Black Terror

Author: Metamorcy

Rating: M

Disclaimer: Do I really need to keep repeating it? Can I just stop and say that everyone knows? Probably not. So no, I don't own Lloyd or anyone in ToS except for that watcher man cause I made him up. Sorry for the lateness of this one, I just have too many things on my mind and everything, I'm being overloaded with work, this sucks!!! (Screams to herself).

Plus I've been taken away from the computer for over a week so yeah that also delayed it. Hope you'll forgive me.

6/04/09 this had been edited for spelling

Chapter 4: Black Feathers

Lloyd sat up from the floor, the sunlight peeking through the cheap blinds and stained its bright light into his face. He shifted to the side so that the sun's rays wouldn't burn holes into his skin, trying to avoid the light at all cost. The bed beside him suddenly ruffled, the covers shifting from the movement underneath and he could spot the red hair poking out. Lloyd turned to take a glance at Noishe, who was snoring peacefully even when he was lying on the creature's back and scratched the top of the head a little bit. A yawn escaped his mouth, stretching out at first, covering his lips with his right hand. His brown eyes began to droop downward; his late night horror expedition had left him exhausted and sleepy. It held onto his mind and body tightly, pushing him to his limit of being able to stay awake. He glanced to the bed, finding his dad still fast asleep and his sword and shield near the bedside for protection. A smile crept onto his lips and as he laid back down, beginning to think of the others who he had left behind to save his father. He knew that they were worried about him seeing as he had disappeared sometime during the night without a sound and the only lead was the note he left behind but as Lloyd thought out the opinions of what might happen afterwards, he winced.

'It'll take them until tomorrow afternoon to get here. That means I still have time to prepare.' Lloyd lazily thought before surrendering himself over to sleep.

"Damnit, not again."

He recognized the place quite well; it was in the renegade's base, the desert one. Memories of the time he had been taken here was still fresh in his mind. He was in Yuan's office, the one he had gone into by accident when he really should have escaped through the front door. The only difference was that there was a body slumped over the metal desk, a head lying on it. Blue strands of hair was scattered out in every direction, the hair band that had held it together had been cut off, letting the long silky hair flow over the shoulder. It covered up the neck and parts of the shoulders and looked like the only thing that hadn't been affected by the growing pool below. It even masked the eyes but not all of the face and there was no expression except for the trail of blood that went down the chin. Lloyd stepped closer, reaching out to the hair, avoiding the blood underneath that surrounded the body. He couldn't feel his darker self coursing through so he was safe for now, but he knew that peace wouldn't last long. Still he was feeling some kind of comforting sensation, making him relax slightly and push away his control over his personality. The guardian pulled the hair back, hoping he wouldn't see anything that would horrify him and make him snap. He sighed in relief, the eyes were closed shut and there was no scar marking the pale face. His eyes traveled to the sword that had been thrust from behind, right into the spinal cord. The other end came out through the heart ensuring that this was a quick and simple death. Lloyd stroked the sword, running his gloved fingers over the sharp side then down to the wound. His fingertips went over around it in a circular motion seeing how much damage it had done. There were a couple of broken ribs that had been torn apart in the process of the stab, some torn in three different places. The lungs had been pierced into as well; both of them filled up with the ruby liquid from inside.

Lloyd glanced over to the desk, noticing that the paperwork had been drenched in blood. The letters had blended in with the liquid, the black ink melting into one large blot. He shifted through them until something interesting perked out on one of the articles; it was under the large pile and seemed to have the least amount of blood on it. The guardian began reading it, his eyes running over the material, outright ignoring the cold corpse next to him. It just so happen to be about those people, the ones that have been after Kratos, himself and now this person.

Lloyd read out loud, his eyeing looking over the lines consecutively. "Lord Yuan, an organization created by the leader named Cyran has attacked our main forces in the Tethe'alla base, demanding a meeting with you personally. These people are dressed up in black, most likely ninjas and have been going around killing anyone who has been related to Cruxis or is an angel. It seems they have a strong hate for them and their intelligence is quite high seeing as they were able to maneuver through the whole base without us noticing until we looked at the cameras. We were unable to find out the group's name and Lord Yuan, please be careful; they also want to take your life." The guardian sighed, tossing the paper back into the pile; the rest of it was covered with blood, unreadable. He watched it get absorbed into the still wet liquid that was stagnating on the table, blending in with the rest. "Seems like this one came a little too late."

He took a glimpse at Yuan, who was still bleeding out of his heart; the skin color was white and granny now from the blood loss. A feeling of pity washed over Lloyd as he stared; taking the liberty to make Yuan's death, even though he wasn't fond of the man, look more peaceful. He started yanking out the sword first, sounds of the bones bending, and cracking filled in the room. Lloyd grunted hauling it harder until the remaining bones broke under the pressure. The sword was large, sharp to the point where a mere touch would make a slit on the flesh, and was dripping of Yuan's blood though anything else of it didn't seem very special, a plain one, a normal blade a soldier would use in battle. The only thing that identified it was the handle, which had a symbol on the bottom that looked like a bird. It didn't seem important to him so Lloyd tossed it aside without a second thought nor did the clattering of it made him flinch.

