Warning: OC's ahead. Honestly, do you think Kratos would leave his son alone behind enemy lines without some kind of protection? All the authority and security in the world won't stop the most determined of people. So I gave Kratos some underlings that are mostly there for fodder. He does choose his underlings with care though. These foils aren't the main attraction so yeah. That's all I've got to say on them. Enjoy!
4 – Two More Angels
An hour drags on forever when you have nothing to do. Lloyd got bored checking out everything about the toilet and sink long before the door opened again and two angels blocked the way to the outside. The first one was a woman, her jade eyes and silver hair did not add any youth to her, easily looking like a human woman in her forties. She was a little shorter than Lloyd and carried a plate of food for him to eat, setting the tray on the corner of his bed.
"Please, eat." This had to be Ava.
Though there was clearly a consciousness behind her eyes, her face hardly moved. No one could possibly be that calm. The man behind her certainly wasn't. This… Marcus… was large, with shrewd black eyes that didn't believe anyone. His hair was jet black and looked like he cut it with a dull knife. With those muscles and scar across his left hand, he may have. He stayed in the doorway with a sword in hand, his feathery wings further blocked any attempt at escape.
These two were to be his jailers and 'caretakers'. Perfect. Glaring back at the angels and the food, the teen lied. "Not hungry."
As irony would dictate, that was when his stomach growled. He grabbed his middle painfully, turning red without thinking about it. To his amazement, neither angel commented or laughed at him about it. In fact, it looked like Marcus rolled his eyes. Ava though calmly motioned back to the food. "Please eat. Lord Kratos insists you have nourishment at least three times daily."
"Why?" Lloyd demanded sharply. "I'm his prisoner."
Both angels seemed to pause for a moment, nearly roll their eyes, and sigh softly as if he was a childish idiot. The angel lady explained as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "If the host body dies from starvation, then the experiment is a failure. Do not throw away the life Lord Kratos preserved for the sake of your pride."
"If you do not willingly eat human," Marcus finally spoke in a rough tone, "we will feed you. Your life means more to Lord Kratos than your foolish pride."
The teen glared at the two of them, then the sword in the big angel's hand. With his exsphere no longer giving him the boost he needed, he knew he didn't have a chance against this guy. And who knew what the lady could dish out. Professor Sage may look classy and delicate, but she could pack a wallop when mad. Choosing to not test his luck this time, Lloyd went back to his bed and started picking at the food.
A white soup and a sandwich greeted his eyes and he started to feel really hungry once again. Carefully though, he picked up the sandwich and took a look inside. Glaring a bit, he picked out the tomatoes and left them on the plate. This did not sit right with Marcus. "Eat all you are given human."
"That is enough." Honestly, Lloyd was a little surprised by the firm note in Ava's voice, watching her glare at the man near her. Her eyes had narrowed in an authoritative way, somewhat frightening him. "Lord Kratos said to ensure he ate. He does not have to eat everything, just enough to satisfy."
"Enough to satisfy huh?" The teen smirked before taking the sandwich to his lips. "Well sorry to disappoint, but I don't think you have enough. I hadn't eaten since the morning I came here. What time is it anyway?"
"Irrelevant." Marcus' attitude was getting old fast.
"There is neither day nor night in Welgaia," Ava stated evenly, more forthcoming than her coworker. "Derris Kharlan lies between the two worlds, and to maintain the balance we do not use the sleeping cycle lower races are accustomed to."
"You don't sleep?" Lloyd was nearly shocked out of eating, startled and wary of the news. That meant-
"You won't be able to slip out in the dead of night." Marcus' mouth was a little too annoying for the lad's tastes. He guessed right too. Lloyd was trying to think of an escape plan but needed to know everything he could first. Kratos' warnings earlier rang easily in his mind. "You cannot even leave this room without assistance."
"Why?" He had too many questions and not enough answers. Who knew what he could learn from these two.
"Eat your sandwich and I shall tell you." Ava's calm personality reminded the lad of Colette, but the deal sounded more like the professor. Pouting slightly, Lloyd took a bight of his meal to satisfy her. Then his hunger returned in full and he started scarfing his food. He was starting to work his way on the soup (a creamy, milky kind with some kind of fish and potato in it) when he heard the angel speak more, a little humor in her voice. "Many of the locks require cruxis crystals to unlock them. This room is no acceptation."
