Holy Spork: Yay, another chapter!

Young Kratos: ...This is going to be painful, isn't it?

Spork: You make it sound like I'm going to kill you.

Kratos: Look, if I was a real person, you'd be arrested for abuse. And convicted. And Namco-Bandi would probably sue you, 'cuz you don't own Tales of Symphonia, its characters, plot line, or locations, and you still went ahead and used them.

Spork: ...Hey, I made the disclaimer kinda sorta interesting! Yay!

Kratos: I'm going over there, where the sane people are.

Chapter IV: Bad Karma

The next morning the Sage siblings discovered that Kratos' claim that he could sleep pretty much anywhere was true. He was still lying on the old couch, out cold. The blanket was lying in a heap on the floor, the pillow had migrated to his feet, he had one arm and one leg dangling off the edge of the sofa, and he was snoring gently.

"I suppose this means that he's recovered a little from losing his home," commented Raine, looking down at the sleeping teen with her arms crossed. Seeing Kratos sleeping like this reminded her vividly of Lloyd, and she wondered if sleeping patterns were genetically inheritable.

"Should we wake him up?" asked Genis, who was wondering how the pillow had ended up by Kratos' feet.

"No, let's let him rest a little more," said Raine, "It's early, and he had a hard day yesterday."

This opinion was reversed however, at ten o'clock, when they discovered that Kratos was still sleeping. As far as they could tell he hadn't even twitched. If it weren't for the slow rise and fall of his chest and the snoring, he could have been dead.

Genis charged himself with rousing the boy. "Kratos?" said Genis, "It's time to get up."

No response.

The half-elf poked him in the side, "Wake up Kratos!"

The teen murmured something about muffins before rolling onto his side, so his back was to Genis.

"He's just like Lloyd…" muttered the little mage. Then he had a brilliant idea: if Kratos was like Lloyd, then maybe methods that got Lloyd to wake up would work! Genis brandished his kendama.

"Spread!"

"AHHHHHH! COLD COLD COLD!"

Kratos jumped into the air, soaking wet and spitting water, only to trip on the blanket on the floor and fall on his face. He slowly sat up again, cursing like a sailor.

Genis was laughing so hard he was in danger of rupturing his lungs.

Then the little half-elf was lifted up roughly by the collar of his shirt. Kratos, his damp red hair clinging to his face and neck, was glaring death at Genis. "Is this how you normally wake people up, pipsqueak?" he snarled, his voice quiet and deadly. Genis whimpered.

Smack!

"Ow!"

Thud!

"Ow!"

"Don't you dare threaten Genis!" snapped an angry Raine, as Kratos clutched his head, and Genis lay moaning on the floor where the older boy had dropped him.

"All right! All right!" said Kratos, backing away from the enraged schoolteacher, "I'll leave him alone!" He looked down at his damp red t-shirt and his soaked jeans. "Can I at least have a towel?"

"They're in the bathroom, over there," said Raine, pointing.

A minute later Kratos came back, having gone from soaking to merely damp. Muttering about 'damn wake-up calls' he slipped his windbreaker back on. After a little rummaging in the Brunel's kitchen, he uncovered the necessary supplies to make a cup of coffee. Later, Genis found Kratos staring at the coffeemaker as if he had a grudge against the appliance.

"Before you ask," Kratos started, without even looking at the half-elf, "I don't eat breakfast, but I can't live without caffeine. I'll openly admit I have coffee in my veins rather than blood, and I don't give a damn anymore."

"Um…."

"I'm not a morning person, so just tell me what the hell it is you want. Or you can just wait. I can promise that I'll be less of an asshole after I've had some coffee."

Genis had been going to ask why Kratos had gone through the Brunel's kitchen without asking, but instead, thought to himself, Yup, he's not a morning person, even if it's already past ten.

Shortly thereafter, Kratos and Genis were sitting at the table, the former happily sipping his coffee from an old white mug. The latter fidgeted.

"Hey Genis," started Kratos, putting the mug down for a moment, "You and Raine are from here, right?"

"I grew up here if that's what you mean," said Genis, "Why do you ask?"

"…What's it like?"

"Huh?"

"I grew up in a big city," said Kratos, shrugging, "And I've only ever been outside Libra once before now. I was just wondering… you know, what it's like, living in a small town like this."

"Well," started Genis, wondering where to start, "Everyone pretty much knows everyone else for starters. I dunno if it's like that in a city. Nothing really exciting happens here, and you see the same people every day, but it's really peaceful. And the people here aren't bad."

"They don't bother you? The other villagers, I mean, because you're half-elves?"

Genis shook his head and grinned, "Nope!" he said happily, "Not at all. The last mayor was a bit of a jerk, but he got thrown out of office. It doesn't matter here what race we are to anyone now! It's great!"

