Long one, sorry. But there's a lot of talking and training and theorizing so bare with it. Time is speeding up and there's a lot for Lloyd to learn before he can go rejoin his friends.

10 – Training Gems and woes

Blunted swords rang against each other, their song filling the air. Lloyd tried to force all his weight forward and unsettle Kratos, but the more experienced swordsman took advantage of the weight change and threw him to the ground. "Arg!"

"Don't attempt to unseat your opponent when you cannot keep your feet under you." The older man's cold stare was met by a determined glare, along with a lot of huffing and puffing. Lloyd didn't have the endurance he had before, and that was where he was slipping most.

For the past three weeks, every afternoon and evening, the two of them trained in a different part of the Tower of Salvation. Lloyd spent the mornings sore and reading up on the early history of Aselia, country by country in that history book, and the rest of the time he was undergoing what Kratos called intermediate training. Mostly he was forced to hold certain positions and repeat sword movements over and over again, adapting them to his fighting style as he went, for about half the time they were together. The rest of the time they fought, and Lloyd realized again and again exactly how much stronger the man was compared to him. He hadn't managed to get through a single session without being knocked unconscious and carried back to his cell.

"Again."

Groaning, the teen pushed himself to his feet, ignoring how much his body shook from exhaustion. Couldn't they have a break? Just for once in his life? They were fighting for hours! The annoyed look on the seraph's face put an end to that thought. "Yggdrasil is not going to give you time to breathe. Get up."

Doing his best to catch his breath without getting caught, Lloyd fell into the latest stance he was learning. Kratos fell into another and they stared each other down. No opening could be found at that moment, both waiting for the slightest change to begin their charge. A small crack off in the distance gave the signal and both darted forward. Mercenary stabbed forward, forcing his opponent to use one sword to block while sidestepping the attack. He slid his other sword between the man's shield and his attack to hit an opening, only for the shield to hit him head on, making him see stars. Staggering backwards, Lloyd regained his footing and blocked another attack from Kratos' sword, sensing rather than seeing the strike coming. Instead of throwing his weight forward this time, the teen crouched with the force, twisted underneath it, sidestepped once again, and swung his second sword at his open side as Kratos staggered forward.

He almost made contact, but the old soldier managed to bring his shield down on the blade, knocking it out of the way. "Better."

"Not done yet!" Lloyd continued to turn into his swing, slashing with the first sword at the man's nearly exposed back. But once again, the shield was thrusted up to his face, knocking him backwards and out of harm's reach. He didn't recover from that blow fast enough, resulting in Kratos swiping his feet out from under him, and Lloyd landing on his rear with a thump. "Oww…"

The tip of the man's blade rested itself just under his chin as the lad's eyes refocused. Frustrated, he looked at the man giving his trademark scowl. "Overconfidence breeds carelessness. Carelessness summons defeat. You cannot allow yourself to be defeated Lloyd."

"I'm not trying to-"

"No, you're not." The seraph's eyes narrowed on him, a merciless teacher when it came to swordplay. "Focus on learning these techniques and adapting them to your weapons before adding complicated tactics you're not ready for."

"I thought you said I was a fast learner." Really, he was getting tired of all the criticism. One second he was all compliments and the next he was picking at his footing or grip! Pick a side already!

"You need to be faster, in many ways." Kratos sighed before lowering his blade, shaking his head. "Go for a run, but stay on this level. And keep the weights on."

Rolling his eyes, "FINE!" Lloyd shoved himself to his feet, again ignoring the exhaustion in his limbs. The heavy practice swords he was using were put back into their sheathes, then he started running down a hallway nearby. The heavy, weighted mail shirt and pants he was wearing over his clothes jangled every which way as he ran around the circular hallway surrounding the central part of the tower. Even the bracers and grieves he wore over the gloves and boots were weighted down, making every move he made noisy and hard. Yet he forced himself to do it. Without the assistance of his exsphere, Lloyd was as weak as any other human. And he hated it.

Breathing was getting hard again as it always did whenever Kratos sent him on one of these runs. This part of the tower was cleaner than the other places they trained in, and had a lot more metal than the other ways around it. Everything linked together somehow and honestly he was kinda tired of seeing hallways that looked like the lab and his cell. At least it was easier to run around there than in the other places they fought in. He wasn't tripping or slipping like the other times.

