There have been two versions of this chapter, the better, plottier one, the one you're about to read, is obviously the one that I've chosen to post.
Anyway… Within, you shall find EmilxRichter hinting, Lloyd and Kratos bonding, answers to several questions regarding OOCness, old friends, new locations, spying, abandonment, and CHARACTER BUILDING. Fear it.
Oh, btw, CommodoreZelda13 has just posted her second fic, Bitter Thoughts, which is actually quite amazing if you like major Lloyd angst. Read and Review and I shall get a cookie for good advertising.
Disclaimer: Should I own Tales of Symphonia, Odin and Loki would be in the coliseum.
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Somehow, and Kratos was not yet sure just how this "somehow" had taken place, Emil, Marta, Kratos, Raine, Genis, Sophie, Tenebrae, Nero, Eon, Valkie, Lissy, Isho, and Lithos were back at Hokonisia peak. This being the third time in the past several months that Kratos had found himself here, he was rather sick of it.
Emil and Marta seemed to share his lack of enthusiasm, the monsters had all been sent off to play as Raine and Genis went in to talk to Koton, the reason for their being there being that Raine had heard about some amazingly rare item being held by the stingy pedophile and her wanting to obtain it, and Kratos, Emil, and Marta had been left to their own ends.
They not having any ends to attend to, it more or less left them entirely bored.
Emil had left to amuse himself several minutes ago, and Kratos had again taken up his neglected book on the Journey of Regeneration. Marta was sketching absently in the corner of the small inn room that Kratos and Emil shared. She having come in to attempt to relieve her boredom with company.
Kratos, who was every-so-often chuckling at his text, seemed to be irritating her. She and Emil had never understood that all that they took for the facts of the Regeneration Journey were hideously morphed from the original.
Marta opened her mouth, apparently about to relieve her boredom by pestering her guardian, when Emil burst into the room looking irritated.
"Are Raine and Genis back yet?" he demanded.
Kratos shrugged and Marta shook her head.
"Nope, they-."
Then, again, the door burst open and Raine and Genis entered.
"Oh, good you're here!" Emil seemed extremely relieved. "Let's go to Asgard, I want to see how they're recovering."
……………….
Kratos' hometown seemed to be recovering from its traumatizing windstorms, however, they were immediately ambushed by an over-excited, obviously acting, Mayor of Asgard. The grey-haired man was avidly insisting that Marta and Raine perform on the Stone Dias to increase the tourism at Asgard's grand reopening.
Normally, Kratos would not have found this particularly strange, however, when the Mayor and Emil exchanged a whispered conversation and Emil set off for the inn, Kratos felt suspicions rising.
Tenebrae went with Emil, and Genis followed Raine, Marta, and the Mayor, leaving Kratos on his own again. This was the first time that Kratos had been entirely on his own in weeks.
He felt the relaxation of the quiet settle around him for a moment, and was almost tempted to let Emil's suspicious activities slide, until, that is, a hissed voice beckoned from the shadows.
Kratos felt the eyes boring into his back before he heard the voice. He spun around, hand on the hilt of his sword, when the familiar form of Lloyd stepped from the shadows.
"Calm down, Dad, it's just me." A small smirk graced Lloyd's face.
Kratos did not relax. "Lloyden, what are you doing here?"
"I wanted to talk to you. That Richter dude's here. Did ya' know? I think Emil's going to see him. Don't know what they're doing, but I thought you might want to know."
Kratos relaxed his grip on his sword and sighed at Lloyd. "Lloyd, how do you expect me to trust you when you act as you did in the Temple?"
"Huh," Lloyd seemed genuinely fascinated by whatever thought had entered his head. "I never would have thought that our places would be reversed. You being on the "good guy's" side, and me the traitor."
"Lloyden, I do not believe you are a traitor, however, as of right now, I do not know what you are doing. I rarely trust anyone, so this should-."
"-Come as no surprise, I know. What if I apologize and explain a little bit, will you follow Emil and Richter with me? A little father-son spying? I bet you could teach me a ton more that Yuan, he kinda sucks at the whole sneaking thing."
Kratos could not help but be amused by what Lloyd was saying, it was, in fact, true that Yuan had never been a subtle person. The sneaking and spy-work had always been left to the Seraph who did not open his mouth as much.
