Author's notes: We're getting closer and closer to the end of this fic... Great, now I'm going to have to figure out which story to post next.
Disclaimer: I don't own Tales of Symphonia. (I almost typed Fire Emblem! Grrr.)
Chapter 9: Parasite Stone
Lloyd had fallen asleep hours ago, but after this Kratos knew he wouldn't be able to do the same. His mind was awhirl with all the things Lloyd had told him. All the things he knew he'd have to deal with eventually.
Really, how could he have been so stupid? He should have realized sooner just what Lloyd was. All the warning signs were there; he just refused to understand them and instead ignored it.
Lloyd was an angel. The very thing he had hoped his son would never become. The very thing he despised most. And it was all his fault!
His mind was in turmoil. On one hand, if it hadn't have been for him, Lloyd would never have turned out like this. On the other, if Kratos had never met Anna, Lloyd would never have been born.
Lloyd and Anna were the most precious things he had ever had. He felt certain that if he had not met Anna, he would have undoubtedly returned to Mithos after his brief defiance. And Lloyd… Lloyd was the greatest gift he could have ever asked for.
Yes, he loved Anna, but with Lloyd it was different. The child was his. He helped create the boy. He was part of the reason the child was alive. With Lloyd, it took on a deeper meaning in him. He fell in love with Anna, but he loved Lloyd from the moment he was born. It had given him the chance to love his child the way his father never loved him, and that made it all worth it.
That eased one guilt in him at least. Lloyd may have been an angel, but it was not like it was the child's fault. He had been born (at least partially) that way. Though, that left another question to be answered.
Lloyd had been in the confines of the ranch for who knows how long. The child had been in Kvar's hands for at least part of that time. Just what had been done to him in there?
What was the nature of these… experiments? If Kratos had any say about it, the half-elf was already condemned. The only thing left to question was just how far he had gone with his foolhardy attempts to create a Cruxis Crystal. Had he actually…?
At that thought Kratos froze, his arms instinctively tightening around his sleeping son. He wouldn't have… Kvar may have been the type to do anything for his precious projects, but he couldn't have possibly… Was he that insane?
The man swallowed the thick lump in his throat, and his fingers graced the edges of the boy's shirt. Slowly, almost reluctantly, Kratos lifted the child's shirt just enough to see the thin chest… And he nearly cried out in agony at the sight.
There, imbedded deeply just beneath the child's collarbone, a stone glinted almost innocently in the faint light. There was the stone that had caused the death of his beloved Anna. The same stone that was now draining the life of his son, his baby. The Angelus Project.
Yuan felt so disgusted with himself for resorting to this. "Kvar," the half-elf stated flatly as he walked into the grand cardinal's office. "I have some information I'm sure you'd be interested in."
The slant-eyed man gave Yuan an irritated gaze, his already narrow eyes narrowing further in frustration. "Lord Yuan, could this not wait?" he asked with clear agitation.
"Don't be so foolish enough as to think I haven't heard of your precious 'Angelus'." Yuan snapped coolly, gaining the reaction he sought.
"Do… you have any information concerning its whereabouts, by chance?" Kvar asked smoothly as he leaned back in his chair to stare more fully at his superior.
"I do," he said simply. "You can have it back if you wish; on one condition."
"And what would that be my lord?" Kvar asked, an unusual, pleasant, smile 'gracing' the old half-elf's lips.
"You kill Kratos." That disgustingly sweet smile grew wider. "That human has been a thorn in my side for quite some time."
"Oh, but wouldn't the Lord Yggdrasill object?" Kvar queried in mock innocence, his smile never faltering.
"I wish to overthrow Yggdrasill," Yuan tested his theory. "His system of the Chosen is completely foolish and pointless. It will never work and I'm sure we're both intelligent enough to know that," he played into Kvar's greatest source of pride. "People are getting impatient for the coming Age of Half-Elves. I wish to finally establish this age for all of those foolhardy humans to see. But in order to do that…" he paused, assessing Kvar's reaction to what he had just said. The man was clearly buying into his act. "I need to get rid of the Origin Seal," Yuan finally concluded.
"And so you come asking me for help? My Lord Yuan, I thought you already had your own men. Why can you not have them take care of your problem for you?" he asked smoothly.
