stop for now? I'm hungry…"

Kratos nodded, "Sure. We can stop for the day if you'd like. You look very exhausted."

Lloyd replied, "I am. Thanks Dad…for all you taught me today." He yawned and stretched, following Kratos back to the hovel.

He went straight to sleep once his head hit the pillow.

Kratos tucked him in and kissed his forehead, gently brushing a loose lock of brown hair out of Lloyd's face.

The next day, Lloyd was given a very nutritious breakfast by Kratos, rarely allowed to eat snack foods.

After he was done eating, they resumed training.

They trained hard all day and at the end of the day, Lloyd collapsed tiredly into bed.

Kratos tucked him in again and silently watched him sleep, wishing there was some other way to please Yggdrassil.

The relentless training continued for years, with Yuan and Kratos alternating months.

A/N: Well, that's it for Chapter 2. Stay tuned for Chapter 3!