Lloyd muttered to himself angrily, he had just realized something. "There's no way for me to tell the time of death."

He was right, there was no clock in the room and since he was inside, he couldn't see the sky. Lloyd took off a glove so his bare fingers would be revealed and reached down to touch Yuan's hand. It was cold, meaning he's been dead long enough for the insides to grow cold. He then went to the blood; it was icy just like the corpse. The blood surrounded his finger dying it red like his clothes. Inside the guardian's head, he was trying to calculate the estimate time for the death, the eyes turned to a light shade of reddish-brown.

"An hour and thirty minutes." Lloyd spat out, the pools turning back to brown. "So about two hours." He had added more time to it so he could get there early. But that was when he noticed something in Yuan's pocket, slightly hanging out by an inch, it was silvery and shiny. Lloyd reached out unhooking the item; it was a small handheld clock, with the timer was still working perfectly fine. "1:30." Lloyd recalculated the time again with the rest which meant he had to arrive around 11:30 in the morning. Oh joy that meant he had to wake up early but he knew that wasn't going to happen that easily. He could just sleep over the whole thing and forget about poor Yuan, but Lloyd decided to go against that.

The blood that continuously poured had already traveled round the desk and it was now heading towards his feet. Lloyd leaned over, tapping the liquid, sending a ripple, first small and as it went traveled throughout, it got bigger to the point where the wave covered the whole field. It then stopped all together and it went still.

"You owe me, Yuan."

Lloyd sat up; this time the sun had made a direct hit into the eyes. He reached up, blocking it while closing them, the bright light burning. Squinting, he glanced around seeing if anything had changed during the time he had last woken up. Nothing had except when he went to the bed, it was empty, the sword gone and so was Kratos. Noishe was beginning to stand up, stretching his back by leaning down with his mouth wide open. He laughed contentedly, positioning himself to do the same thing, covering his mouth from the upcoming yawn. The morning was bright and nosy with the sun already up high in the sky, shining its radiance upon the world. Lloyd cursed; he liked it better when it was dark because there he could play without any trouble. He peeked at the clock on the table beeping with bright red letters. "10:58."

"Less than an hours to get there, oh joy." This one was going to be rushed but there was no helping it. Luckily, he already had his clothes on since he had slept on the ground so there was no need to go on a scavenger hunt for something to wear. His hands brushed against his clothes, wiping off the dust that had gathered on them overnight. Noishe trotted to the door, waiting patiently for his master to exit the room, his tail wagging. Lloyd scratched the back of his head, twisting the doorknob and headed out, holding it open for the beast. The walk downstairs was somewhat peaceful, except for the groans of the drunks from last night, complaining about their hangover. 'Serves them right.' Lloyd sneered as one of the voices managed to make him jump when it screamed through the wooden frame just as he was walking pass. He stomped on the last step, spotting Kratos who was sitting at one of the empty tables, taking a sip of something, coffee by the looks of it. When the seraphim noticed the stare, he turned, waving his son over with his left hand. Lloyd plunged through the chairs and people; the smell of alcohol was still there as strong as last night's. He winkled his nose in disgust, he really despised alcohol and never wanted to taste it ever again, it was just too bitter for his taste. As he neared the area, he noticed someone heading towards him with a little item that was dangling out of the pocket. It was moving back and forth at each step and as he passed by, he bumped into that person, quickly seizing the moment to take the watch that was hanging out. No one noticed the transmission not even Kratos and hid it away in his jacket.

"Looks like you're finally up." Kratos tilted his head, letting a few of the bangs fall sideways.

"Hey, I just don't wake up as early as you." Lloyd took a seat, thinking of a way to abandon his father and Noishe without giving them any suspicious thoughts. He didn't need any of that pestering him especially Kratos who wouldn't let it go until he got a straight answer.

"Have you heard?" A voice from another table, a man, old and husky whispered.

"Heard what?" Another came in, leaning forward. Some of the others that were surrounding the table, listened in on the conversation, their interest perked.

"A man was found dead in the middleclass district; his head chopped clean off, and was then left in the middle of the street. Another body was found in an alleyway, rotting and with maggots eating it already." Lloyd remained still, inclining in, trying to hear the two, Kratos doing the same.

"Scary." The younger one whispered back. "Is it some kind of murder?"

"Of course it is, stupid." The man had an insulting tone in his voice. "And did you see the stairs? The ones that goes up to the castle? It was totally destroyed, almost obliterated."

Lloyd flinched at that one; the stairs was his fault and didn't bother hiding that. Kratos glanced at his son with an all-knowing look, after all that was where Lloyd had fought off the assassin last night. The two men became silent, going back to their beers or whatever the hell they were drinking but it seemed like alcohol to the guardian.

Lloyd took that chance to ask to be excused. "Hey Da-Kratos, I'm going out, could you watch over Noishe for me?" He was still having a hard time calling the seraphim in front of him 'Dad' after all this time. There were moments when he was able to but then there were others, like now, when he couldn't.

