Me: Disclaimer! I do not own Tales of Symphonia or any of it's characters. I DO however, own this story/plot as it came out of my imagination. However, if it resembles any other story out there, I'm very sorry, because I haven't read enough to find your story. *bows* Ranting moved to the bottom so I don't scare off readers... but first, READ AND REVIEW! If you don't, the next chapter miiight just come out after a painstakingly long time~ (Thanks especially to accident_prone who has reviewed both chapters-- not counting this-- so far! I'd say I love you, but that's kinda freaky coming from someone you don't know.))
Chapter 2: Run, Run, and Never Stop
Lloyd was in a dreamlike state when Mithos, or Yggdrasill as he was called in Cruxis for very few knew his true name, plunged his gleaming, razor-sharp teeth into the swordsman's neck. All he could feel was a dull pain and an airy feeling as Mithos drank the red liquid that pooled from the punctures in his neck. Then, he felt something else. A warm liquid trickled into his mouth which he swallowed automatically; Mithos had made a cut on himself and trickled his own blood into the boy's mouth. The only witness of this quiet yet unsettling exchange was Kratos; however, they, including the unconscious people on the floor, were not to be alone for long as they were soon interrupted by a fire shot from the entrance of the room that almost made contact with the golden-haired angel.
Mithos dropped the boy who landed with a dull thud to the floor and avoided the fire with a curse as the Renegades flooded the room, but not before taking something from the boy's left hand. Botta entered and quickly inspected the scene; time was of the essence. He cursed under his breath when he saw Lloyd lying on the floor in a pool of his own blood and the Chosen having already became an angel.
"Damn! The Chosen has already become an angel! We have no choice. We're taking her back with us alive!" Botta shouted his orders which were quickly followed by his fellow Renegades. They quickly grabbed the unconscious bodies and rushed out of the room. Kratos almost breathed a sigh of relief, but knew it was too early to be at ease for the fact still stood that Lloyd had done a blood pact; however, he was safe for now from Mithos. Maybe that was a good omen.
"…Renegades…as irritating as ever. Still, it is of little consequence. I've much time on my hands. Kratos, let us leave." Mithos gave a little smile as he toyed with his imagination trying to figure out what the mercenary was thinking of what he had just done to Lloyd. Of course, he would have more time in the future to toy with the boy's life. That's all he had: time, and the power to do the things he wished. He disappeared in a ray of light and his glowing sword returned to it's place of rest in the tower.
"…Don't die, Lloyd…" The words were the last few spoken as Kratos, too, disappeared from the room.
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"Botta!" A blue-haired man caught sight of his partner and co-leader of the Renegades. "How was the miss-" He was cut short as the Renegades rushed in carrying the unconscious people into the Renegade base. A cold chill took hold of him and he grabbed hold of the two men that carried the bloodied Lloyd Irving in their arms. His face started to pale as he saw the two holes on the side of the boy's neck that were only just starting to clot. The swordsman was shivering in a cold sweat with a grimace of pain plastered on his face.
"Yuan, what are you doing, we need to-" Botta's gruff voice was laden with impatience; he had risked his life and that of his men to save these people from the clutches of Cruxis, and he needed to hurry and get them cared for.
"This one. Bind him and restrict his movements." The pallor of Yuan's skin started to return to normal as he got over the initial shock.
"…" Botta turned and addressed the men still holding Lloyd. "Well, you heard Lord Yuan!" He turned back to Yuan as the men moved onwards catching up with the group that hadn't slowed. "I'll trust in your decision, Yuan. Now, excuse me for I have matters to attend to." He headed for his office leaving the blue-haired man behind. Yuan paused for but a moment, watching his partner make his way down the halls, then he too went his own way.
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Renegade healers bustled back and forth as they worked to tend to the wounded Chosen's group. Colette herself was as emotionless as before by herself in the corner of the busy room. Lloyd was on a bed with the two Renegades that had brought him to the room binding him to it with ropes and chains. They were a bit skeptical of what they were doing, but it was an order from Lord Yuan, so they did it, nonetheless.
"Hey, one of them is waking up!" A Renegade said while pointing at the light blue-haired researcher of the group who had started to stir.
"Where are we?" Raine groaned as she got to her feet, leaning on her staff. She opened her eyes and surveyed the bustling around her happy that all of her companions were there, but a bit intrigued and shocked as to why Lloyd was fixed to the bed with chains and ropes. "I assumeyou have a reason for fixing my student to a bed?" The question was addressed to the Renegades in general.
"Lord Yuan ordered us to." One of them answered as he continued tending to her companions. "Look, you're a healer, right?" The same person irritably asked, but didn't wait for a response. "We've got enough on our hands, so start pulling your own weight!" Raine shook her head, That was hardly the way to ask; however, I see no reason to heal my own comrades. She raised her staff and muttered words for her healing magic. Soon, they began to awaken one by one.
"Wh-where are we?!" Sheena was the first to awaken of the two that were still unconscious followed quickly after the other, Genis. Raine moved over to Lloyd's bed as soon as they were awake and moving, worried for her less intelligent student; the Renegades began to leave, for their duty was done.
