Me: Chapriror Four! SQUEEEE!
En: Stop scaring all the readers away!
Me: Aww, but they don't mind! RIIIIGHT?
Rayman: What are you going to do to Lloyd?!
Me: You'll have to read it! Hey, wait! It's YOUR turn to do the disclaimer anyway!
Rayman: Hmph… Fine. Myraku only owns Charlene, Akle, the plot, and a twisted mind.
Me: YOU'RE GONNA GET IT FOR THAT! DOOPLISS! HAMMER!
Doopliss: Sorry slick….
Rayman: AGH! OW! STOP IT! OWWW!
En: If it arrives, will you smash it with a hammer?
Me: YES! DIIIIE!
-Chapter Four: An Unexpected Visit-
It was 10 o' clock at night. Lloyd was fast asleep, and Kratos continued to refuse to leave his side. He could see his lungs breathing in, out, in, out… It was almost heart braking. His only son, hanging on by the thin strands of his life that he had left. Kratos bit his lip. Just then, someone barged into the room. It was… Kvar?!
"Kvar! What are you doing here?!" Kratos stood up and unsheathed his sword.
"Now now, I'm only taking back what was stolen from me. Lord Yggdrasill will be most pleased with me when I get him a new body." He snickered and approached Kratos. Kratos got into his fighting stance.
"What do you want?! How are you still alive?!" Kratos hissed.
"Hahaha! What I WANT? I want your son! And second, I lived in a Cruxis crystal that Lord Rodyle created so that I could once again rule over you filthy inferior beings!" He approached, Lloyd gasped for breath. He couldn't move. Kratos scowled at the man.
"Leave him alone! If you want him, you'll have to go through me!" He spat. Tension circled in the air. Kvar attacked, Kratos dodged. After a while of fighting, Kratos was more focused on beating Kvar than protecting his son. Kvar seized the opportunity and grabbed Lloyd's left hand by the wrist. Lloyd and Kratos were terrified.
"Lloyd!" Kratos tried to slash Kvar away, but he dodged.
"Tsk, tsk! You would fight me when I have your son in my hands? Ruthless, Kratos, ruthless!" He chuckled. Kvar smashed Lloyd's key crest to bits. "Now, I will make you feel the pain that you have caused me by forcing you to destroy your own son as well!" Kvar grabbed at Lloyd's exsphere.
"NO!" Kratos ran to stop him. In the nick of time, Lloyd summoned all his strength to pull himself away. Kvar lost his balance, giving Kratos the opportunity to slash him through the gut. The dying Grand Cardinal choked. He dropped Lloyd's hand, making both of their bodies fall limp on to the floor. Lloyd shivered and was on the brink of tears. Kratos destroyed Kvar's Cruxis crystal and leaned over his frightened and shivering son.
"It's ok, Lloyd… He's not coming back anymore." He tried to comfort him. Lloyd looked up at him, his whole body shaking in freezing discomfort and fear. Kratos wrapped him up in the pink blanket again. He held tightly to his son. "…I'll never let anything happen to you…" He whispered. Lloyd held as tight as he could to his father. Charlene burst through the door.
"What's going on?!" She looked around, Akle flapping his wings nervously on her shoulder. Kratos gently put Lloyd down.
"It's alright. Everything's fine. We just had a really bad... encounter." He shook his head. "I hate to bother you, but tomorrow, do you mind looking after Lloyd for me? He has an exsphere, and the key crest broke. I need to go find material." He stared at the shattered red pieces on the ground.
Charlene gaped. "Your son has an exsphere? Well, I don't have anything to do anyways. But Kratos..." She looked down and shook her head. "I'm sorry... If I hadn't insisted on you coming to the party, you wouldn't be in this scrap in the first place..."
"No, it's alright. Even if you didn't, Kvar still would have come after us. And he probably would have succeeded too." Kratos frowned. He didn't want to think about killing his son too.
"Well, I'll repay you by looking after Lloyd. You can head out when ever you want to." Akle squawked and perched on Lloyd's shoulder. Lloyd smiled a bit.
"Thank you..." Kratos left, since he wanted to get a head start. Charlene planted herself next to Lloyd. He sat up straight.
"So, Lloyd, how are you feeling?" Lloyd shook his head, indicating that he was still very ill. "I'm sorry to hear that..." Charlene frowned. She looked at his face. It was still a pale blue, but... Charlene gasped. He was almost identical to her. She never really got a good look at him, but now that she had, she wished she didn't. Lloyd looked away into the fire. So did Charlene.
The two of them fell asleep, side by side, in the warm glow of the fire.
Me: Two people! YAAAY! Two people like my story! A big old 'thank you' to Arisu Tsuranu and Keeper of Balance for being my first readers!
Rayman: Chill. You'll scare them.
Me: Oh yeah?! You said you want me to turn Doopliss into TWO hammers?!
Rayman: NO! ANYTHING BUT THAT!!!!!!
Doopliss: Heh, go ahead Myra and Enigma!
Me & En: OUR PLEASURE!
Rayman: (gulp)
Me: (Thwack) Oh, and by the way, I'd like to announce where this story came from.
Rayman: Owww!
Me: It was actually a dream I had... But what was weirder was I WAS KRATOS O.O
Rayman, Doopliss, & En: WHAT THE HECK?!?!
Me: Hey! Don't yell at me! It was just a dream!