Kratos tossed an apprehensive glance, thinking that Lloyd wanted to investigate the murder the men were talking about. "Do you need me to come along?"

"Nah, I can do this alone, I'll be back soon so there's no need to worry about me. I can hold my own in a fight remember." Lloyd stood up and headed over to Noishe, who had lain down near the two. Rubbing his head tenderly and taking a glimpse back at his dad, he sent out a request. "Sorry Noishe I'll have to feed you that promise later but for now ask Kratos to do it. Bye."

"Come back soon." Kratos called out, and then took another sip of his drink.

"Will do." The guardian wandered to the front door, about to step out when the inn keeper suddenly said something to the person next to him.

"Are you sure you don't know where my hammer, nails and rope went?" The inn keeper asked, scratching his head in confusion. "I'm sure I placed it on the back table last night."

"Really? And it's gone?"

"It's as if it up and disappeared. How strange."

The door closed at that moment, Lloyd stepping outside where the sun was high in the air staring down on him, warming up his skin. People flooded the streets; many of them were talking about the murder and the broken stairs. Stores were open, yelling out prices and what they sold, it was really boisterous. He exited through the gate, leaving the city without anyone noticing, not even the guards that stood in front, and strolled down the trails until he came up to a deserted area. When he knew that there was no one nearby, he ran into the bushes and checked around for any life again, seeing if there was anyone hiding. He made one last reassurance before evoking his powers, after all, there was no way he would be able to get to the desert that was halfway across the world in a hour. Lloyd summoned a small bag that he used for emergencies which held all his important stuff, even his tools for carving.

He reached inside, searching for something he needed. As his hands pulled out, long white bandages slipped, looking brand new and clean. Lloyd took them apart individually, wrapping them around his left side of the face then started to move around to almost everything. They covered up his left eye and skin, the only thing that was visible was the right eye and the flesh that surrounded it along with the lips poking through. Closing his eyes, he awakened the abilities, the ones he rarely used unless it was a crisis, letting it go through his entire body. He could feel his inside and outsides rotting and decaying within seconds with poisonous blood running through his veins. There was no smell admitting from him and it was the flesh except for the skin that was seeable that decayed. His eyes were a dark red like the blood that circulated in his veins.

There was always a side effect for using his full powers though; it would harm his body by mutating it. His blood would become dangerous for the next few days; anyone that touched it would result in their flesh being burned; like it was acid. The more powers he released, the worst it got but it granted him more than enough to destroy an entire galaxy with a single swoosh of his hand. But of course, this is Lloyd; he wouldn't do anything like that…unless someone pissed him off.

The guardian stood up rushing off, speeding into the distance. The swallowtails flapped like wings of a bird behind and vanished somewhere into the woods.

A rustle came from one of the trees, someone jumping down from the top, leaves drifting off, and floating side to side until it reached the earth. His white hair was slightly flattened out but the wind picked it up, tossing it around, fluffing it back. The black coat tail fluttered with the current, sharp black eyes staring at Lloyd's direction. His feet landed without a sound, expression blank and emotionless as if he couldn't remember how to express them. The man turned away, eyes closed and vanished, fading away into the wind. The trees rustled like they were saying goodbye to the mysterious stranger then stopped, remaining still and quiet.

"Looks like I got here ahead of time." Lloyd gazed over the room; no one was in office leaving him some time to rest. He sat comfortably in the spinning chair, twirling around like a child then stopped, putting his feet on the desk. "There's nothing to do. No one is really here."

Most of the renegades had either gone home, helping out the other half-elves or protecting the Yggdrasill tree from any greedy people. The base was quiet and even the security machines that wandered the place had laid low.

Lloyd retracted his feet off and stood up, heading over to a bookcase that was directly behind with numerous stuff stacked on it, some that weren't even books were there. He had already eyed the place for any cameras but there was none. 'He really needs to get security in this room. It's no fun just to walk right in.'

Actually, Lloyd wasn't lying, he had almost strolled in without any trouble at all and that surprised him. Yuan, their almighty leader, who was going to get killed soon, wasn't even being protected by his own men. The guardian jumped up onto the steel bars that crisscross each other up above and crawled into the darkest corner, hiding him self. Just as he did that, the door slid open and in walked the blue-haired half-elf. He looked the same as last time and every other time, nothing has changed one bit.

Yuan suddenly glanced around the room as if he had entered some kind of strange presence and felt a shiver run up his spine as he wandered over to his desk, there was something different about it but he ignored it. The room was cold, an imaginary voice seemed to be breathing from somewhere nearby but there was no one around. The place was empty, there was no where to hide with the office being lighted. The half-elf gazed around once more before sitting down, still cautious since the breathing was drawing closer. There was someone in there, near too as if he was breathing down his neck. Every time Yuan looked, there was nothing to prove that, so where? The doors slid open again, this time a soldier came walking in, carrying a large stack of paperwork.

"Lord Yuan, I have the reports." The soldier said, dropping the load on the desk. He saluted with his right hand and continued as Yuan glanced over the pile. "There seems to be some new occurrences happening all over the world. The report for that should be issued in there."