"What kind of father would I be if I did not give you another chance?"
Lloyd smiled at the rhetorical question.
………………
"So, Yuan and I had a bet going that I couldn't shake you guys off in under five minutes, and I totally kicked his ass!" Lloyd smiled the usual Lloydish, idiotic smile. "That, and what with Raine and Genis being two of my oldest friends, I know them, and they know me, well enough to be able to tell that I'm lying though me teeth half the time. I had to totally throw you guys off. And I got the Core, so it's all good."
"What do you need the Core for, anyway, Lloyden?"
Kratos followed Lloyd though the side streets after Richter and Emil, the group of four, which included Tenebrae and Aqua, seemed to be heading to Aisha's house.
"I'm not supposed to say, technically, but I'll let you in on the secret, Martel told me to. You know about the kid being Ratatosk, right?" Lloyd waited until Kratos nodded before continuing, "Well, it turns out that Ratatosk kinda' went insane when he woke up. Three guesses who's fault that is."
Kratos flinched, so Ratatosk, as well, had lost his faith in the people because of Mithos, Yuan and he.
"Yeah, well, we need to stop Ratatosk from coming to full power before we can intervene. So I'm grabbing as many Cores as I can before Marta can hatch them. Once we talk to Ratatosk and get him to not destroy the human race, then he can do whatever he wants with the Centurions."
Everything that Lloyd said made sense, the only thing that did not was why Lloyd was not letting his friends in on what was happening. He voiced his inquiry.
"Oh, well, see, if Ratatosk learns the name of the tree he can take over it. If he gets full control of the mana, Martel will die and then the tree will wither again. And if any of the others touched a Core they'd lose their minds. You and I can touch them because we have protection. You from Ratatosk and me from Martel."
"Should I be concerned about how conniving you have become, Lloyd, here I thought you were such a pure child."
"You corrupted that a long time ago." Though Lloyd jested, Kratos felt a lump rise in his throat. The teenager did not seem to notice his father's discomfort. "They're here, can you hear what they're saying?"
"-need to find a way to the Balacruf Mausoleum." That was Richter's voice.
"Well, the actual structure was destroyed when that Giant Tree attacked the World. I'm not sure of another entrance…" Linear sighed quietly, "I'm sorry I can't help you."
"Wait, Colette said that the ruins under the Stone Dias looked a lot like the Balacruf place, do you think that there'd be a way through from under there?" Emil seemed to have the right idea, because Linear pondered the statement for a long moment before responding.
"I suppose that is possible, the Balacruf people liked to make everything maze-like and intertwining. And before the ancient war they would have had the technology to do something like that. Pads for mana breakdown and rebuilding, etc. It would be worth a look around if you were desperate."
"Fine, thank you for your help. Emil, let's go."
"Yeah, bye guys!" Kratos could picture little naïve Emil waving sweetly to Linear and Aisha as he followed the Vanguard bastard.
"Wait, Emil, about that guy, he's…" Harley's voice joined with the other three that they had heard. The man's voice brought back memories of the Stone Dias and a bomb meant to destroy it and save Aisha, and the two boys that had been dumb enough to attempt it.
Lloyd seemed to be thinking the same that Kratos was. This city held so many memories.
"Emil that's guy's a… oh, never mind," Harley finished lamely. "Be careful kid."
"Uh, okay, thanks!"
As soon as the door closed, Harley whispered, "That guy's a half-elf."
So, Harley felt it too.
"Dad," murmured Lloyd, "Did you know he was a half-elf?"
"Yes." Kratos had known for some time. "Finding the mana signatures of half-elves has become second nature after all these years."
"O-oh, right…" Lloyd rubbed the back of his neck, thinking he had brought up a sore spot with this father. "'Cause you're… right, yeah, shutting up now."
Kratos said nothing, but watched Lloyd's display with an air of amusement; how in the world could Lloyd have forgotten everything for even a second…? Sometimes it was sad, and sometimes it was one of the things that made Lloyd, Lloyd. Kratos was Dad to Lloyd, not the "traitor", not the "Seraph", not even "Kratos Aurion", he was Dad, and that was much more then Kratos could have ever asked for.
When Lloyd noticed his father's reaction, he immediately got defensive. "H-hey, what's so funny?! I apologized!"
