Hey! I decided on the two updates again since the last one was so short. Just go ahead and read. I don't own Tales of Symphonia, Tales of the Abyss, Final Fantasy VII, Naruto, or Devil May Cry. For those of you who want a list of Lloyd's artes, I'll post them eventually.
Lloyd sighed as he ran his fingers through his hair, it had been a whole year since he fought Sephiroth. He left the ninja village of Mizuho a few months ago to dedicate his time to training. He left after completely helping Sheena form the last two pacts. The wind blew harshly since there was going to be a tornado of sorts soon. Lloyd looked around before jumping on his Rheiard. He headed to the nearest city so he could get some shelter. He landed by Sybak before dismounting the Rheiard and putting it inside his wing pack.
Lloyd outgrew his dwarven clothing so he now wore a black hooded cloak that covered all of his features. Underneath the cloak was a red sleeveless shirt with a fishnet shirt underneath that one. He wore black shorts that resembled his old pants. His red boots were replaced with black ones matching his cloak. He wasn't wearing the hood.
He felt bad, he didn't tell anyone he was leaving, but Lloyd knew that he needed to be faraway from them when he and Dark had their battle. It would decide which of them would live on while the other died out. Lloyd and Dark never spoke anymore, unless it involved the exesphere, Lloyd was getting better at handling it without going all berserk and destroying everything, another reason Lloyd stayed away from his friends. Dark constantly tried convincing him to give in to the power Lloyd used, but Lloyd always had the upper hand in the conversation. Dark realized he was fighting a losing battle so he gave up on convincing Lloyd. Since then, it had been nothing but silence between them. It seemed that Lloyd finally made his choice. When he did, Dark said these words.
"Soon, we will fight, very soon. Then, only one of us will remain," Dark's words whispered in Lloyd's mind. Lloyd knew his battle to overcome his darkness was coming. He waited for it everyday since then. Until then, he continued to train. He couldn't use any of the artes or spells that he used in his twilight form. He merely improved artes he already had, learning more advanced versions of them. His mana didn't raise by a lot either. He seemed to be at a standstill in his abilities. He knew that would all change when he fought Dark. Lloyd sighed again.
He walked into Sybak and saw that the inn was filled out so he walked into the library and decided to relax there until the tornado passed. He looked around and saw that he was the only one there. He walked up to the front counter and didn't see anyone there. Lloyd suddenly felt paranoid. He searched around before looking out the window. He paled. He saw people in the streets, but noone was moving. It was as if time itself had frozen.
"What the hell," Lloyd questioned before his head ached with pain. He kneeled down holding his head.
"The time's almost here..." Lloyd heard the voice of Dark and sighed. He didn't want to drag anyone into his dilemma. He walked back outside. He then saw red and green disfigured creatures appearing everywhere. They had blades for arms and other sick features. Lloyd shook his head before drawing his swords. His head ached once more. "It's coming...The time's almost here," Dark whispered in his mind. Lloyd wondered what Dark meant. The disfigured creatures were inching towards Lloyd. "The time's almost here." Dark's voice echoed in his mind, saying these words over and over again. Lloyd head ached as he slashed through the group of creatures. They brought little to no resistance to being killed as more and more of them were appearing. The voice that once whispered in his mind was getting louder. He felt like he was losing concentration on his enemies and his vision started blurring. Lloyd dropped his blades and grabbed his head. "The time's almost here," Dark now yelled it out causing Lloyd to lose all focus. The disfigured creatures nearly finished him off when a clang of metal was heard. Dark was suddenly very silent. Lloyd looked up to see a man with mid length sliver hair, he wore a red coat that had black sleeves, he wielded a huge sword that was decorated with a skull on the hilt. Lloyd blinked.
"You all right kid? You need to focus on the game," the man said. Lloyd sighed before picking up his swords. He'd ask about him later. He stared at the creatures before going back to slashing them all apart. The man did the same in a much more random and crazed style. Lloyd took the time to see the man's capabilities and was amazed by what he saw. He could easily tell that the man far out powered him. The man used his sword as a propeller and hit an enemy into the air. He then jumped after it and slashed at it rapidly before slamming his blade at it down towards the ground. He then thrust his blade into at speeds which made Lloyd's Sword Rain look slow and then rammed his blade right through the creature. "Breakdown!" Lloyd then looked at the other creatures. They backed away in fear for the man before disappearing. Soon, all the creatures disappeared leaving no traces. The man strapped his sword to his back and sighed.