Kratos stared at Genis. He couldn't seem to wrap his mind around the idea that humans might accept half-elves. If people here accept half-elves, then maybe they –

Both Kratos and Genis heard someone knock at the front door, but only Genis took an interest in it. Kratos' train of thought was derailed, but immediately lost interest in both that and the knocking. He figured, Well, I'm a guest, so I probably shouldn't answer the door, and went back to drinking his coffee. Genis walked to the front door and opened it to see the newcomer. He broke out into a wide grin.

"Colette!" he shouted, stepping outside with Colette, "You're back!"

"Yup!" the former Chosen said cheerfully, "Lloyd and Noishe are here too, but they were held back talking to someone else. He said it was okay if I went ahead without him. I'm so glad you're here too! Is Raine and grandma and Dad home too?"

"Yeah," said Genis, smiling, "And… there's someone else here too."

"Who?" asked Colette, "Is it Sheena? Or Zelos?"

"No… but I'm kind of worried about how Lloyd will react."

Colette's face fell, "What's wrong?" she asked, radiating concern.

"Well…"

"You were talking about me weren't you?"

The two turned to see a disgruntled looking Kratos step outside to join them. Colette stared at him, opened mouthed. Genis looked away as if embarrassed, and Kratos glared at Colette as if he was daring her to say something. Then Colette did something truly amazing: she tripped while standing still.

"Oops!"

The universe has Laws. Everyone knows this. The Laws dictate that certain things happen at certain times or under specific conditions. And it was because of the Laws of the universe, that at that moment, Colette tripped, and landed on Kratos, toppling him. They both landed on the ground, Colette on top of Kratos.

The pair blushed, Colette lying on Kratos' chest. "I'm so sorry!" she chirped, "Did I hurt you?"

"Uh… I, uh…" stammered the boy, red as a cherry. He had never been so close to a girl before in his whole life. Literally.

And again, as the Laws of the universe dictated, this was when Lloyd arrived and spotted the two.

"WHAB THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!"

Kratos pushed Colette off of himself and leaped to his feet. "What are you doing here?" he snarled at Lloyd.

"What's going on?" started Genis, totally confused, "You two have met?"

"He's the one thab brode mah nobe!" said Lloyd, pointing an accusing finger at the red-headed teen.

"Well, you were chasing me!" said Kratos defensively, "And you drew your swords! Did you think I was just going to roll over, dumbass?"

"SBOP CALLING ME A DUMBASS!"

"MAYBE IF YOU GROW A DAMN BRAIN I MIGHT!"

"I ALREADY GOB ONE, JERK!"

"AS IF ANYONE CAN ACTUALLY TELL, MORON!"

"Please stop fighting!" interjected Colette, raising her voice so she could be heard over the din.

The two boys stopped shouting, but continued to glare at one another. Then Lloyd did something very, very mean.

"NOISHE!"

Kratos opened his mouth to say, "What the hell was that about?" but was interrupted when he was tackled by something big, furry, and green.

It growled at him.

Picture Noishe the protozoan for a moment. The big, furry, and loveable green 'dog' that was Lloyd's old friend, and who Kratos had manipulated was not what was staring the auburn-haired teen in the face. Noishe was growling menacingly, in a 'Move-at-all-and-I'll-ripe-your-throat-out-you-damn-monkey' type growl.. But more importantly to Kratos, and more to the point as it were, was the teeth. Noishe had pulled his lips back into a snarl of rage, exposing many thick, pointy, white teeth.

Noishe was obviously upset that an old friend had manipulated him, and that he had been denied a promised steak. Noishe liked steak.

Kratos tried to move, but the protozoan's giant paws were placed firmly on the boy's shoulders, preventing his escape. Noishe's growl grew in volume when Kratos tried to wriggle free. Kratos decided that it was best to remain very still. Kratos knew that he had been working up some bad karma recently, but he didn't think that he deserved this.

"I thoughb id mighb habe been you Noishe was mad ad," stated Lloyd, "He seemed upseb aboud something."

"Wow, you 'thought'?" said Kratos snidely, "I'm amazed. Congratulations."

"PLEASE stop fighting!" repeated Colette, with a little more desperation in her voice. She turned to Lloyd, "Please don't hurt Kratos!" she pleaded, "Please try to get along!"

"How the hell did she know my name?" demanded Kratos. Then he demanded of the universe in general, "Why does everyone I've run into recently know my name? Was it stitched on my forehead while I was asleep or something?"

"Don't you remember us?" stated Colette, oblivious as always, "We went on the Journey of Regeneration together! All of us!"