"Where's the angel?" He hopped on his short feet, but then realized that they were no longer in Derris-Kharlan.
"Lloyd!" They both exclaimed and ran to their companion's bed side and started to panic about why the red swordsman was tied to the bed while trying to take off the bindings. Then, Lloyd's eyes fluttered open earning a gasp from the boy's friends; they were crimson. The red-clothed boy pulled against his fastenings baring his now pointed teeth causing the group around his bed to flinch and move back slightly. He ripped free of his bindings except for the handcuffs that held his hands behind them; those, he couldn't break for some reason.
The door to the room opened with a mechanical whirr, "Get away from him!!" Yuan burst into the room just as the spiky-headed teen went for Sheena's exposed neck and sunk his teeth into her flesh; the ninja screamed. Only a pint of blood was lost from Sheena when Yuan ran between the two before anyone noticed and pushed the two apart holding his double-ended blade at Lloyd's throat. The voluptuous ninja fell back supported by Raine and Genis as she clutched her neck, stemming the blood flow.
"What happened to him?" Sheena made out standing up straight again; she could stand the loss of a pint of blood. "And why did he just do that?" The group could not take their eyes away from their friend's crimson colored eyes.
Lloyd's eyes turned more brown as Sheena's blood circulated in his system, now the shade of mahogany. He licked his bloodied lips returning the stares, stepped back a bit from Yuan's weapon.
"He's become a liability." Yuan spun his blade and slashed at Lloyd. The attempt failed, however, and the blue-haired man only succeeded on slashing through the teen's clothes, making a small scratch on his now exposed chest as Lloyd dodged backwards with his white ribbons whipping about.
"Stop it!" Genis yelled at the man trying to hurt his best friend. He tried to shove Yuan to the ground, but Raine held the boy still. Lloyd's eyes seemed to change between brown and the deep blood-like crimson and he bolted from the room. A look of regret momentarily flashed on the teen's face. Yuan, Rain, Genis, and Sheena pulling the unresponsive Colette pursued the echoing footsteps as they seemed to get farther and farther away.
There was a loud metallic whirr that echoed down the hall and the revving of an engine which soon turned to something of a high-pitched squeal along with the yells of several of what seemed to be yells of Renegades. When they finally arrived, they saw Lloyd riding high in the sky slightly zigzagging from trying to figure out the controls of the seemingly complex machine. Then, he disappeared.
"Curse, you, Lloyd Irving…" Yuan muttered, lowering his weapon.
"You have a lot of explaining to do." Raine stated seriously, now in teacher mode.
"Yeah, you better." Sheena both seemed to agree and threaten Yuan as he nodded, leading the group off to get Botta so they could explain to them more thoroughly.
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Lloyd fought the blood thirst he so strongly felt as he flew on the rheaird only semiconscious. The blood he had taken from Sheena-- he cringed at the remembrance of hurting his friend from Tethe'alla-- had slackened the blood thirst enough so that he knew what he was doing. His vision was hazy making it even harder to guide the rheaird through the air with his still handcuffed hands; the controls for the flying machine were not as complicated as he had assumed they would be when he had mounted the winged machinery. He wasn't even sure he would be able to get it to move, or even knew if it would.
He fiddled around with the machinery and gave a yell when the ocean, the land, and even the air had changed around him which completely distracted him from his thirst. In his surprise, he slipped a bit and hit a button.
"AUTO-PILOT HAS BEEN INITIATED." A computerized female voice emanated from the machine which was barely heard over the sounds of the engine.
"Wha-what the…?!" Lloyd almost fell off from the startling height as the rheaird righted itself; they were currently flying over the ocean. He settled himself on the machine more securely and waited for a few seconds while the flying contraption continued to sail through the skies much more smoothly. As soon as he began to relax due to the smooth sailing, however, the blood thirst kicked back, and he felt dizzy. He tried to focus on the foreign surroundings below him and clenched his gloved hands tightly on the handles of the rheaird. The Ocean had more or less ended below and he was flying above rolling hills now; a large city was in sight; he tried to focus on the wondrous sight that was not something common in Sylvarant.
"ENERGY SUPPLY DEPLETED." The computerized voice spoke, shocking Lloyd once again. Violent vibrations shook the rheaird as he held on to the handles as tight as he could. The rheaird started to plummet downwards. There was a loud explosion as the red-clothed swordsman and the rheaird made contact with the ground sounding for miles around.
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A falling rheaird entered the edge of Zelos' vision, but he ignored it assuming it held some reckless young son of a noble who decided to try out the flying machine. I could care less. He shrugged off the thought and continued chatting with his miniature harem. Then, Zelos jerked his head up mid-conversation with his hunnies in Meltokio at the dull sound of an explosion far away.
"Master Zelos…" One of the girls whined, "What's wrong?" The rest of them started to join in the whine trying to win more attention. The Chosen of Tethe'alla untangled himself from the girls and stepped towards the sound with his gloved hand on his sheath.
"I heard something that sounded like an explosion, my delicate flowers, and I'm going to go check it out." He said starting to walk forward; another good excuse to leave the headache-inducing whines.