"That was a pathetic workout. Even those weight loss programs were more work than this," the man muttered which amazed Lloyd.
"Who are you," Lloyd asked him curiously. The man turned to him before grinning.
"Who's asking," the man replied cooly. Lloyd sighed.
"I'm Lloyd," Lloyd answered.
"The name's Dante. Say kid, I noticed a few things. You need to relax when you fight, you're too stiff. Have some fun with it," Dante told him. Lloyd raised an eye.
"What do you mean," Lloyd asked. Dante shook his head.
"You're worse than my brother. Just relax for a change," Dante advised before walking away. Lloyd looked at Dante's back as he walked away. Lloyd had too many questions to ask so he followed the man. He caught up seconds later and heard Dante sigh.
"What were those things," Lloyd asked.
"Devils, they are demons that come directly from hell to put this realm through misery," Dante explained. Lloyd raised an eye.
"So demons really exist," Lloyd asked. Dante laughed.
"You never seen one before huh? Well, I'll give you the get-go," Dante said offhandedly which caused Lloyd to question if this man ever took anything seriously. "These guys are just remains from some pathetic attempt to take over this realm. One of them however, turned traitor on their own and fought to protect this realm. He sealed them away with the help of an angel. Since then, these guys just appear only when another attempt at removing the seal arises. They're pretty stupid, I keep beating their assess straight back to hell where they came from and they keep coming for more," Dante said. Lloyd looked at him incredulously.
"You mean you've stopped them before," Lloyd asked.
"Shoot kid, I've lost count," Dante replied. "These guys were just weaker pawns, there's more powerful ones if you look for them." Lloyd mouthed a 'wow' in response. "Anyway, look kid, I got crap to do so if you could get lost, that would be pretty sweet," Dante said. Lloyd sighed.
"Damn. I had more I wanted to ask him," Lloyd thought. "Okay then, I'll just follow you on my own," Lloyd replied cooly. Dante smirked.
"Stubborn kid, well, whatever. Do what you want," Dante said. Lloyd grinned. They walked for a while without talking through the academy based city before reaching a few buildings that were old and seemingly fell apart at any given moment. Above on of them, was a neon sign that glowed different colors. It read, "Devil May Cry". Lloyd raised an eye.
"What's that," Lloyd asked pointing to it.
"That's the name of my business. I take on any jobs going from baby sitting brats to killing demons," Dante explained before kicking down his door. Lloyd paled.
"Why did you just break down your door," Lloyd asked. Dante shrugged.
"I dunno, I just replace it when I feel like it," Dante answered. Lloyd twitched. He was seriously starting to wonder if Dante took anything seriously as well. Lloyd looked around to see a pool table, multiple boxes of pizza, cups that seemed to be filled with strawberry sundaes, and a dart board. He looked at the desk and saw a note beside a phone. Lloyd learned about phones in Tethe'alla awhile ago. Dante picked up the note and scowled. "Damn, Trish gets all the fun ones," Dante muttered crumpling up the note. Dante took a seat at his desk and closed his eyes. Lloyd looked around some more and wondered if any more demons would show up. "So what do you do for a living kid," Dante asked. Lloyd was usually offended when someone referred to him as a child but with Dante, he didn't seem to care.
"Train. Fight random monsters...more training," Lloyd replied while listening to himself. Now he thought about it, his life was pretty boring.
"Wow, sounds boring if you ask me. You preparing for something," Dante asked. Lloyd thought about it.
"I guess you could say so," Lloyd replied.
"I'm just wondering why kids like yourself are just wondering around with weapons. You know how to use them too," Dante said offhandedly. "Anyway, I'm getting bored, wanna get some strawberry sundaes," Dante asked. Lloyd shrugged.
"Sure," Lloyd said. Then, the phone ringed. Dante hit the desk with his leg and the phone flew into his right hand.
"Devil May Cry...I see. Well, I guess I'll be there in a minute...Whatever man, do what you want," Dante said hanging up the phone. "That was a friend of mine, he got a call from some dude about demons and called me to help out. I better get going," Dante said standing up. He walked out the door with Lloyd following behind him. Lloyd turned to the door, or the lack of one, and raised an eye.
"Aren't you afraid someone will steal something," Lloyd asked curiously. Dante shook his head.