"Really? And what would that be?"

"Not sure, my lord but the man explained about it in his report."

"Thank you, you may leave now." Yuan gave a nod and stared at the papers with disgust even after the renegade had left quickly. The soldier had sensed the uneasiness from his lord and definitely didn't want to get caught in the middle. The seraphim reached down, pulled out a pen from a drawer, grabbed the first sheet and got to work. Lloyd almost snickered at the man's words that slipped out of the mouth, curses aimed directly at the reports. "Damn paperwork."

Lloyd couldn't help but smile, now giggling quietly at the half-elf. He eyed the time on his own watch he had stolen when he passed through the tavern, two minutes to react but since he already sensed the other being inside the area, perhaps it was less now. The assassin had been there ever since Yuan had entered the room, waiting behind like a shadow. Still keeping quiet, he jumped down with a sword drawn out; the hilt pointed downward and slammed it into the back of Yuan's head, hard. Lloyd rushed forward, catching the falling and unconscious half-elf and pulled him back onto a wall, far away from the danger zone. Of course, there was still a heavy displeasure between the two so to show Lloyd's detestation, he dropped the man on the floor with a painful 'thump' for revenge.

"Sorry Yuan, that was for what you said long ago. Plus, I can't let you see me cuz knowing you, you would tell Dad and everyone else instantly." Lloyd stood back up, eyeing a small space out of the corner of his eyes. The bandages, even though thick, he could still see through it. At a split second, his hands shot up and grabbed something that had been shot out of that same spot. A sharp dagger had been thrown, cutting into the palm of his hand with the edges sticking out behind. The dagger had gone through his flesh, through the palm without Lloyd letting out a scream. The glove was torn and blood tickled down his arm but that didn't seem to bother him one bit. It looked as if he didn't feel a thing. He reached up, yanked it out and tossed it aside without a care. The wound healed itself quickly and a grin appeared on his face. "Nice try, but I'm actually faster than that."

The man came out of his hiding spot. He was dressed the same way as the others. This one had golden-colored hair and eyes that looked like large glittering emeralds. There was a surprised expression but that was quickly changed to a large smirk. "You're not too bad yourself. I'm actually some what impressed except for the fact that you got yourself cut while stopping my attack."

Lloyd kept quiet, taking a hint that the man wasn't done talking yet but he was already growing bored with the conversation.

"You're the first person that has been able to catch on of my daggers before. Most don't and get killed, you should be proud of yourself."

"Well if that's all you've got then you'll be very surprised by what I can do."

"Really and why's that?" The assassin tilted his head, reaching for another dagger.

"Because you're messing with the wrong person."

"Is that so?" The man huffed not buying the guardian's warning. "Well, let's just introduce ourselves first; it's a custom for me so I hope you'll answer honestly. I'm Nike from the organization 'The Black Heavens'. You know what, to be truthful, we go that name from one of the 'Bleeding Black Angel's' attack. The guy is really powerful; you know the one with large black wings covered in blood. It's pretty nice, don't you think?"

"From the 'Bleeding Black Angel'?" Lloyd raised an eyebrow. How ironic. He didn't think he would have to hear that name ever again, not here at least. His eyes were glowing even more and rushed forward before the guy even noticed the sudden disappearance. He didn't wait for Nike to react, bringing his blade upward for a stab and pierced the skin at the waist. Nike let out a shriek, gazing down at the blade that was digging into his side. His hands reached over to it, fingers rimming across the sharp end of the sword and he coughed, holding back on throwing up blood on himself. The guardian pushed it deeper, spraying more of the red liquid on the wall, twisted it, tearing apart the flesh. But suddenly Lloyd pulled back, jumping a foot away, glancing at Nike with an emotionless expression.

Nike groaned at the pain that coursed through his entire body. "W-What's wrong with you? You could have killed me with your first attack. Or are you too soft to kill?"

He chocked up more blood and held his wound beneath his two hands. The thick liquid seeped out from in-between the fingers, unable to stop the flow. The assassin reached for a cloth from behind and tied it around his cut like a belt, preventing it from getting in his way.

Lloyd pointed the sword at the neck and spoke. "The only reason I haven't killed you yet is so that I can see you suffer. You won't be getting out of here alive not even with that backup you have somewhere in this building." The guardian picked his head up; a victory smile was imprinted on his lips. "Oh and as for your custom, I'm Lloyd, Lloyd Irving."

"Brave words, young boy, too brave," Nike held the knife in his hands, struggling to stand back up. He managed to toss that one at Lloyd's head and smirked, seeing that the boy wasn't going to move. The guardian sighed, deflecting the weapon by flipping his hand, sending the dagger flying towards the wall right beside Nike's head, it was off by an inch from touching the hair.

"Didn't I tell you? You can't compete with me." Lloyd vanished, his body wandering, circling around the half dead man. The blood wouldn't stop, he had scratched up against a main artery, one of the few place that would surely be fatal if not treated quickly. Lloyd pulled his sword up to his face with a wicked smile, watching Nike cry out, searching around for the missing guardian.

