Li: He heh heh heh…I've got a lot of people on the edge of their seats for this fic…-rubs hands together- Mithos and Sage are rubbing off on me…So many people want to know what an ARCH is…-laughs manically-

Hector: MITHOS!!! –points at Li- What the #&!! did you do to her?!!?

Mithos: Nothing…he heh heh AHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! –continues laughing-

Li: MUWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAHHAHAHAHAAAAAA!!!! –keeps laughing with Mithos-

Hector: …Well, she's not sick anymore…Li-chan0767 does not own Tales of Symphonia…

ARCH

'I wonder if Lloyd's okay…' Colette thought to herself, looking around the small room inside Welgaia. She and the others managed to escape, thanks to a powerful attack that Regal had at his disposal. From there, they had escaped into Welgaia, retrieving a mana fragment-with a little 'indirect' help from Kratos-along with another Devil's Arm, and had hidden out for the night in the room where it was kept. They had agreed to rotate watch, but Colette had volunteered to remain awake all night; that way if they were discovered, she could say she was keeping them contained until one of the Seraphim came with orders for her.

"I think we should all get ready to go now." Raine stated calmly, standing up. She was currently on watch with Colette, and proceeded to wake the others around them. "If we set out now, we might be able to get some information on the Eternal Sword that the storyteller told us about." She continued, shaking her brother awake.

"And rescue Lloyd? Could we manage that?" Colette asked hopefully, her face lighting up briefly. Raine looked at her student sadly and sighed.

"I want to rescue him as well, Colette, but if he was taken to Yggdrasil's castle, I don't think we can." She said, looking the blond in the eye to show that she meant what she said. "I don't want to abandon him any more than you do, but do you honestly believe that Lloyd would want us to die while trying to save him?" Colette couldn't retort that statement; Lloyd wouldn't like that at all.

"I'm hungry..." Zelos whined as he woke up, and was promptly smacked for it by the Professor. The reverberating noise served as an alarm clock to the others who all awoke with quite moans. Genius yawned behind his hands as he looked at his friends.

"I can whip up some sandwiches real quick if anyone else is peckish." There were several nods of agreement, and in less than a heartbeat, Genius and Regal were making sandwiches for the rest of the group to make when Colette's head shot up in shock.

"Someone's coming!!" The other seven felt the blood leave their faces as they froze, not knowing what to do. The door to the room they were in slid open to reveal...

"Why does this fail to surprise me?" Yggdrasil muttered, staring in disgust at the monitor for Lloyd's vitals, which showed the teen's heart beating erratically within his chest. Looking back at the hibernation chamber, he saw that Lloyd still looked like he was sleeping peacefully. Turning back to the keypad, the High Seraphim hit a different amount of keys, and a second tube appeared from Lloyd's heart and went to his right hand, somehow managing to balance out the amount of mana surge in the boy's body.

"Much better. I should have done this to begin with..." Yggdrasil whispered to himself thinking back on the next part of the ARCH transformation. It involved the part of the mind that dealt with emotions, so it was difficult. Pondering, he ignored the sliding door until the person who opened it stepped in.

"What are you doing here?" Kratos asked, eyebrows raised as he surveyed the room. "I would have thought that you would've fled as soon as possible." Colette found herself stuttering as she saw the tall auburn enter the room, and the others were frozen stiff.

"And just what are you doing here?" Raine finally got out after a minute, but Kratos simply ignored her, recounting the amount of people in the room.

"...Where is Lloyd?" He asked suddenly, earning a sharp glare from Sheena.

"We should be asking you!!!" She yelled, eyes flashing from a soft hazel to a deep amber color. "Your boss said that he wanted to speak with him!!" Kratos gave her a shocked look. That was not what he had expected to hear.

"He did?" He asked, worried; if Yggdrasil had wished to speak with Lloyd, things were not going to turn out good. The eight looked at him in surprise; they had thought that Yggdrasil would've informed Kratos if he chose to speak with Lloyd. The auburn crossed his arms and gave the group a stern look, resisting the urge to chew on his lip, a habit he had picked up from Anna in their time together.

"...Do any of you have a clue as to what Lord Yggdrasil wished to speak with him about?" He asked finally, wine colored orbs piercingly sharp, making several of the group wince. Raine, on the other hand, was studying Kratos with a tentative look.

"I have something I wish to ask of you." She interjected, jerking Kratos' attention towards her. The silver haired half-elf drew a breath and leveled her gaze at him again. "Lloyd...is he...your son?"