"Master Zelos is so manly!" The group cooed and let him go, retreating through the large entrance into the bustling streets of Meltokio.
Wind rustled through his long curly red hair as he ambled over to survey the scene with his cornflower-colored eyes, not at all surprised at the blackened grass and smoke. Using a small bit of wind magic to clear the smoke for he didn't want to get his beautiful self too dirty, he approached the rheaird. The flying machine was practically destroyed, and debris littered the once green grass. What really caught his eye though, was the unconscious teen that, too, lay among the wreckage facedown. His hair was blackened and his strange clothes, well, the top at least, was sliced down the middle. Zelos started to wonder how something like that could have happened, and came to a usual perverted conclusion.
"Hey, are you okay?" He poked the boy in the side with shoe. Silence.
"I hope he's not dead…" Zelos muttered when he got no response. Well… I suppose I got my wish when I said I wanted something new… Man. Martel's one freaky goddess. The words passed through his mind with a smirk as he hefted the boy onto his back.
"Dude, you owe me." He said though he knew he wasn't going to get a response. Leaving behind the still smoking wreckage behind them, they headed towards the Chosen's large mansion.
Zelos shifted Lloyd more carefully onto his back and yelled at the door, "'Bastian, let me in!" His trusted butler arrived at the door within minutes surprised to see his master carrying someone, and, on closer inspection, a guy.
"Welcome home, Master Zelos. May I ask who…?" He gestured towards the boy on his master's back.
"Ah. Call him Bud." Zelos didn't know his name, so he just threw out a random thing to call him.
"Yes, Master Zelos. Would you like me run a bath for Sir Bud?" Sebastian questioned taking note of all the soot and blackened clothes of the boy as Zelos started making his way to his room.
"That'd be great, 'Bastian." He called down he entered his room, and threw the teen onto his bed with a sigh. The boy was still out cold. Then he smirked as an idea came into his head.
"I'm gonna have to do this sooner or later, so sorry, Bud." The redhead sarcastically apologized as he got closer to the boy. Now that he was looking more closely, he noticed that the teen had two swords, which he slowly and easily slipped off their place on his belt.
"Looks like I've got myself a swordsman here…" He chuckled and started to slowly remove his torn red jacket, admiring the swordsman's well-toned muscles. "Different from girls, but beautiful in it's own way…" The Chosen trailed a finger on the tan skin, then stopped when Lloyd moved.
Lloyd slowly opened his eyes to stare into the cornflower eyes above him, his ears echoing with the dull thump of the Chosen's heart. "Stay back!" He yelled with a kick that hit squarely on Zelos' chest. The swordsman shuffled backwards further onto the bed trying to block out the thumps of Zelos' heart to no avail for his hands were still handcuffed.
"That wasn't very nice, bud." He said as the kick knocked some of the air inside his lungs out. Zelos advanced on the struggling teen grabbing the cuffed hands and pinning them on the white sheets of his bed above Lloyd's head. He placed a knee on his chest to keep the boy from wiggling too much.
"I said get away…" The words were weaker now; the beating got louder. Lloyd didn't want to hurt someone he didn't know just like he hurt Sheena.
"But, bud," Zelos frowned a bit. "I saved you from that wreckage, don't you want to do something for me?" The words were slowly whispered into Lloyd's ear. That was the last the now crimson-eyed swordsman could take as he sunk his teeth into the Chosen's neck without warning drinking the much needed blood.
Lloyd's eyes started to turn brown and he broke away leaving the Chosen to clutch his neck and lift his knee a bit. More in control of his actions, Lloyd topped off the bed and tried to make for the door.
Me: Before I say anything else... READ AND REVIEW! ...Whew. I uploaded this fast~ Mostly because I had no homework tonight, and I didn't really get stuck. Hooray~ I tried my best to keep the characters in... well... character, ad I hope I got them pretty close~ Well... except for the whole Lloyd biting people. *demonic grin* Right, so I triiied to get a bit M-rated up there cause the moment kinda called for it... I almost forced myself to do a... dare I say it... bath scene *almost dies*. Obviously though, I didn't. Hope you guys (and girls, like myself XD) enjoy the plot twist I put in (Lloyd leaving on his own). I'm finally getting further from the original plot with this chapter~ Hooray~
Zelos: You talk a lot. *fake sniffling* You make me feel sorry for Lloyd.
Lloyd: AS IF! YOU ENJOYED THAT DIDN'T YOU?!
Zelos: Heh. It's all right, bud. Don't think too hard about it. *tries to hug Lloyd*
Lloyd: Don't touch me! :O
Me: Settle down... After all, you sorta got even with him, right? You bit him.
Zelos: Oh, my poor previously unmarked skin...
Lloyd: =.=
Me: hahaha... Oh how I enjoy watching you guys talk. *mutters* though I'm the one making you talk so technically I'm talking to myself...
Zelos: Schizophrenic.
Me: :O You're going down Zelos! GRAWR! DO NOT UPSET THE AUTHOR! *writes that a building collapsed on him*
Zelos: X_X
Lloyd: O_O.... *inches out of room nervously*
Me: *cackles* Right, so again... READ AND REVIEW! I'll write slow and torture you all if you doooon't~