Before he liked, the run was finished, and he was rasping for breath in the place he started. Kratos watched him hunched over for a while before pushing him back. Annoyed, Lloyd snapped his head up to shout at him. "What's the deal?!"

The man just looked at him for a while, thinking probably, but the lad was just too exhausted to care. He was tired. He was sweaty. And for all it was worth, he was starving! Ever since this crazy training started, he missed a lot of dinners. Sleep won over food every time. Kratos seemed to debate something before turning away. "Take off your armor and walk a lap. Don't sit down quite yet."

"Huh?" That was new.

His incoherent question was met with an annoyed glare. Seeing it, the teen decided not to argue, immediately throwing off the bracers. "Fine fine. Don't get your panties in a bunch."

"Hmph." Once more Kratos turned away, busying himself with that wingpack he kept down there. Lloyd chose to ignore him for now and just take the blessing he was given, stripping himself of all the metal he was forced to wear during training. He never wore so much metal in his life!

Soon enough the lad was walking down the path he ran just a minute or two before, finally catching his breath. His head felt heavy, but walking around like this really helped him start to get his thoughts in order. He kept the sword belts on, missing the feel of weapons at his sides more than anything, but then again, Kratos had mentioned there were monsters and some kind of security system in this place. He didn't want any more surprises.

Stretching his arms along the way, the teen slowly managed to get his thoughts in order. He'd been in Welgaia for over a month now. In that time, he learned how to properly read at last, a lot about a past he doubted the Professor knew, and new sword techniques. He also was alone in this place, hated by the leader of Cruxis, being watched by the angels, and his one ally there was the same person who put him there. There was a lot he didn't know, and what he did know confused him. Not liking where his thoughts were going, Lloyd looked at the seal crest covering his mother's exsphere and sighed.

"Well? Any idea what's going on Mom? Know how to make the world right?" No response. Sighing, Lloyd rested his head against the metal as he walked. "Guess I'm on my own then."

Before he would have liked, he was back to where Kratos was waiting for him. With a meal. Surprised, the teen stopped where he was, slack jawed. "What the…"

"You've met your quota for the day," the mercenary informed him as he unsheathed his practice blade. "Eat up then start cleaning your armor and swords."

"What do you mean?" Confuddeled, he tried to make sense of it. "I thought I trained until I dropped!"

"That is lunacy." The man gave his 'don't be stupid' look before taking a cloth to his practice sword, looking over each section of it carefully. "You were out of practice and unused to not having an exsphere, so your endurance had to be pushed past its limits. Now it's at the minimum amount to supply energy for normal intermediate training criterias."

"What?"

"You can meet the daily training regimen for first year officers. Squires. A knight's apprentice." He raised an eyebrow while looking him in the eye. "You weren't quite there yet; now you are. Congratulations."

Unamused, Lloyd staggered over to where a cold dinner was waiting for him. Cheese, ham and biscuits, plus fruits and water, it was better than he could have hoped. Not that he ate poorly there before, but considering how many dinners he ate lately, he was surprised he was getting anything!

Quickly the teen dived into the platter of food before him. Eating quickly, one bite stopped him in his tracks. Within seconds, he spat out part of what was in his mouth, disgusted. "Are you trying to poison me?"

"Why do you ask?" Was that amusement in the man's voice? He cast him a dirty glare as he picked through the food as fast as he could.

Soon enough he found what he was looking for and tossed it out of his dinner. "You know I hate tomatoes!"

Something passed Kratos' face, something close to amusement, but Lloyd ignored it in favor of removing any other offending fruit from his meal. "Just checking."

"Sure you were." He found two more before he was sure the food was clean, then went back to devouring his meal. Lloyd was nearly done (and wanting more) when he looked at Kratos and noticed something was off. "Aren't you gonna eat?"

"I don't really need to." The man kept working on his sword, using a stone to work out the dents but careful not to make it sharp. Often he polished it with the rag, removing dirt. Lloyd knew the process by heart by now, but he hadn't had the time to do the same in quite some time. Being a big shot, he didn't quite understand why the guy would clean his stuff. Weren't there underlings who could do that?

"Why?" His head went back to food in a heartbeat. Was there any more was a question he wanted to ask, but wasn't sure if he could. "You ate with us when we were traveling."