---

"Oh, Lord Yggdrasil." Pronyma raised her eyebrows as she entered, seeing that Lloyd was still tucked away in the chamber, suspended in the air. "How long does the boy have to remain in there?" She asked cautiously, not knowing whether or not the High Seraphim would attack her for her question. Yggdrasil turned to look at her with a smirk.

"A while, Pronyma, a while." He replied, remembering what the next step required. Punching a single button on the panel, his face contorted into an insane grin as a dark violet glow began to fill the chamber, obscuring Lloyd from view. "It depends on how strong the test object is, and on how much mana their bodies can withstand being pumped with at a time. It could take anywhere from a day to a couple weeks. But seeing as how this is Kratos' son..." laughing coldly at the thought, he wondered why he had been so against this before? If Lloyd was successful, he would have other angels breed with humans, and their offspring would in turn become ARCH.

After all, wasn't there a saying once stating that a child shall surpass its parents?

"Speaking of Lord Kratos, were you going to inform him of this event?" Pronyma inquired, floating over to her master. "I believe he will be more willing to accept this happening if he knew of it from the start."

"You can fetch him here if you wish, but he doesn't need to be informed right now." Yggdrasil began to pace in midair, waiting for the light to vanish. "I had planned on it being a surprise, but he would be less reluctant to reject it if he knew beforehand..." Turning to Pronyma, he ordered, "Go and find him; I think he will be grateful I didn't kill off his only family." As the Desian left, Yggdrasil let out a insane laugh that would've woken Lloyd from his slumber, but the walls of the chamber stopped it from reaching his ears as the light around him dimmed.

---

"Well, is he, Kratos? Is Lloyd your son?" Raine's questions sent a chill through the room, and all attention was on her and the auburn in the doorway, who looked completely poleaxed. After a few minutes of simply gaping, Kratos sighed and looked at the floor.

"Yes...He is." The Seraph's response sent a wave of shock around the room, stunning everyone.

"Whoa, woah, woah. We were told that angels didn't have kids." Zelos shook his head, aqua eyes wide.

"That is true, but things..." Kratos didn't feel like giving the eight a reason for why he had done what he had, even though the answer was simple in his mind; he was in love. Scowling, he said coldly, "You must all head for the exit now; I will find out what Yggdrasil is planning." With that, he was gone before any of the others could make an objection.

---

Gliding around Welgaia, the auburn cursed the fact that he hadn't noticed sooner that Lloyd was missing. He hadn't seen the boy when he had helped them at the storage room, but had guessed that he might have been standing behind Regal or Zelos, and therefore out of his line of vision.

"Lord Kratos, there you are." Pronyma appeared at his side suddenly, making Kratos glare harshly at the woman before stopping and listening to what she had to say. "Lord Yggdrasil wishes for you to head down to testing room C-354; he has something he wishes to show you."

'I wonder if he's dissected my son and wants to show me...' Kratos thought with a lick of sarcastic and morbid humor, face betraying no emotions. Nodding mutely, he let the Desian leave his presence before heading down to the named testing room.

When he arrived, Kratos was greeted by a highly confusing and unusually chilling sight. Yggdrasil turned when he heard him enter, a twisted smile on his face as he watched the auburn look around the room, his eyes finally resting on the chamber as it hung suspended in the air. Seeing who was in the chamber, Kratos felt all the blood leave his face as he turned to Yggdrasil, face full of disbelief.

"What is happening to him?" He asked, a faint tremble going up and down his body. The High Seraphim laughed coldly and turned back to look at the teen.

"He is undergoing a special transformation, old friend." Yggdrasil replied cryptically, tapping a few more buttons on the screen. "It's known as ARCH, and it is an honor for such an inferior being to be the first to undergo such a transformation."

"...What happens in this...ARCH transformation?" Kratos asked, hiding his concern by telling himself he was lucky Yggdrasil hadn't killed Lloyd off. The High Seraph turned and gave him a cold smile.

"I cannot tell you all of that right now, but what I will tell you is this; he will be an angel trained to attack without hesitation." Laughing lightly, he added as he turned around, "And he will need to know of your bonds to him, Kratos, so that will have to be revealed as soon as he exits the chamber."

"And that shall be when?"

"I honestly don't know. It could be today, or it could be next year.

"That is, if he lives."

Li: I am so sorry for not getting this up last night. I was distracted and then chased off the computer. Gomendasai!! No killing me with anything—including that chainsaw of yours, Sage!!! I hope this chapter was a good as the first; I really tried... and please review. I KNOW there's more people out there reading it and not reviewing; please review, I like knowing people are interested in my stories. –nods-
Hector: MITHOS!!! You call that-points at story-NOT RUBBING OFF ON HER!?!?!?!