"Where'd you go?! Show yourself!" He yelled, the limbs gradually getting heavy. His eyesight was darkening and fading to black. He was going to die soon whether it was by blood loss or if Lloyd was going to finish the job and just end his life.

"Oh, you're not gong to die just yet. I haven't allowed you that privilege yet." The guardian twirled, kicking Nike down to the floor, and then stomped onto the right hand; a gruesome scream came from the killer. Lloyd tilted his head, swinging his twin blades around in the hands. He called out another attack, this time it was magic. "Blood Feast."

Another scream filled the air but it wasn't Lloyd's or Nike's, it came from the misty darkness that grew under their feet. A circle appeared beneath the assassin, colored in black with a red glow with words in some kind of ancient language written inside. Black misty vines shot out, entangling itself around the arms, holding the killer down then spread out. It ate onto his skin, heading inside the body as if it was some kind of parasite, destroying everything along the way. Lloyd jumped back, putting his twin swords away, watching with mid-interest as the man was torn apart from the inside, blood seeping through the cracks of skin and spilled out onto the floor. The spell vanished; the circle and vines going along with it, letting the killer go and dropped him to the floor. The eternal swordsmen grinned, letting the man live a little longer, who was struggling to stand up, shaking and wobbling side to side. Nike held onto the wall for support, breathing hitched and disordered as the red copper fluid continued to drain out of the veins.

The mutated skin on Lloyd's face, which was hidden underneath the bandages, throbbed for a second. He twitched at it, taking a step forward with his right blade drawn out. "It seems you're not as strong as I hoped you'd be with all that bragging. You see, I've been bored lately. All the enemies are long gone and dead and now no one's been able to withstand me. I have the ability to kill every single person on this pathetic planet in less than a minute but really where is the fun in doing that." Lloyd smiled innocently, contradicting on what he was talking about. "I hope your so called organization is powerful cause I want to kill every single one of them." He grinned manically, placing the sharp sword near the neck. A thin line broke, tiny droplets slipped out, getting onto his sword. Lloyd pulled it back for a second, taking a quick lick of the blood, tasting it at first to see if it was delicious. He grunted, it tasted horrible, just like the last one, dirty and disgusting. Spitting it out, he glared at the killer, loosing interest in the pointless fight as he pointed the sword back at the neck. "Any last words?"

"…You're different then what they say in the reports about you, Lloyd Irving." There was fear shaking in the voice, the man was trembling feeling death looming over him. Lloyd sighed, he heard already heard this from someone else. "They say that you're a kind hearted person, not very smart in academically but powerful, a force to be reckoned with in battle. They say that you're an idealist with a strong sense of justice and love and care about his dear friends and family deeply." Nike paused staring up directly at the ruby eyes. "What happened to that Lloyd?"

The eternal swordsmen's grin grew even larger. "You're not wrong about that Lloyd; he is indeed me, one and the same. I am kind hearted, caring and all that crap when I was in the past but let me tell you something. I only show that personally in front of my dear friends. You should know that I have many names that I'm known by all over the universe, one of them is 'The Guardian of Death', the other is 'The Sentencer' and there's one more but I'll tell you that one later." Lloyd had blood lust glittering in his eyes as he pierced into the man's soft flesh at the shoulder blade. He went through the bone, tearing it in half letting the killer groan in pain and tremble. He suddenly stopped, glancing over to the door, there were voices from the other side coming closer. An irated expression replaced the once manic one and pulled back. "Well I'll be damned, they just had to ruin my fun, oh well, better end this quick."

Nike crawled away, his back going flat against the metal wall. "So you're going to kill me before anyone can stumble in here, huh."

"Of course, I don't need any trouble, oh and before I forget, I'll tell you secret before you die. Do you know who the 'Bleed Black Angel' is?"

Nike twisted his head upward to stare at Lloyd with a surprised expression. "Who?"

"Me."

Before Nike had a chance to reply, Lloyd swung his sword into the air and called out his final attack. "The Dark Heavens!" The room was engulfed in black, feathers of the same color danced around in an invisible whirlwind while something dripped off as it flew along. It was a liquid, dark and thick, something that stick to it with an acidic touch. Two large black wings appeared in the obscurity, fluttering and spraying more feathers at each flap. More whirlwinds were created tossing the room into a mess and sending shock waves, slicing apart everything it touch, even the metal wall. A scream, piercing and loud, echoed though until it was chocked away into the darkness.

The other assassin flinched; he knew that his ally was dead. His green hair fell over the face, covering it along with the yellow colored eyes that were bright and piercing. The killer was near the room where the rheairds were located, the doors all closed with the renegades running all around, searching for the intruder. He closed his eyes, as if he was praying and sending his sympathies to the grave. A sound of something fluttering reached his ears and his eyes shot open searching out the noise. Feathers of darkness spin around his head but it never touched the ground, dissipating before that could ever happen. One tapped against his shoulder, blood sprouted out from it drenching the cloth instantly. The killer flinched again eyes widening slightly, the shoulder now engulfed in pain as if something was burning the skin. More came, it seemed endless and the assassin gazed up at the source. All he saw the grinning face of Lloyd and the sword that went through his throat.