Pausing, the mercenary seemed to think about the question before answering. "Lloyd, do you remember how the Chosen… Colette… stopped eating?"

"Well yeah," he murmured. He was the one who noticed first. Wasn't he?

"Do you recall why?"

"Because she was turning into an angel…" The teen stopped, remembering who this man was to Cruxis once again. "But… you ate with us. You even had trouble trying Professor Sage's cooking. You told Genis that you'd rather eat grass than tomatoes. Colette forced herself to eat, but she ate everything, no complaints."

"But I'm still an angel. I don't need to eat. I just like to. Are you still hungry?" Unable to stop himself, Lloyd nodded, extending his empty plate needily. Without an objection, Kratos reached into that wingpack and took out another packet of food. "There might be tomatoes in it."

"I'll pick them out." Quickly he unwrapped the package and rummaged through it, thinking only a little. Once it was tomato free, he asked more questions his teacher could answer while he chewed. "But it still doesn't add up. How are you an angel? You can eat and I've seen you in pain. And you taste just fine. Plus there's your personality, and you talk."

"I'm unique." Setting the wingpack back down, he went back to cleaning his sword. "Yes, I can eat and feel pain, but even my sense of touch isn't as strong as it once was. My other senses are sharper, like Colette's, but… Lloyd, do you ever recall seeing me sleep?"

Caught between swallowing and chewing, the lad almost choked at the question. Almost. He managed to force the mouthful down, then started thinking hard. Did he? Now that he thought about it, Kratos was always taking the night watch. He was the last to go to bed and the first to get up. He never seemed tired. Well, not from travel or fighting. Whenever they talked and he said something that annoyed the man, he seemed tired then. "No… not really."

"I stopped sleeping a long time ago." He looked down in thought, stilling at a memory. "There was only one timeframe when I could since I became an angel. Since then, I make a special effort not to."

"Why not?" So he could sleep, he just chose not to. Watching how still his face became, the teen wondered why more and more.

"The nightmares aren't worth it. Finish your dinner and get to work cleaning your equipment." That was code for 'I don't' want to talk about it' with Kratos, and even dense Lloyd could tell he was getting antsy. The seraph sheathed the practice sword and put it back in the wingpack. The teen watched as he retrieved his flaming sword from where it stayed against the wall during their training. He was still curious about this angel.

"So you don't sleep and you don't need to eat, but you still have your soul and have your voice."

"It appears so."

"So did you lose them and then get them back?" If he did it, then maybe Colette could! What was going on outside Welgaia? What were his friends doing? The training and studying kept him occupied, but he was still worried about them. Part of him wanted to be rescued, but he wasn't an idiot. If they came to Welgaia right then, they'd be killed. Kratos really was his best chance. But what about his friends? Colette?

Kratos looked at him briefly before sighing and shaking his head. "My transformation wasn't the same as Colette's I'm afraid. I never lost my soul… or will… nor my voice. My senses were heightened, endurance, strength, and speed tripled, and I can manifest wings from my mana. I can also use some magic and do not need to use sleep or food to replenish my mana supply. My change… was different."

"Okay…" A bit disappointed, Lloyd went back to his dinner, eating in silence as he mulled things over. So it was likely he didn't know how to save Colette. Maybe the professor found a way. How he prayed she did. It was when his appetite was fully sated that he brought up another question. "Where to angels come from?"

This question seemed to make the man smirk. "The same place humans, elves, and half-elves do. Get to work on your gear."

The cleaning supplies were already on his pile, waiting for him, but Lloyd still had questions. He gave the man a scowl as he went over and started cleaning off his swords. "You know what I mean. What are they really? If they're another race, how can a human become an angel?"

"Hm. Well asked." The seraph looked at a pocket watch he didn't know the guy had, then nodded. "What you call an angel is nothing more than an evolved being. Majority of them were half-elves before their transformations. Only myself and Chosen were human before the change."

"They're half-elves?!" The teen's jaw dropped in disbelief. Did that mean Desians were precursors to angels? "How?!"

"Cruxis Crystals, mostly." Kratos showed him the gem on his hand, keycrest and all. "I'm an exception, though, this may be like yours given time. I am an odd case."

"What?"

