Chapter 2
Pain
Thankfully, Mithos was not in that room. The seed containing the body of Martel, his former beloved, was something Yuan hated to lay his eyes on. Thus, he avoided that room like the plague. It just brought upon memories and emotions, both of which he rather just shut out.
The throne room was barren, cold. It mirrored the whole of Derris-Kharlan to a T. Mithos sat there, seemingly in thought, his head slightly tilted as it rested on his hand. It was quiet. This place had no wind, no animals, nothing to make sounds, the break a silence.
Yuan cleared his throat as he stepped closer, but still keeping his distance. Mithos his distant gaze grew aware, green-blue eyes fixing on his former mentor.
"Have you found him?"
"Yes, we have brought Kratos to his quarters. For now, he is out cold."
"Very well. Then I want you to watch him until he comes around."
"Me?" Yuan couldn't help being taken aback. "Why do I have to..."
"Because he will not talk to any of these dolls, Yuan." Mithos said the word dolls with spite. "The angels are of no use. He will not open up to them. But he may to an old friend."
Friend. Hah, now that was rich. Maybe once, a long time ago. Back when they tried to outdo each other, tease each other. But always having each other's backs. With Martel's...passing, things changed though.
They all coped with it differently, mainly focusing on an absolutely brokenhearted child. Looking at Mithos now, Yuan was having trouble remembering he was this vulnerable child that went through so much heart ache. Fought so hard to make the world a better place.
It was not without sacrifice. Even to this day, a lot of lives were being put on the line, for one ideal. For that one wish Martel had, so long ago. But Mithos twisted it, put his own spin on it, and was going down a path Yuan feared to follow.
Such actions, could ultimately only result in one thing. One outcome. And it will not be a good one. He told Mithos this much, his hunches, his thoughts on this whole Chosen ordeal. It was futile. It was like talking to a brick wall. A very stubborn one.
Yuan made his own plans then. He could not trust anyone within Cruxis, that much was clear. So, he had set up a new organization of his own. One that would work in the dark, in the shadows of the Desians, to get the intel he couldn't get from Mithos himself and to stop this stupid Chosen plan.
The Renegades were successful, to his satisfaction. And if they should fail, there were always those from the opposing world that would not want the Chosen be succeed.
For years, Sylverant has been declining, slowly dying. Yuan was actually fine with it. Sure, this used to be different. He used to work hard to find a way out. But his words and actions bore no seeds.
He should have been the one more heartbroken over Martel's death. She was his love, after all! But it hit them all hard. And Yuan felt he had to fill the void, fill the Martel shaped hole that was left behind. He tried to, with pain in his heart. He tried so hard, but it hurt. It hurt so much.
"Yuan, I asked you a question."
The voice of Mithos rang through Yuan's reminiscing. The tone was inpatient and annoyed, while his face stayed the same; emotionless.
"My apologies." The blue haired half-elf bowed his head. "Could you repeat that?"
"Is the project dead?"
Project? Oh, he meant Anna. Right, she was a project after all. One of Kvar's, but under the direct supervision of Mithos himself. A rare specimen, as they called her, able to withstand the special exsphere, that supposed to turn into a Cruxis Cristal.
And Kratos just happened to fall in love with her. Oh, the irony of life.
"The woman died. He killed her himself. But the project is not lost."
Yuan retrieved the gem out of his pocket. The small orb had a cool, blue color, glowing faintly.
This made Mithos rise from his throne and hover closer, his colorful wings ever so slightly fluttering. He took the gem from Yuan and examined it up close.
"Hm, what a shame. It is not complete yet. Such a waste of effort." Back to the drawing board. Maybe they will be lucky to find another body who could take the gems power.
"We have the boy as well." Yuan stated, matter-of-factly.
Mithos tilted his head, looking at the blue hair curiously. "Why?"
"Your orders were to bring them back. I figured you maybe want to use the child to get to Kratos." So cold and heartless. Yuan couldn't care less.
