Sealed Fates

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A/N: Aah, chapter ten... wait—Aah? What's so Aah about this? If everything works out right, then this is like the first chapter of the rising climax where everything starts going completely haywire! There's no Aah in that! If anything, it should be 'Aah! TEH CHAPTER 10!' ...I think... Darn it, I never shoulda lost those blue prints...

...Okay then, story time... Oo;

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The trio walked through the fields in silence. Noishe behind Kratos and the brown dog behind them all. Hold up, this wasn't right, the brown dog figured, trotting ahead of the protozoan to the side of the mercenary. There, much better.

Kratos seemed only the slightest bit perturbed with the dog's movement. He was no animal, but still what shards of primitive instinct his race had retained seemed enraged at the thought that this dog considered itself equal with him. Needless to say, he did not succumb to such primal impulses.

Besides, on the other hand (the one with a working intellect), having the dog at his side felt familiar, in the pleasant way. Noishe had not objected to this either, so all was well.

...Why on earth was he thinking about this? He had much more important matters to think about...

Kratos gazed up at the path ahead. The sun was beginning it's descent in the western sky, and before long dusk would arrive. As anxious as he was to get to the bottom of these bizarre happenings, he decided heading back to Meltokio would be the best choice for now.

Of course, the best choice was never the easiest to go through with: a lesson he soon found to be true as he was confronted with a monstrosity he could only describe as a gigantic platypus with the wings of a dragon. In any other instance, he would've attempted to pass by the beast without any trouble. But when he noticed the 'skin' covering the creature was of the same substance that burned into Lloyd's skin, Kratos knew he had to defeat it.

Needless to say, at the first whiff of the peculiar animal Noishe had bolted out of sight. Strangely, the brown dog did not move.

Kratos thought nothing of it as he silently withdrew his sword and cautiously approached the monster—which was blissfully unaware of his presence as it tromped about the land. It nibbled experimentally on the leaves of a bush before vehemently spitting it out and covering the bush in a liquid crimson akin to its hide. The creature—though grossly oversized—was still very young, that much was obvious.

He had managed to come within striking distance, and still he was not sensed. He lowered his sword only slightly, surprised at the lack of awareness displayed by the platypus-like being, but decided not to look a gift horse in the mouth and take the moment to study the creature as best he could.

As he had previously noted, the thing did seem to have the same substance covering its entire body that Lloyd had etched on his; also that it was young and inexperienced. With his better position, he could now tell that its skin—or rather, something under its skin—was crawling and squirming throughout its entire being, begging the question, is it the same with Lloyd?

Suddenly, the creature became aware of the seraph's presence and lashed out at him, yowling its blemished battle cry. But of course, Kratos remained unfazed as he leapt backward and then forward to strike. As his sword tore through the flesh of the beast, however, it began dissolve as the substance slowly ate away at the cool metal of his blade while the creature remained seemingly unharmed.

He bit back a curse as he narrowly dodged a furious swipe of the creature's massive claws, tossing his now useless stub of a sword aside. While he carried a dagger with him, he was no fool. As he recalled, 'insanity is trying the same thing over and over again and expecting different results'.

Thinking fast, he withdrew his wings, taking to the air as he prepared an Eruption spell just beneath his foe. It looked up at him and flapped its disproportionate wings in hopes of reaching its attacker in time to disrupt the hex.

It would have, had Kratos not equipped a 'Speed Cast' gem to his exsphere. "Eruption!"

The earth below the monster cracked and fizzled loudly, molten rock bubbling out from the splits in the planet before the lava could be enclosed within the earth no more. With a thunderous clap, lava shot forth at the creature as the ground sundered and parted, further strengthening the current.

It was to no avail. Though covered in the otherwise scalding liquid, it shook itself free of the magma and reared itself to attack yet again.

Admittedly, Kratos couldn't believe what the creature withstood with such ease, and was ill-prepared to defend himself as it swung its claw through the air, hitting him straight on and slamming him into the soil.

As his years of training had taught him, he rose to his feet swiftly—too swiftly. The blow, while obviously detrimental to his physical being, seemed to drain him of his spirit as well; he couldn't focus, his head pounding and his legs unstable beneath him, he fell back down with only enough sense to raise his shield above his face.

He couldn't see. He couldn't think. Even the softest of sounds sent his mind into a chasm of unending agony while every blade of grass underneath him sliced mercilessly at his skin. It reminded him of his first days as an angel adjusting to his new breadth of abilities. Such only worsened his pain.

As if to voice Kratos' anguish, the platypus-akin shrieked with misery repeatedly, each cry growing more ghastly and ethereal until finally, all was silent.

Once he regained his bearings, he instinctively looked about for the creature, or the remains thereof. He frowned. Everything was as it was with not a single thing out of place. It was as if the monster had simply disappeared without a trace, and that only happens when a defeat occurs.

But who could've dealt defeat to such a beast? Though most skillful without a doubt, it couldn't have been himself, for he had been temporarily—but completely—incapacitated at the time. It couldn't have been Noishe, he'd not been brave enough for action ever since their run-in with Kvar sixteen or so years ago.

Then who—or what?

Still Kratos looked about the area for an answer. He was not ungrateful for the aid—whether meant to be helpful or not—but he needed to know what exactly had defeated the creature, and how he could harness it for their own use.

All the while, Noishe and the other dog watched in speculation as his investigation came up fruitless time and time again. It was almost as if they found this… entertaining.

At long last, he gave up on his search and muttered a bothered, "Let's go," to the dogs awaiting his command.

It is not unusual for men to have their pride hide them from the truth, and took pride in the fact that they could find an answer to a question first, no one knew that better than the brown dog. But now, the brown dog could keep it a secret no longer.

"…Haven't you figured it out yet, Mr. Kratos Aurion? 'Only those of like mana can lay waste to one another.' Weird, huh? Buut I guess you learn a few things by being dead for a couple'a years."