"Nah, there's nothing cool to steal, plus, nobody has the balls to do it," Dante remarked causing Lloyd to shake his head. Dante's carelessness was now getting to the point were it was just ridiculous. Lloyd just followed Dante wondering how long it was going to take. Dante found a motorcycle and jumped on it. He waved to Lloyd before driving off. Lloyd sighed before jumping on his Rheiard and following after him. Dante grinned. "What took you so long kid," Dante asked, laying down on his motorcycle steering with his legs. Lloyd sighed.
"Nothing, just pulling this damn thing out of the wing pack," Lloyd replied. Dante shook his head.
"Those things are too troublesome, so I don't bother," Dante said looking at the Tethe'alla Bridge. They crossed it when they heard a tornado start to form behind them. Lloyd looked back to Sybak and sighed. They reached Meltokio and jumped off their vehicles. Lloyd put his in the wing pack and looked around. Time seemed to be frozen again, just like it was in Sybak. Demons were running amok. Dante smirked.
"You know, most people aren't able to see this kind of thing. You must of been around some dark influence," Dante commented. "You'd be one of those people frozen there, well, let's get this over with, I have someone to chat with," Dante said unstrapping his sword, Rebellion. Lloyd unsheathed his swords and they both started hacking through the demons. Lloyd ran through them at a rapid rate. He slashed three that tried to surround him. He stood still and closed his eyes, taking deep breaths. He decided to take Dante's advice and relax. A grin plastered itself on his face and he loosened his grip on his swords.
"Okay then. Let's have some fun," Lloyd said as a demon lunged at him. He simply sidestepped it and jumped on top of it, he was surprised how well it slid along the ground. He ran it into a wall before running up it. He then threw one of his swords at a random demon before jumping off, landing on top of it. He then removed his sword as well as it's head before jumping off. Then copying Dante from earlier, he spun his sword like a propeller hitting multiple demons into the air. He then jumped up after them and slashed them all to ribbons. Feeling very satisfied, he landed on the ground, feeling the adrenaline pumping through him. Lloyd turned to look at the remaining demons who, like with Dante, disappeared in fear for their lives. Lloyd grinned. "Yeah! That was awesome," Lloyd exclaimed as he sheathed his swords. He heard clapping from Dante.
"See kid? You're pretty good after all. I'd even go as far to say that I underestimated you," Dante said cooly. Lloyd grinned.
"Damn right you did," Lloyd exclaimed. He couldn't remember the last time he actually had fun when he was fighting. Lloyd grinned as he followed Dante up the steps, taking out every demon that crossed their path. He eventually reach the top and saw another man with silver hair, this one wore a blue coat and had a strange black arm that radiated blue aura. It wasn't a normal human's hand, that was for sure. This guy wielded a sword that had a hilt comparable to a handle of a motorbike. This guy was really good, no doubts there. He took out all the demons with ease. Lloyd noticed the occasional fist he threw at them with his weird arm. The man finished them all off and looked at the two.
"What took you so long," the guy said, he eyed Lloyd weirdly. "Who's this guy?"
"Oh just some friend of mine," Dante replied offhandedly looking at the sight of demons that faded away. Time seemed to continue like normal and people once again wondered the streets. The other man grinned lightly.
"Well I'm Nero," the man introduced himself.
"I'm Lloyd," Lloyd replied grinning as well. Lloyd had to admit, he met an interesting group of people today. Dante sighed before tossing Lloyd a card. Lloyd caught it and it had the sign from the building Dante stayed at earlier and a phone number.
"That's my card. Anytime you need help, just give me a call. Nero, next time I come by...I want a strawberry sundae," Dante stated cooly before walking off again. Lloyd didn't bother following this time. Nero gave a light chuckle.
"No goodbye huh? Arrogant bastard," Nero stated. Lloyd decided to not ask about the weird arm. "Anyway, I need to head back to the church and see how Kyrie's doing. Later Lloyd," Nero said walking off in the opposite direction. Lloyd looked at his back and shrugged. He had a feeling he'd be seeing them again, more importantly, he needed a phone.
"Devil May Cry...Catchy name," Lloyd thought as he looked up into the cloudy sky, rays of the sun started to shine through and fill the darkened land with light.
"The time's almost here," Dark said in his mind. Lloyd shook his head, he would have to deal with that problem, and soon.
That's the end of this one. Yep, I went through with the first time-skip. I thought that this would be a good time to introduce Dante and Nero in this one. The last one I'll admit was pretty short. Well, I hope you enjoyed it!