"Colette was a normal girl until the Cruxis Crystal was attached to her skin. At which point…" He sighed slightly, folding his arms. "I told you before, her life was forfeit from that point on. Whether she completed the ritual or not, the crystal would rewrite her biology until she became the vessel you saw at the final seal. The opening of the seals only unleashes a large amount of mana, shifting the flow between worlds. This was necessary in order to save Sylverant. A side effect was the speeding up of the angelic transformation."

"Hey-"

"If the ritual was done every ten years between the two worlds, no one would have noticed the shift." Kratos glared annoyance to the side, clearly wishing this had taken place. "A Cruxis Crystal is needed to open the seals' locks, but that is all. There is no need for one world to suffer and the other to flourish like this."

"I take it that was Yggdrasil's idea?" Lloyd was getting a better sense of where this guy stood in all of this. It was confirmed when he nodded.

"Completely. But that was not what you were asking." He straightened, watching the teen finish cleaning one sword quickly while talking. The second one was being worked on soon after. "Angels are evolved half-elves with the use of Cruxis Crystals. They are rare, which is why you don't see any in Sylverant. The Chosen doesn't have one in their hand when they are born; instead one of Cruxis operatives organize through bloodlines who the Chosen will be, and find a compatible match between the host and the gem. Compatibility is very important Lloyd."

"Why?"

"Because with humans it determines if they will survive the process." The gravity in the man's voice was hard to ignore. Was he hinting at something? Something terrible? But he went on. "With half-elves, it determines how much of their personal wills, will stay intact."

"What are you talking about?" Kratos was very serious, and it was scaring him. What was he trying to tell him?

Sighing, but at something other than him, the seraph elaborated. "Lloyd, haven't you noticed how different Ava and Marcus are from the other angels?"

He nodded. Of course he had. "They talk more and have personalities. I mean…" Thinking back, Lloyd thought of a good example. "When I see the other angels, they have this… dead look in their eyes. No emotions at all. Marcus glares at me and barks orders, and Ava has this icy persona, but she still talks to me as a person. They ask you questions and answer with nods sometimes… They have opinions."

"And the rest you've seen are like parrots, repeating the same things over and over again. Unchanging." He nodded, satisfied. "Those two, like Remiel, have over 90% compatibility with their Cruxis Crystals. Many angels have 60% to 70%. Majority under 50%. Only a handful have 90, and those are the ones with wills of their own."

"I have 100% compatibility."

The thought struck him so completely, so perfectly, that they both stopped what they were doing to let it sink in. The idea was dizzying. Kratos nodded. "Yes. You do. How-"

"I… overheard you guys talking when I first came here." Well, not completely, but enough of it made sense. "Some guy said he never saw these numbers before, and that was about me. If 90 is good, then if there was someone with 100%, you guys would…"

"Do everything in our power to find out why and how? Yes." The fact tightened Lloyd's chest, making it harder to breathe. He was an experiment. "If we were all like Kvar. But we're not."

"Huh?" His head perked up automatically. What?

"I made it clear to the angelic researchers that we would be focusing on the development of the exsphere rather than investigating the host body." A small smirk came on the man's face without any reason behind it. "Compatibility is necessary for many reasons. Each of the human ranches specializes in a particular variety of exphere, and finding humans whose mana is compatible with them is important for their development. That is why Chocolat was sent to the same ranch as Marble. Most mana signatures between family members are similar to each other.

"This is why you have perfect compatibility with your mother's exsphere." Kratos nodded to Lloyd's hand, making him pause and look at it himself. "It would not give you as much power as you typically have if the compatibility were 50 or less. Even with the keycrest. Furthermore, your mother was pregnant with you while she wore it. You were exposed to it longer and more consistently than any human host body on record, without being turned into one. The connection you have with it is more symbiotic than parasitic."

Blinking, Lloyd tried to make sense of what he said. His head was a jumble with the information, and he had a hunch it was more theory than fact. So angels were half-elves with Cruxis Crystals. Most of them were like dolls because of low compatibility with their crystals. Those with high compatibility retained their souls and some personality traits. Humans were compatible to certain exsphere, but they didn't get turned into angels; instead they were drained dry of mana and turned into monsters like Marble and Carla. It probably worked the same way with half-elves, but since Cruxis were in charge of the gems, they didn't let that happen. His mom's exsphere was part of some experiment, the Angelus Project, and the seal crest was supposed to develop it into a Cruxis Crystal. His mom must have been highly compatible with it too, but because of the circumstances around his birth, his was even higher. Did that mean…

"If… this thing turns into a Cruxis Crystal… and then gets attacked to me without a keycrest…" He looked up to Kratos, somewhat panicked. "Does that mean I'll turn into an angel?"