"Like the pillars at the seals!" It clicked in his head a lot faster than most things he learned at school. Colette was the only one able to open the doors to the seals, but it didn't make a lot of sense for her to be able to do it with a touch. If the cruxis crystal was a key, like the energy from it filling her body and transmitting it to the stone (the electricity theory course at school was pretty interesting), then she'd be able to open anything with that kind of lock. The angels used the same kind of technology here too?
The lady nodded, a small smile on her face. "Exactly right."
Marcus seemed to mumble something he couldn't understand, almost growling sarcastically. Though Lloyd didn't understand a word of it, he got the general idea, and it ticked him off. Ava though stepped in, coolly and sharply retorting whatever he said. Not liking being left out, Lloyd put down his soup and demanded answers. "What are you two talking about?"
"Nothing you need be concerned about."
"Just comparing you to someone else we know." Ava glanced coldly at Marcus for his answer, clearly unhappy that he honestly answered for some reason. Lloyd was getting really confused with these two. Ava must be the one in charge in some way, but Marcus was the obvious muscle. And they both knew something he didn't.
"Who?"
One question silenced both of them, making him even more curious. His heart started to beat a little faster as possibilities surged through his mind, and evidently his mouth. "People on your side keep saying I 'bare a resemblance' to someone. Who are you guys talking about? Who do you know that I'm similar to? Who do I look like?"
The angels remained silent, eerily so. It only got him to talk more. "Is it my mom? My dad? Do you guys know them? Did everyone know them? Mom was an experiment too so is she-"
"You speak nonsense." Marcus' angry voice only encouraged Lloyd's rabid thoughts.
"Then was it my dad? Do you know my dad? Did he fight against you guys too? He was a great hero wasn't he! He must have-"
"You seem to be done eating." Ava gently took the tray of food from Lloyd's lap and stood up to leave. Calmly she looked him in the eye and asked, "Is your stomach satisfied?"
"That doesn't matter! Just-"
"If you wish for more than this amount of sustenance in the future, it is best to say so now." Her eyes narrowed slightly, startling him. From the beginning she seemed to be the gentler of the two. Now he wasn't so sure. This lady had the power to starve him.
"Well… I usually eat more than one sandwich, and something else on the side-"
"The next meal will have more then." She nodded her head respectfully and headed towards the door. Lloyd leapt to his feet, anxious for answers.
"Wait! What about-"
Without warning Marcus flung a thin book at him, cutting him off. He barely managed to dodge it, letting it hit the wall and the bed afterwards. "HEY!"
"Lord Kratos orders you to read that book before he returns. Rest, recover, and read. All other activities are prohibited until further notice."
"Like hell. Where is he?!" Lloyd didn't get an answer. By then Ava had safely made it through the door, allowing Marcus to step back and the entryway to vanish again with a swish. "HEY! Answer me dammit!"
Ticked off, he strode over to where the door was and started pounding on it while shouting insults. "Coward! Fakes! Come back in here and answer my questions you… winged weirdo!"
Not his best insults but the teen didn't have a clue how else to shout at him. His brain was too full of questions, and only kept on going. Questions like 'where's Colette', 'where were his friends', 'what did they have planned for him' were pushed back for the new ones these two gave him. 'Who were they comparing him to' and 'where was Kratos' leapt to the front of his mind, and it bugged him to no end. It looked like these angels had answers to questions that plagued him for a lot longer than the past day or so.
"What the hell is going on?"
His energy nearly sapped dry from his outburst (lasting a good ten minutes or so at the invisible door), Lloyd turned and slid his back against the wall, sitting to catch his breath. Never had he felt so tired after being awake for such a short amount of time. His head was buzzing, his body still ached, and he didn't know what to do. All he could do was pray everything would turn out alright.
But just who would he be praying to? Lolling his head to the side Lloyd looked over to the book left for him on the bed. No doubt it would be full of Cruxis propaganda, but considering how much energy he actually had, it was literally the only thing to do other than sleeping. Sighing, the swordsman forced himself to crawl over to the bed to start the tedious task of reading something no doubt dry, boring, and difficult.
A/N: Lloyd is a lot smarter than he gives himself credit for. Remember when he figured out how to save the seed between disks? He was referring to the lessons Raine gave him and he clicked it with a practical application very quickly. So he'd likely figure out those kinds of locks if he was told about them. Then there's the whole 'he does bare a resemblance' thing that kept cropping up in the beginning. I doubt the comparison would stop when he's in the enemy's clutches.
How'd you like the angels? Next chapter will complicate things, and simplify them later. Anywho, please comment. I need to know how people feel about this. Also I have a few ToS shorts that have no comments and they're feeling lonely. T-T