"Lord Yuan! Lord Yuan, wake up!" A renegade soldier yelled out shaking his poor unconscious leader awake. The blue haired seraphim twitched, stirring between the two states for awhile, groggily opening his clouded over eyes. The world around him was spinning in circles and the light above was so agonizing that everything just became a blur. The soldier held the blue-haired half-elf in his arms, noticing the off-sighted gaze that traveled around the room. Yuan stood up, using the man next to him as a ledge and found his way to the chair he liked to sit on. The soldier ran out of the room looking for help or going out to get a doctor that could take a look at the forming bruise on the head.

Yuan blinked the extra water that had acuminated in his eyes away and reached up to the spot where Lloyd had struck him but he didn't know that. He hissed in agony upset about being attacked by surprise and the pain that seeped into his skull was agonizing. Yuan twitched; he had pushed too hard on that spot of the large bumpy mark. There was even a dull pain from his back as if he had been dropped to the floor like a ragged doll. "Ow..."

He tried to stand back up, wobbling every now and then, his head still jumbled up by the attack. Yuan was pretty sure that he had gotten a concussion from the hard hit and he couldn't even remember what had happened just that he knew that he had been watched. Once he was able to remain standing without falling, he stepped forward, examining his destroyed room. "Damnit, they even broke the door." Everything had been sliced, a clear clean cut, something that could only be made by something sharp. He grumbled in frustration and out of the corner of his eye, he caught something black. Falling to his knee, already reaching his limit, and since no one was around; he crawled over to the strange item and picked it up.

It was a feather.

"A black one, too." Yuan twisted it in his fingers, twirling it in circles. It was pretty big, superior compared to his hand and was almost as long as the fingertips to the elbow. Something got onto his fingers, something sticky and dropped the large feather instantly, watching it drift side to side until it reached the cold marble floor. The half-elf stared in shock at his hand which was now plastered in blood with the rotten stench burning up his nose. The blood scorched against his skin, sizzling like hot water. Yuan tried to sake it off and finally used his precious cape to wipe it. It smeared on the cloth, the skin on his fingers were red but luckily not bleeding or blistered. He stood, tears welling up at the horrid smell after the fizzing moment and taking large gasps of breath. It was like rotten corpses, numerous of them that had been out in the sun for days, layers among layers of them to make it this bad. It was like hundreds of years had passed and the flesh was still decomposing, locked in an enclosed place. Yuan felt like gagging at it, it was so wretched that it felt like each breath was decaying his lungs, the air stung horribly. The blood spread out on the metal floor, some other pools of blood was there, the same on the feather and someone else.

Yuan coughed, backing away from the feather, gasping for fresh clean air behind. After a few gulps full, he stared down at the monstrosity with disgust. There was no way in hell he was going near it again and he glared, muttering a quick lighting spell, wanting to get rid of it.

"Thunder Blade!"

The attack, a large sword came down and a spell circle surrounded the targeted spot then exploded with electricity. Once the magic attack was finished, Yuan stared gawking at the remains. "Damnit, why won't it disappear?!" The attack had done nothing to it, blood pooled out from it as if cursed.

Suddenly the feather combusted into flames, burning the tiny particles and blood like it was oil then disappeared, leaving no trace of the marks. Everything was gone; nothing remained there, not even the char of the fire. The blood except for someone else's combusted too, vanishing.

"What the hell?"

Lloyd glanced back at the base for a moment; he had felt something nearby, a person or was it a monster? Lloyd couldn't tell, he couldn't even locate it either. The aura that surrounded the person was entirely different than any of the others on this planet. The guardian took a step forward wanting to examine the aura when the feeling suddenly disappeared. It vanished being no longer able to sense it any longer; Lloyd tilted his head, slightly confused before turning away about to head back to Kratos.

The feeling returned for a moment and seemed to be cautious about Lloyd sensing him. There was something there, Lloyd knew that, and out in the open too and so close but the land was barren, there was no place to hide so where could the being be. Lloyd jumped up onto a cliff, high above the desert ground, still searching but nothing was found. Even his own powers weren't able to help. He grinded his teeth, he couldn't be seen here, that could cause some trouble. Lloyd turned, something caught his eyes, a blade made of wind, thin and wedged heading towards his spot. He jumped back, the blade slicing through the rocks without a sound in a sharp slash. The cliff had been sliced in half, sliding off with a rumble that almost resembled an earthquake as Lloyd jumped to the closest one nearby.

Okay, there was defiantly someone there, hiding from the sands without even revealing his position. Another one, this time from behind, almost got Lloyd at the leg. It was shallow but horizontal and was able to split through one of his tail ends, the one that hadn't gotten injured yet. His body soared into the sky, did a flip and was holding him self up in the air longer to get a better outlook of the area. He grumbled to him self but that didn't last long as something slammed into his back in midair. The guardian tumbled to the ground, rolling across the sand until he slowed down and stopped. He stood up, splitting out some sand that had gotten into his mouth.

'Lloyd, run! You can't fight this one!' Cloud screamed from Lloyd's mind inside, there was fear in it.