He nodded. "More than likely."

"Like you? Or Like Colette?" Was he going to be turned into a soulless being?

The seraph before him paused, watching him expressionlessly. "That… I don't know."

Silence consumed the lad, his head and heart heavy from the idea. He… could become an angel? It just didn't seem possible… a least until then. Kratos started talking after a moment as reality set into him. "As I've said before, my transformation was different. But I have never heard of a Chosen with perfect compatibility either. Are you alright?"

Lloyd's head felt very heavy, so he just flopped it into his hands, propping his elbows on his knees to help stabilize his body. "Fine… just… it's a lot to take in."

He just couldn't get his mind wrapped around it. One day, if Cruxis' experiment was done before he found a way out of there, he could wake up without an appetite. Then he wouldn't go back to bed. He wouldn't be able to enjoy the sun or snow anymore. Speaking would be a dream. And then… An involuntary shiver passed through his body at the thought of losing his soul. If he was lucky he'd wind up like Ava, Marcus, or even Kratos, but how likely was that? Chosens were human first, and none of them kept their souls.

The image of the swirling caskets under the Final Seal filled his mind along with the way he last saw Colette. Was that to be his and?

A hand rested on his hair, rubbing his head soothingly. "It could take years for it to develop into a Cruxis Crystal Lloyden. Your mother was Kvar's captive for a long time, and she eluded him for almost the same amount of time. It wasn't done then. Each time you used it previously, it further changed. It still hasn't finished changing. It might never change. We don't know the full nature of exspheres or Cruxis Crystals.

"The experiment… it's only an excuse to keep you alive and safe from Yggdrasil's full wrath. You being turned into an angel is not part of the plan."

"You promise?" Lloyd looked up to him, mentally and physically exhausted. Kratos knelt before him, warm sincerity in is steady gaze. It seemed so familiar but he couldn't recall a specific time they talked like this.

"I'm doing everything I can Lloyd. But I can assure you, I will never adhere it to your skin. You have my word."

Relief let the lad's shoulders sag, ignoring the small idea that Kratos was avoiding making a promise he couldn't keep. He promised to not turn him into an angel. That was good enough. He rested his head back in his hands, tired in more than one way. It really was a lot to take in. "Tired?"

"Exhausted."

"Hm. I thought it'd take more time. Finish off that sword and the chainmail. We'll work on this more when you're better adjusted. Just try to stay conscious until after the showers if you don't want to be carried to bed again."

Lloyd bristled, jerking up and awake with a new determination at the notion. The man seemed to smirk as he stepped away, packing things up so they could go. "I can make it on my own."

"Sure you can."

Lloyd ended up leaning heavily against Kratos the entire way back to his cell, nearly passing out in the showers. He would have grumbled more about it, but really, his head and body were just too tired to care anymore. Bed was just too inviting.

A/N:so it ends with kratos teasing his son a little, but who could blame him? really, teenagers can be very sensitive pride wise. as for the exhaustion and endurance building up, think of how long it took for Lloyd to recover. and he no longer has the bonus of his exsphere so his endurance isn't as good as it used to be anyway. He's having to build it back up from near scratch, and military training isn't easy to get used to. I remember how exhausted I was from biking all day back when I first started to and it was hard. The weights added to the training only speed it up and add muscles to him. He's also learning new techniques and will soon be learning the advanced ones from the game plus more of Kratos' tricks.

Now for the whole discussion on angels, exspheres and Cruxis Crystals: you knew part of this was coming one of these days. We still haven't touched on Renegades, where his friends are, if Colette is back to normal yet, or why Kratos specifically wants Lloyd to help save the day. Plus Lloyd has to learn the truth about Mithos and the rest, plus Martel and the chosen system, and the age of 'equality'... this was just the first thing I could think of that he would ask, especially with the progression coming from the food. Anyone figure out why they keep sneaking tomatoes into Lloyd's food? There is a reason, and it's a good one. Anywho, with this I am putting out the theories I have about the angelic transformation and about Cruxis Crystals. After a while they just kept coming out. HOpe they make enough sense!

Until next time, and don't forget I have a poll up!