"Lloyden… do not concern yourself; it was just a minor amusement."
"What the hell's that supposed to mean! I thought you weren't going to be cryptic anymore!"
"Now the only question remains, is if you understood what I said, I did use some rather long terminology."
"Term-ology?"
For some reason, Kratos found this infinitely funny.
………………
Emil, Richter, Aqua, all of Emil's monsters, and Tenebrae all stood on the Stone Dias, waiting for Tenebrae and Aqua to stop squabbling like an old married couple, and open the entrance to the Dias. Apparently, someone pointed out the simile, because both Centurions seemed to cry out a denial at the same moment and finally shut their mouths to do their job.
The wide, glittering portal opened, and first Richter, then Emil, followed by the monsters and Centurions entered. The warp stayed open.
"Let's go!" Lloyd began to take off from behind the pillar that they were hidden behind.
"Lloyden, would it not be in our best interest to wait until they have distanced themselves from the warp? It is far too easy to blow one's cover when one is not thinking."
"Right. Got it, taking lessons from Dad. Hey, it's just like the old days! When we were back on the Journey through Sylvarant. Back when things were less complicated."
"Indeed," Kratos sighed. "I feel as though it is my mistake; taking away the simplicity in your life…"
"Don't you dare think about beating yourself up over that; it would have happened eventually, at least it was you and not someone else, right?"
"Is that what you think?" Kratos stood to move toward the warp, not wanting their targets to get too far. "Lloyden, you truly are too idealistic."
"Whatever you say Dad."
When they arrived in the passage under the Stone Dias, both men automatically moved to the side of the passage, however, there was no need for their precaution for the long tunnel was void of life.
"Which way did they…?" Lloyd's open-ended question was answered with the grinding sound of stone on stone. The underground structure seemed to shake with the force of whatever it was that had just happened.
"Richter!" Kratos could hear Emil's high voice echoing in the tomb's passages. "I think it worked, you're so smart!"
"Humph, let's just go."
"He's such a chatterbox," muttered Lloyd darkly, "I don't think I like this guy too much."
"Agreed."
Kratos lead the way into a side passage because, though it was a straight shot down the passage that Lloyd and himself occupied at present, Emil and Richter would be entering it soon enough, and the last think Kratos wanted was to be caught spying so soon in the game.
"Come Lloyd."
"Right, coming!" When they were safely tucked away in one of the hundreds of side-passages that made up the body of the ruin, Lloyd voiced a question that had been on his mind for some time; "So, Dad, you remember when I was a Chimera… thingy?" he was hesitant to ask his father, "Do… Do you know how that happened?"
This was a question that Lloyd had been wondering since he had woken up in as a new being some months ago. Kratos had been hoping that Lloyd had the answer to the question as he, himself, had been unsuccessful in acquiring the answer.
"Unfortunately, no, I was rather hoping that you, with your furthered contacts, would have the answer."
"Oh, damn, no I got nothing, even with Yuan… and I haven't actually talked to Goddess Martel for awhile, so…"
"I see. Let's go." Without further ado, Kratos slipped from their hiding place and sprinted down the passage toward the newly formed doors and the far end of the passage. Lloyd was hot on his heels. They hit the warp at full-speed. The process of being transferred halfway across a continent did not stop their momentum, and both angels reentered the world in a flurry of light and color as they barreled out of the hidden warp and Lloyd hit the ground with an ungraceful splat, while his father landed cat-like on the soft, green grass.
As Lloyd stood, he proclaimed dizzily, "Remind me to never-ever-ever do that again."
"Odd, I thought you would enjoy the thrill, Yuan and I used to have races around Derris Kharlan flying, running, and warp-jumping."
"Back before the Martel thing?"
"Actually, she would yell at us because Mithos would try to follow us and usually ended up with something broken."
"That sounds absolutely brilliant!"
Kratos smirked, and then looked around again. He had been scoping the area for potential threats though their conversation, however, taking a second… or third look around could not hurt.
They were, as Emil and Richter had wished, at the Balacruf Mausoleum. The destroyed remains of it, anyway. The door, with the key they had obtained from the Wind Master was crushed under several tons of fallen rock, and half of the original entrance had caved in. They were standing in a part of the wreckage looking around at the fallen ruins.