The guardian agreed to that, he knew when he was out matched in power. He ran without even glancing back to see if this so called person was following. His feet got faster, traveling through the Ossa Trail with such speed that the monsters didn't even feel or notice his presence as he passed by. He reached Meltokio within minutes, though he had to take a short cut by running over water but no one noticed the blur. His steps slowed to a walk as he ran up close to the guards at the gate. The presence and aura was gone, but it also wasn't in the desert anymore.

'Just who was that?' Lloyd asked, he had absolutely no clue about what had just happened.

'I'm not sure but that strength is far beyond your own capabilities. I'm afraid to say this, but whoever that was, he had the power that far comprehends the gods.' Cloud whispered, slightly terrified of this new player. 'I'll assure you that this person is not connected with 'The Dark Heavens' but this is more troublesome. I'm afraid that you can't confront this person yet, I have a feeling that I might know this person but I can't say until I'm sure.'

'Alright.' Lloyd jumped into the bushes before the guards could see him, pulling off the bandages so that they wouldn't question his new look. Everything went back to normal and he strolled out, brushing his hair with his fingers. The bandages were placed back into their previous place and then disappeared until further use later on. 'Okay time to meet Dad.'

"Hi Kratos!"

Kratos almost jumped at the sound of his son's voice. Since when did Lloyd get so sneaky and come in without making a sound. The red head seraphim turned with a small smile returning the boy's gesture. "Welcome back, Lloyd. It's past lunch time but are you hungry?"

"Of course I am, I'm famished. I hadn't eaten anything all day, not even breakfast." Lloyd sat down on an empty chair, the tavern wasn't full with just a couple of people hanging around. There were some early drinkers and some couples sitting farther away from everyone else having some moments. It seems Kratos was sitting in the same seat and table in the morning, had he been waiting here all day?

Noishe's ears perked up at his master's voice and rushed over to his side, tail wagging left and right. Lloyd gazed over to the large green and white beast with his hand on the waist like Kratos always did.

"Hey, Noishe, you hungry too?"

He was answered with a cheery bark.

"Well then what are we waiting for? Let's go get something to eat." Lloyd ran to the cook, opening the door to the kitchen with Noishe right behind. He disappeared behind the swinging doors while Kratos sighed, shaking his head at the childish of his son and hoped that the two wouldn't get in trouble. Lloyd ordered the food quickly since he was pissing off the cook for bringing an animal inside. They exited together, Lloyd holding the door wide-open for Noishe with a smile on his face. Kratos was still there at the table, reading whatever book was in his hands. Lloyd made a snort but when a shadow crossed on the floor, he stopped. It was long with the setting sun outside the door, beaming at it directly. He followed it to the window, a person stood there right in front of the light so Lloyd was unable to see the face or even how this person looked like. The man was looking directly at the guardian with a calculating glare and Lloyd felt his body tense up. He just stood there, hands in the pockets and the coat tails fluttering when the wind blew. But it was strange, there was someone there, then the next minute, the moment Lloyd blinked, the shadow and the man was gone.

"Lloyd, is something wrong?" Kratos called out, questioning his son's bizarre movement.

"No nothing, I just thought I saw something." Lloyd turned back heading to the seat. "Sorry for worrying you Dad, I mean Kratos."

"It's alright, I don't mind."

Lloyd glanced back at the window, hoping that the shadow wasn't there again. It wasn't but the image had burned itself into his mind, he would have to check it out later. Perhaps during the night when there were less people around and though the security had thickened, it wasn't enough to make Lloyd worry. 'Looks like I'll have to find that person and question him.'

The street lights were on, pushing the darkness of the night away. Lloyd sat in a bench, somewhere in the middle-class area reading something in his hands. It was a piece of paper, the same one that had been on Yuan's desk during the nightmare. Yes, he had stolen it from the half-elf; snatched it during the confrontation. He wanted to find these people on his own and that meant he wanted no outside interference in his little game. Of course in this game, there was no such thing as rules so whatever went goes. Lloyd folded the paper up, placing it into his pocket, safely packed away. The guardian stood up, cracking his knuckles for a moment before feeling something coming at him. He felt it determining whether or not it was the strange being or the organization. A groaned escaped, it was an assassin, for some odd reason, he had actually hoped it to be the man. He had grown an interest on him and wanted to find out the identity of this mysterious person. Lloyd was about to pull out his sword to counterattack this slow-paced snail when the killer suddenly increased its speed tenfold.

His eyes widened, he wouldn't be able to make it in time, not even to jump away. It was far too fast for him to react right now and could only stand still, waiting for the up coming sting. The blade connected with Lloyd's chest, the stomach, a vital point where death followed right behind. A gruesome pain coursed through his body, coughing up blood on the killer and fell back onto his knees. One of his main arteries had been severed, a point where people used to attack when going for a quick finish. He stared at the person above; it was a woman this time, the only thing different about her to the others was that she had a scarf wrapped around her mouth. Lloyd glared hatefully at the person, caught off guard at the last moment and felt the blood flowing out of his veins and out into the cold atmosphere. His anger boiled, his fists scrunched up tightly together until his fingers turned white. He wanted to kill, his eyebrows were slanted downward and his teeth grinded against each other.