Yuan gave him a near deadly look, green eyes narrowing dangerously. "Because I don't have enough men at the moment to even take on Kratos. He is far too powerful to attack head-on and you know that."
Kvar thought on this a moment, frowning slightly. "And what would you propose I do?" the man leaned forward onto his desk, looking up at the elder half-elf.
"What else? Attack his heart."
At this the grand cardinal scowled deeply. "And how do you propose I do that?" he snapped angrily. "A012 is already dead. Kratos killed her himself to protect that useless brat…" Kvar stopped suddenly at that. A manic grin appeared over his features. "I see. You think say that we should use the boy against him then, hm?"
Yuan nodded. "Exactly. Kratos wouldn't dare resist if we have his son. I've seen it myself. He'd do anything to save that boy. An idiotic human sentiment I'm sure," he added the last part for good measure, despite knowing he had already convinced the platinum blonde.
It was the most disgusting thing he had ever done. But it was a necessary evil. He knew Kratos was beyond reasoning with, and, though he hated the thought of using that innocent little boy in this, it was the only way to insure that the origin seal was released. He could always just kill Kvar afterward anyway and make sure Lloyd could have the life he deserved.
He had to do this, he tried convincing himself. Even so, after his meeting with that despicable man, he couldn't help but retch out the nothingness in his stomach as he thought over what he was about to do. Even after all these years, he still thought of Kratos as the little boy in need of comfort. It was just far too hard to think that he was the reason that his life would end.
Kvar smirked as he wheeled around in his chair so that he faced away from the entrance to his office. Everything was falling into place. Soon, thanks to the Lord Yuan, he would once again have the Angelus and the Angelus Project in his hands, and as an added bonus he could finally get his revenge on that stupid human-angel for all the trouble he's caused.
The half-elf scowled darkly. First he swears fealty to their 'lord' and then he turns around and betrays them all. He had even gone so far as to interfere with the progress of his precious Angelus Project. That man could not possibly understand how far he had set his progress back.
It had taken him years to get as far as he did with it, and then Kratos comes along and steals away A012 in the dead of the night. Really, what sort of man does that? Kvar was certain Kratos was merely jealous of his genius, and ruined his project out of spite.
Though, even as he thought of it, something good did come of Kratos's little... interference. The humans' spawn had made a far better host body then its mother. Those foolish humans had not been able see what Kvar had figured out. The boy was an Angelus.
Unlike regular Welgaian angels, or even the Seraph, Angelus or not created through the use of a Cruxis Crystal but born secondhand by such beings. If Kratos had not been an angel himself, and had A012 not been the Angelus Project, Lloyd probably wouldn't have turned out like this. But he did, and so made a most interesting test subject.
Kvar had found, when he was bored out of his skull with nothing to do, that the mystery behind Lloyd's birth made for a rather intriguing pastime. Some of the tests had proved that, while Lloyd appeared physically and genetically human, his mana was vastly different than a human's, elf's, half-elf's or even a human turned angel. It was far more dense in the boy than even the most experienced elf.
But what he found particularly fascinating was how it was able to disguise itself into seemingly normal human mana. It was such a pure form, yet so normal it almost felt fake. The only reason they had even noticed was because of their specialized equipment used for the very purpose of detecting a person's mana signature. If it hadn't been for that, it would have been highly unlikely that Kvar, or anyone else for that matter, would have picked up on the fact that Lloyd wasn't exactly a normal human child.
He wondered if Kratos would ever figure it out. Perhaps he would, perhaps he wouldn't. What he did know was that the man who had stolen the Angelus right out from under his nose, certainly had known about the boy's… condition.
Just what had that foolish person been thinking? Didn't he know that Lloyd's mana was extremely unstable? Either way it didn't matter, considering soon Kratos would be gone and Lloyd would once again be in his possession.
A twisted smile appeared on the demented half-elf's face. He pushed a button and turned on the intercom system. "Captain Lowel, I want you and your squadron to head to Asgard and cause as much destruction as you like. I want you to draw Kratos's attention away from the Angelus."
End notes: Yay! I get to kill Kvar soon. And just who is that man that Lloyd and Kvar mentioned? (Seriously, even I don't own.)