A small, but sprawling, plane reached between their location and a broken wall that Emil and Richter had, obviously, gone. Why obviously? Because the hole had been made by a recent fire spell, so recent, in fact, the edges were still smoking.
Richter, Kratos had a very strong feeling, was never, was not, and would never be, as subtle person.
"I think they went that way." Lloyd pointed to where Kratos was looking. The angel eyed his son skeptically.
"What gives you that idea?"
"W-well, there's freaking smoke coming from it and… You're being sarcastic again, aren't you?"
"Come, Lloyden, we don't want to lose them."
"Cryptic, sarcastic, and avoiding questions; it's like we really are back in Sylvarant for the first time…"
Kratos pretended not to hear his son as he progressed toward the smoking hole. Lloyd raced after his father, noticing that he was halfway there before Lloyd had finished his sentence.
The Balacruf Mausoleum was, eerily, as they had left it when last there. The ancient script scrawled along the walls and floor telling age-old stories. The traps that had nearly caught Lloyd and the others of the Regeneration Group still silently struck from the walls, ceiling, and floor. The hole had been blasted straight into the inner sanctum of the tomb. The Giant Tree had not touched this area, and it was still pristine.
With the exception of the large, smoking hole in the wall behind them.
"Rata- er… Emil didn't make that hole, did he?" Lloyd whispered the question.
"No, that would have been Richter."
"Okay, good, because I'm gonna' have to kick his ass for destroying the priceless ruins. Or at least for Raine's sake."
"Just out of a morbid curiosity, when did…?" Kratos, unwilling to say what he was actually thinking for fear of it not being able to actually come out of his mouth.
"We traveled together for a while. That's pretty much it; I knew I liked her. She realized that I did. It just happened."
Kratos sighed, but kept walking to avoid glaring at anything for too long, lest it, as Yuan always put it, "burst into flames".
"Oh, come on, Dad, you may be my father, but I'm technically nineteen! That counts as an adult."
"Hush."
"No, Dad, you have to-!"
"Hush, I can hear them, and our voices echo in here."
Lloyd shut up, now he could hear their voices as well.
"Where do you think it is?"
"I don't know. Probably further in, I'm only an expert in Tethe'allen temples, however, common sense dictates we go further in if we want the treasure."
"What is this "treasure" again?"
"The Balacruf Tombstone."
"What's that?" Lloyd mouthed.
"A rare stone that Cleo III is buried under," Kratos' whisper was almost unheard.
"And why do you need it?" Emil asked the question that was on both angels' minds.
"I told you Emil, I have to trade it to Koton for the Spiritual Tome."
So that was why he was there; he was trying to trade with Koton. Kratos wished him luck.
"The Spiritual Tome?"
"It is similar to the Book of Spiritua. It holds an account, a vague account, of Cruxis crystals. Nothing that is not known to the Sybak Research Academy. We were very careful about what we actually allowed to be passed around as artifacts after the Spriritua journey. We had to make sure that there were no accounts of Yuan or myself. Most of the detailed descriptions are being held in the Cruxis archives."
"But why would Richter want it?"
"That is a good question. He is supposed to be with the Vanguard, trying to take Ratatosk's Core from Marta."
"Hey, Richter, can we take a break, I'm tired."
There was a sigh, "Emil, I would really like to get back today."
"It won't take too long! Please, the monsters are getting tired!"
There was a long pause as Richter supposedly debated with himself, finally, his merciful side won out.
"Fine, a few minutes."
"Dad, let's see if we can't get closer."
Kratos glanced over at his son. Lloyd already had his wings out; the large, bird-like appendages were… not there. They had been replaced with sky-blue Seraph wings.
"How…?"
"Oh, I found out I can change the way wings look if I concentrate really, really hard. I guess it's part of the appearance and growth-changing thing."
It made sense, Kratos had just always been… rather affectionate of his wings and never found a reason to change them.
Lloyd continued, "I figured my normal wings wouldn't be very useful in here, they're too big."
"Logical."
And the two angels took off.
There were platforms that jutted from the walls and overlooked the lower floors. They had been used to hold decorative pottery or other rare treasures that had been looted centuries beforehand. There was more than enough room for both men to land and look down on the pair below.