"Sorry Lloyd Irving, we have no choice but to kill you to get to Kratos." She stated, pulling down the mask. "Hope you have no hard feelings for me."

The guardian coughed up more blood, clenching his fists tighter in anger. He was pissed, reaching out to grab the woman's arm, he sneered furiously. There was no way he was going to let her get away with this alive. Plus, he sensed that there was someone else coming to help this woman. The blade was still there in his stomach, not allowing his body to heal instantly and his strength was fading. It stuck out like a sore thumb and it hurt like hell. The woman let out a yelp, almost falling at the tightened grip.

"Hey, let go." She screeched, reaching down to tear Lloyd's hand off. "Hey, Jack, help me out here."

Another one appeared from the darkness of an alleyway strolling over to their spot. He had black hair and eyes like a cat that seemed to have a snickering grin in them. "Why? Seems like you have it under perfect control to me, plus it's your fault for letting him grab you."

"Just get him off." She shaked her arm but the grip tensed. Lloyd didn't have any plans on letting go anything soon, his finger piercing into the skin and making red marks. His hatred fueled his strength and tried to make the process as painful as possible.

Jack pulled out a sword from behind, nearing it towards Lloyd neck; he was planning on cutting the boy's head off. Lloyd glanced over but didn't cower, his eyebrows going farther down. "Fine just hold him still while I kill him off."

"Fine."

Lloyd twitched, the cold steel touching his neck. He couldn't move, the dagger had dug in deep enough to kill an average person but Lloyd wasn't normal, now was he. The sword went far way for a second before swinging down, it was at that moment that Lloyd reacted, reaching up to catch it in mid-swing. The sharp end cut into the glove, into the flesh and stopped at the bone which held it still. Lloyd didn't flinch; the pain wasn't as bad as the one he was already experiencing. Jack grunted, trying to retract it back but couldn't.

"What the hell? Let go." Jack pulled harder, tearing some of the flesh sideways like he was peeling an apple.

Lloyd grinned; they were caught in his trap. "Death Sentence." The two stopped moving, bodies frozen. He let go of both of them, sitting up on the floor to watch the little entertainment that was about to happen. Jack was first to move, taking his sword back and pointed it up at his own neck. His hands gripped the hilt of it and pushed forward towards him self. The sword went through, ripping out the spinal cord and throat, spraying out blood from the back. A line of red dripped from the mouth, the light in the eyes fading. The body feel fell back, limp and dead, a pool of blood forming around the neck.

The woman was next, taking out one of the hidden knives from behind her back and pushed it into the lower portion of the chest, without even letting out a scream. She twisted it around in a circle, pushing it deeper into the stomach. The woman then pulled it out, still alive, then back into a different spot squirting out more fluid. The blood flowed down the clothes, down the legs until it reached the floor. Even the blood he had coughed on her began eating her skin; sizzling her flesh until it turned to bones and ashes. Lloyd tried to stand up but the blood lost made it hard, his vision doubling over. He struggled to get up while yanking out the knife when he managed to catch his breath. The cold atmosphere helped calm down, there was no sound, the animals were silent tonight.

"I guess you're the one that's been killing off our people."

'Another one?!' Lloyd twisted around; his wound was just starting to heal up but he wasn't able to do anything since most of his energy had been used. A man stood behind, arms folded with eyebrows tilted downward.

"I would have never imagined it to be you of all people, Lloyd." The killer huffed, walking closer. "So who, no, what are you? It's obvious that you're not a human by the abilities you've just showed off."

Lloyd stood up, still struggling but did, holding a hand on his wound. His breathes were ragged and tired, the blood lost was really getting to him. The man took a sword out, rushing at the guardian with a murderous and revengeful gilt in the eyes. Lloyd couldn't move, weakened out and could only stand there, watching the man rush closer.

A figure dressed in black rushed to the scene and with a flicker of his gloved hand, a blade similar to the one that had been used in the desert shot forth, cutting through the killer immediately. The man split in two, the bottom half fell right off in front of Lloyd's face and the top continued moving from the force until it slammed into a wall. It was crushed, pushed into the brick wall creating a crater and crackers all around. The lower half twitched once then laid dead, the liquid from inside fountain out. Lloyd was drenched with it head to toe twisting around to stare at the direction the attack came from. The stranger began walking out of the shadows, still not visible even with the street lights, moon and stars out twinkling yet. As if fate was against Lloyd, the moon suddenly disappeared, vanishing behind a sea of clouds that had crept up from behind and the lights were blacking out, blinking off and on. He stopped in front of Lloyd and dropped something to the floor away from the mess. It was a large handbag, a dark blue one with some thing heavy inside. The watcher turned, the wind blew harder and his feet sank into the stone floor.

His words were like icy whispers that if Lloyd didn't grasp them, they would have been weeded away. "Wear them, Lloyd."

And with that he entered the ground and was gone from sight.

Alright done, I think this is my longest so far, yay!