A smile, faint and ruthless, came across Mithos' features. "Where is he now?"
"In a cell."
"Very good. Allowing father and son together would defeat the purpose."
The Cruxis leader nodded in satisfaction. The gem was still in his hand.
"I will keep this close for the time being. You go and watch over Kratos. I am going to pay this child a visit."
"Very well." Yuan just bowed his head, knowing it was useless to struggle against Mithos his words.
All the rooms in Derris-Kharlan looked the same. There weren't that many to begin with, because angels didn't really need to sleep, or food. Mostly they just flew around, doing minor tasks.
Yuan payed them no mind, even when they stopped and bowed for him. No one else here knew him well enough to recognize the annoyance in his eyes. Mithos did it just to upset him, or to keep him busy. Maybe a bit of both.
Kratos his room did have a bed, and a desk with papers and books all piled up. No one bothered to clean the mess up. The man himself was placed upon the perfectly made bed (that was a Kratos thing, he always did that, even if he rarely used the bed), his sword was set in the farthest corner.
At least the angel cleaned off all the blood. The sword as well as Kratos were clean. Well, blood always is hard to get off, so traces were still left behind.
With a sigh, Yuan grabbed the chair at the desk and set it apposite of the bed against the wall. He set down, then got up again and took one of the books. He might as well read something while he waited. Even if it was something boring like the origin of mana.
The cell was completely empty, aside
Lloyd felt utterly alone and lost. Here he was, in an unknown, cold place. The strange people he had seen gave him no notice, flying straight by.
He would have felt wonder, for these people that had the ability to fly. But all the boy felt was sadness. Like his heart had broken into a thousand pieces. The hurt certainly made it feel like it did.
Images kept flashing through his mind. Like a broken record, it played over and over again. How his mother changed into this...thing. How his father stabbed her with his sword. All the blood, spilling on the ground.
Momma, he just wanted his momma. He wanted her comforting hug telling him is was all just a bad dream.
In the corner of his eye, misted over by tears, Lloyd spotted a blurry figure. Wiping his eyes, he looked toward the glass that closed off the cell.
A man stood there, tall and slender, with pale but fair features. Dressed in white, with long blond hair, a strand of it going in front of his face. But those eyes...
The green-blue eyes showed nothing. Merciless, they invoked fear, for one's life. When the glass moved aside and the man walked inside, Lloyd tried to make himself even smaller, as if he could hide like that.
Looking down on this child, curled up in a ball, shivering, just made Mithos grin. He loved it when he struck fear into people. No matter what age.
"Your name," he demanded.
Brown, tear stained eyes looked up. Though they seemed to have a bit of a red tinge in them, and that was not because of the tears. Curious.
"W-what?" his voice managed to squeak.
"What is your name, boy?" Mithos did not like to repeat himself.
"L-Lloyd." The answer came out softly.
"Hm, a strong, royal name." Fitting for Kratos.
Getting down on one knee, Mithos could look the child in the eyes a bit better. There was obviously a lot of hurt, grief, horror. Still, behind all that, there was spirit. It was hard to spot, but it was there.
"Do you hate your father now?"
Lloyd didn't answer that. What could you say to such a question? He was just a young kid, who just witnessed something horrible. He still had to wrap his mind around it all.
"He killed her; he killed your mother. She is not coming back."
Lloyd wanted to cry his eyes out at this. But the cold look on this man's face stopped this.
"W-where is daddy?" the boy stammered.
Mithos tilted his head. "You still want to see him, even after what he has done?"
The boy nodded, slow but firmly. Such a nuisance. I should just get him out of the way now. Then again, Yuan was right by saying this kid would be a great bargaining tool.
The Cruxis leader rose up to stand up right, looking down on the child. "Your life will be his hands, just like your mother's." He smiled coldly. "You will most likely meet the same fate."
With this, he turned away, walked back out of the cell and let the glass door close. Leaving the poor child alone again, who could do nothing more but cry again.