What Kratos saw truly made him debate Emil's preferences.
The blond Knight was leaned up against Richter, his head resting on the older man's shoulders. They were watching the monsters sleep or wander the area. Richter was unmoving, though Kratos recognized the posture of one who was looking for dangers.
Lloyd made soft gagging sounds. "Gods, it's like seeing Genis and Mithos together!"
Kratos, who had never seen the two boys together while they were on good terms, did not appreciate the mental image.
"Emil, do you feel like you are being watched?" Richter asked, eyeing their surroundings.
"Uh… no?"
"Humph."
"S-sorry. Am I being stupid again?"
"Don't apologize! And no, I must simply be too paranoid."
"I'll say…" muttered Lloyd.
When Kratos eyed his son, Lloyd rolled his eyes.
"What? We're doing a good job spying!"
………………
With Lloyd and Kratos now tailing them closely, Emil and Richter made their way deeper into the temple. Breaking the puzzles that had, somehow, reset since the Chosen's group had broken them two years ago. When they reached the room that opened to the Seal of Wind, instead of taking the door to the roof, Richter examined the blue windmill and, after a moment, it glowed and began to sink into the floor.
Richter grabbed Emil and the two males sunk into the floor below.
"Damn, I didn't even know that was there!" Lloyd was in shock.
Kratos shrugged. "It was not of any importance. That way leads into the inner tomb, useless unless you are a grave-robber."
"Yeah, but Raine would have loved it!"
"You want to offer her something to "Ruin Mode" over?"
"Point taken," Lloyd grumbled resentfully.
The angels crouched over the hold that had been left by the elevator. They looked down into the tomb.
It was enormous; it must have sprawled under the entire structure. In addition, the ceiling was hundreds of feet above the stone floor. It was dizzying. From where they were, Kratos and Lloyd could see Emil and Richter moving around, searching for their prize.
"H-hey, Richter, is this it?" Emil called
"It… Emil, don't touch that!"
Kratos fought his instinct to jump down and protect the Ratatosk spirit, however, Richter beat him to it. The half-elf jumped in front of Emil and slammed his blade into the approaching bird monster. Emil's eyes glittered red as his sword met the next on-coming monster.
"Watch it!"
"That's what I should be telling you."
The two seemed to have it covered.
The way back was uneventful. Lloyd and Kratos spoke little as they followed Emil and Richter back though the ruins, to the Stone Dias where Richter and Aqua parted ways, leaving Emil, Tenebrae, and the monsters standing on the Stone Dias.
"Emil," the Centurion spoke, "I would not mention a word of this to the others."
"I… yeah, Richter is with the Vanguard and… yeah."
"Correct."
………………
Emil and Richter's parting was not quite so difficult as Lloyd and Kratos'. As he had to return to the group, who would have noticed his absence by now, Kratos gave his son a half-smile as he prepared to leave. Lloyd was not so refined.
"Bye Dad, be careful." Lloyd threw his arms around the elder man's neck. Kratos, surprise written on his face, braced his son's weight and, though hesitantly, wrapped his arms around Lloyd.
"Don't die Lloyd."
"Hasn't happened yet!" And Lloyd was gone.
……………….
"Kratos, where were you?!" cried Marta, "We've been looking everywhere for you."
Though she was trying to look angry, Marta was obviously in a good mood.
"I apologize. I became caught up in some business and did not realize the time."
"It's alright." Emil, who had his arm, shockingly, around Marta's shoulders, smiled at Kratos. "I was busy too."
"Yeah, and you left Raine, Genis, and I to plan Asgard's grand reopening!"
"Well, at least you were able to help." Emil's smile seemed to brighten. "Now, if we can just get the rest of the Cores, we can stop more places from suffering like Asgard! And then I can revenge my parents."
The Knight's eyes darkened and flashed to red. Kratos felt unease rise in this throat; what was this Summon Spirit-turned-boy and why did he have a growing sense of unease?
All questions would be answered in time.
He just hoped it would not be too late.
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I love father/son fluff. It's the best kind out there.
No, I do not plan on making Emil/Richter into a real pairing, I just swear the two of them are gay together half the time.
Sorry, I've been majorly late. What with homecoming/homework/other random shit. So I haven't had a ton of time.
R&R
~Yoshi