"He's not that Kratos!" interjected Genis suddenly, "He's different!"

Lloyd frowned at his best friend, "Whab do you mean he's differend?"

It was then that Raine came outside to see what the commotion was about and discovered them. She looked from Kratos pinned to the ground by a potentially violent Noishe, to Lloyd and his nose that had clearly been broken shortly before now, to Colette and Genis, who simply looked helpless.

"Probessor!" exclaimed Lloyd upon seeing his old teacher, "Whab's going on? Do you know what happened to Da – Krados?"

Kratos frowned. He did it again, he noticed, He said that back in that snowy place. He was going to call me something else. 'Da-' what? Is that supposed to be a nickname?

"Lloyd, what happened to your nose?" asked Raine, noticing that Lloyd's speech had changed.

Lloyd pointed an accusing finger at the younger version of his father, "He punched me in the face!" blamed Lloyd.

Raine walked over to him, and with a brief flash of green light, cast First Aid on his nose. "Is that any better?" she asked.

Lloyd tentatively touched the end of his nose. "Yup, it doesn't hurt anymore! Thanks Professor Sage!"

"Now tell me what happened between you and Kratos," said Raine authoritatively, folding her arms.

"Can you get this mutt off me first?" asked Kratos, who immediately attempted to stop breathing as Noishe snapped at his face.

"Lloyd, it probably would be for the best if you asked Noishe to release Kratos." Raine said. "However," she added, looking back at the trapped teen, "Should you try to run away before the issue is resolved, we will not attempt to stop Noishe from catching you. I highly doubt you can outrun him."

Lloyd told Noishe to get off his prey, which he reluctantly did. He stopped growling, but continued to stare at Kratos in a menacing manner, even after the teen got back on his feet. Raine turned to Lloyd again, after making sure that Noishe would not immediately attempt to harm the previously pinned delinquent. "Tell me what happened Lloyd."

"Well, Colette and me went to Flanoir," started Lloyd, "And we met Yuan there. He said that the Renegades were looking for someone after some stuff in at the base broke. Then he started chasing someone, who he lost track off. Then I started chasing the guy that Yuan was chasing, and when I cornered him I found out it was Kratos. Then he punched me in the face and ran off."

"Yuan?" said Kratos, "Who's Yuan?"

They all turned to stare at him. "Yuan was the guy that was chasing you," said Lloyd, "I thought you knew that."

Kratos looked confused. He felt confused. He remembered the guy that had been ordering the men that had chased him, the ones from the military base. That guy had looked a lot like the Yuan he knew. He had the blue hair and the same face, but he looked older, and he had held himself differently, had not acted like the carefree half-elf Kratos had befriended.

"Why was Yuan chasing you anyway?" inquired Lloyd, ignoring the other boy's discomfort.

Kratos snapped out of his confusion to glare at Lloyd, "How the hell should I know?" he snapped, "I don't even know who he is!"

They all stared. This was news to them. "You… don't know?" asked Lloyd.

"No!" persisted the will-be seraph, "I was just minding my own business, then there was this weird flash of light, and suddenly I'm in the middle of some military base. Then I stole a Rheaird to get away from the guys that were chasing me, and I ended up in that snowy city. The men from the base followed me there, and then you," he pointed at Lloyd, "Started chasing me too. I thought you were with them."

There was a pause as this sunk in. No one seemed to have any idea what to say next. Raine sighed, and broke the silence, "It seems that what has transpired was the result of a grand misunderstanding," she said, "Lloyd perused Kratos because Yuan did for unknown reasons, and Kratos attacked Lloyd because he felt threatened."

This statement was followed the kind of silence that is generally represented by ellipses.

"So… we can all be friends now, right?" said Colette, smiling cheerfully.

There came more silence, and more ellipses.

"…Please?" the ex-Chosen added.

"He did punch me in the face," muttered Lloyd.

"He did sic his dog on me," muttered Kratos.

Smack! Smack!

"OW!" Times two.

"You're both being immature," lectured Raine, as the two boys clutched their wounded heads, "Neither of you will get anywhere if you continue to carry this childish grudge. Now apologize to each other!"

"What? You're kidding right?" demanded young Kratos, who, unlike Lloyd, didn't realize what the difference between protest and suicide was when it came to dealing with the Professor.

She smacked him again. "Stop whining!" Raine snapped, ignoring his pained moan, "And apologize!"

The two teens looked at each other, then at their feet.

"Sorry I chased you and set Noishe on you," muttered Lloyd.

"Sorry about breaking your face." muttered Kratos.

Cue awkward silence. "That's probably the most I should expect from you two for now," Raine stated calmly, "So Lloyd and Colette, how's your journey going?"

"It's great!" piped up Colette, "We get to go all over the place. We've found a lot of Exspheres, and – "

And so on. Genis quickly jumped into the conversation, happy to hear about what his friends had been doing for the past four months. Kratos and Lloyd silently stared at one another.

Lloyd thought, So he isn't my Dad. Not really. I thought for a while that maybe, somehow, he'd come back…

Kratos was thinking, Why the hell is he staring at me like that? It's weird…

Noishe whined. Kratos turned, he had completely forgotten about the protozoan. Noishe, however, hadn't forgotten, and was still glaring daggers at Kratos. "What did you do to Noishe to make him so angry anyway?" asked Lloyd.

Kratos took a slow step away from the protozoan, "I promised him a steak,"

"What?"

"Look," started Kratos, "I had to get off the snowy island – "

"Flanoir, you mean."

"Yeah, whatever. I had to get away, and the only way I could think of was by Rheaird. I found a bunch of them outside the city walls, but there were guards there. Then this dog showed up and I promised that I'd get him a steak if he distracted the guards."

"Why don't you just get him a steak now?" suggested Lloyd, "Then maybe he'll stop glaring at you like that."

"I'm broke," said Kratos flatly, "Unless I kill a cow and give him the carcass, how do you think I'm supposed to get him a steak?"

Lloyd looked a little grossed-out, but rummaged in a pocket and tossed a few coins at a Kratos. He caught them all. "What?"

"There's a butcher's shop over there," said Lloyd, pointing, "I'm kind of worried. I've never seen Noishe like this… it's probably best to give him what he wants."

"What?" Kratos said, glaring at Lloyd, "I'm not going to be a waiter for some mangy dog!"

Noishe started to growl again, "Okay! I'll get you the damn steak!" Kratos conceded, deciding that it was better to live without pride, then to die with it.

"Hey, Lloyd!" Colette piped up, walking over to the inattentive swordsman, "Come tell Genis and the Professor how you beat that dragon in Latheon Gorge!"

"Sure!" said Lloyd, grinning. He walked over to brag, leaving Kratos to feel like he had been abandoned. He looked down at Noishe. The protozoan stared back with a disturbingly hungry look in his eyes.

I hate my life, Kratos thought, as he walked in the direction Lloyd had indicated. Five minutes later he walked out of the butcher's with a slab of meat wrapped in brown paper. Noishe was outside, staring at it hungrily. Then he grabbed the packet with his teeth and started tearing at it viciously and devoured the meat in seconds.

"…You're welcome," said Kratos sarcastically as he watched Noishe stuff himself. He looked around, and noticed that he was attracting stares from the villagers again. Admittedly a lot of them were staring at Noishe as he gulped down his steak, but plenty of them were staring at Kratos. He looked away.

Noishe finished his meal and looked up at Kratos. He understood now, listening to Lloyd and the others, that this Kratos was different. But there were still some things he wanted to get straight for himself. He grabbed Kratos by a jacket sleeve with his teeth and tugged gently. Kratos looked down. "What the hell do you want now?" he asked.

Noishe tugged again, then let go, trotting in the direction of the gate to the Iselia Forest. The protozoan turned and looked behind him, to see that the teen had not moved. Kratos had cocked his head to one side, and was staring at Noishe, his arms crossed. Does it want me to follow it?

Noishe howled, then trotted off to the gate. Kratos followed, wondering if maybe he shouldn't. But then he had finally fulfilled his promise, or maybe Noishe didn't see it that way… Kratos was curious though, and that overrode caution.

He followed Noishe out of the town and a short ways into the forest. They went into a small clearing where Noishe sat down and stared at Kratos with his shiny black eyes. Kratos reached inside his jacket, feeling the concealed knife handle, and a little more secure. Noishe cocked his head to one side, his ears drooping a little. It looked as if he was concentrating.

Kratos felt as if something cold slithered up his spine. He flinched, and then he felt something get inside his head. It was suddenly like there was someone else inside his skull, sitting in there with him. He yelped and clutched his head, "W-what the hell?"

Noishe whined. Kratos heard the noise plainly. But somewhere between his ears and his brain, the sound seemed to change. It turned into a haughty male voice:

"You're jittery today, aren't you Kratos?"

A/N: Yay for telepathy! I can now have an animal talk!

Kratos: What the hell did you do to me?!

Noishe: Whine!

Kratos: AH! Make it stop!

Noishe: Whine!

Kratos: That's a lie you little - !

Spork: I should probably leave it at that... anyway, please review. And constructive criticism is welcome. (My head needs to be deflated every now and then to keep me from floating away, you know?)

Edited on 1/1/08 - Cleaned up some errors and made some sentences a little clearer.