Hikaru: Please, don't make me say it anymore . . . DO IT FOR ME, ZELOS!!
::Zelos holds up a sign in bold letters::
Sign: I OWN IT ALL MUWAHAHAHHAHAHHAAAA!!!
::Lawyers jump from jet planes and use parachutes to make a kind of James Bond entering::
Lawyer 1: WE HAVE YOU SURROUNDED!!
Hikaru: OKAYOKAYIDON'TOWNANYTHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING!!!!!!!!!!
Well, except for my dear original character Raphael Leonazim.
Furious, he brought his fists down upon the hardwood floor, screaming in pure anger despite the late night that was still present. Zelos clenched his fist, crumpling a small piece of paper that he found on Lloyd's bed shortly after he heard the youth shout out in pain along with a loud thud on the ground.
"Zelos! What in the name of Martel is going on?!" Regal yelled at the ex-Chosen as he, as well as the others, including Altessa, dashed into the near-vacant bedroom.
Shaking violently, the redhead slowly rose to his feet, showing his companions the note he discovered in Lloyd's empty bed. The others read it, horror-struck.
"What? Someone kidnapped Lloyd?" Presea murmured, sounding thoroughly shocked, which was a rather rare phenomenon.
The note read:
Dear Little Pawn,
No doubt you have taken notice of your beloved friend's disappearance. Should you feel the need to reclaim what's rightfully yours, come to see me at the ruins of the Tower of Mana. We just might negotiate the possibility of establishing a deal. The bloodied traitor will also meet me at the Tower. Just you two will come, otherwise I will kill off the fledgling angel I stole away from you. It's best not to think you can deceive me by sneaking your comrades to the Tower. Come as soon as humanly(or elvenly or dwarfly, or even half-elvenly, whichever you prefer) possible. Just remember. Fly while your wings are intact.
All eight of them stared at the note, transfixed with terror. Genis was the first to speak.
"Little Pawn . . .that sounds like Zelos. Are you really going to go alone?"
Zelos gravely nodded, severely shaken.
"I . . .have to go alone. Bloodied Traitor . . .that's most likely Kratos."
"What? But Kratos is on Derris-Kharlan!" Colette said pointedly.
"Did you think that he was really leaving? I'll explain later. I'm going now." Zelos announced through gritted teeth, pushing past his friends.
He stormed to the door, then turned to look at the others.
"Don't follow me. I'm serious. This guy sounds like he's not playing around, and I have a feeling he'll kill Lloyd if you follow me."
Before the others could protest, Zelos sprinted out of the home, running headlong into the ruins of Ozette, passing through there, and eventually stopping at the border of the Gaoracchia Forest.
The philanderer took a few fleeting moments to catch his breath, and then he started off again, wondering how the hell he was to reach the Tower of Mana when he didn't even have a Rheaird. Now that the worlds were reunited, the Tower probably lay in shambles just south of the Toize Valley Mine. Then it hit him. He could just fly there with the use of his wings. When he pretended to work for Mithos, Zelos agreed to become an angel, though not the same kind as Colette was destined to become.
The redhead ran out of the insanely dim forest. When nothing save open grasslands lay before him, Zelos concentrated hard. Bright, sparkling orange feathers whirled all about him in a cyclone fashion, and when the hurricane subsided, glimmering orange angel wings had sprouted from the Tethe'allan's back. Now that he thought about it, this was the first time that he actually used his wings to fly . . .sure, he practiced making them appear and disappear, but he never really flew with them before . . .
Twinging slightly due to sheer nervousness, Zelos tautly hovered above the ground for a couple of seconds to get used to the idea of flying without a Rheaird. Then, after that first taste of flying on his own, Zelos ecstatically ripped through the still air all around him, soaring southward. Whoever this guy was, he was an idiot to think he could take Lloyd away from him . . .that arrogant bastard. Whoa, wait, HOLD THE PHONE!!!
Zelos skidded to an abrupt halt just past Latheon Gorge. Had he just thought "Taken away from him"?? That made it sound like . . .no, that's absurd, of course he can't think like that . . . Shrugging off the unclean feeling that preoccupied his mind for a ephemeral instant, the angelic redheaded philanderer continued his sort of long flight to the ruins of the Tower of Mana.
Zelos basically shot like a nuclear missile to the region surrounding the Tower of Mana. He landed crouched on all fours, panting for breath. His heart was apprehensively racing, increasing his blood and breathing rates. Shaking off the feeling of intense panic, the perverted womanizer got to his feet. His hand unsteadily gripped the hilt of his short sword, yanking the weapon out of its sheath without the slightest air of hesitation. Out of the left corner of his eye, he spied the once grand Tower of Mana, built to gaze upon the accursed Tower of Salvation. Why did he want to meet here of all places?
Damn, no time to worry about that, the Chosen thought. He put his wings away, running to the Tower. The colossal building was buried into a rather deep pit, but it was the only way inside, so Zelos took the liberty to jump right on in. The Tower was lying at a sidelong angle, so it was slightly diagonal. Fortunately, the door was still useable. Zelos shifted some rock blocking the entrance, forcing the stone door open. Everything was dark, musty, and dusty as the redhead walked inside. Since the building wasn't really level, Zelos had a bit of trouble gaining proper footing on the tile floor. The library shelves were smashed into pieces with the books scattered all over. The magic circles used to reveal the way to the Summon Spirit of Light, Luna, were crushed under some heavier shelves.
Zelos stumbled a bit when the lamps flickered to life, illuminating the already dark room due to the blackness of the night outside. The light wasn't much, but at least Zelos could see, if not very well. Nothing was happening, so Zelos ventured further inside the Tower's interior. The doors and such were luckily, still open. Everything still remained uneventful, that is, until a certain swordsman mistook Zelos for Lloyd's kidnapper. A sword resembling a flame swung at Zelos from the intense darkness in one of the spiraling stairway chambers. The former Chosen narrowly dodged it, using his Hell Pyre technique to counter the offense. A rough, familiar voice echoed in the darkness.
"Guardian!"
Zelos lowered his sword, staring at his attacker.
"Kratos?" he said, amazed at how quickly he managed to arrive here from Derris-Kharlan.
"Oh, is that you, Zelos? I apologize for startling you." Kratos replied, walking from the shadows to the idiotic philanderer.
Zelos observed that Kratos really did not change much from when he first joined them. His outfit remained as purple as ever, and his personality changed little. He waved away Kratos' apology.
"Never mind that. We've gotta find Lloyd as well as his damned kidnapper!"
". . .Yes," The older man responded.
The two warriors aimed to continue their venture further into the Tower, when unexpectedly; the slightly diagonal staircase gave way to the dark abyss below. Zelos and Kratos automatically unfurled their wings, hovering above the seemingly bottomless pit the stairs fell into.
"Wow! My heart nearly stopped!" Zelos gasped, clutching at his shirt.
"At any rate, let us continue." Kratos murmured, flying ahead of Zelos.
"Hey! Wait for me, Mr. Too Serious!" the womanizer called after him, flying above to catch up with him.
Nothing happened until the two of them reached the puzzle room (you know, the room where you had to use all those glass cubes to direct light into the orbs to get out of the Tower). All of the lights in the room shimmered alive, almost blinding Kratos and Zelos, whose eyes had not yet adjusted to the sudden surge of bright light. Kratos looked up, towards the left, at one of the paths of light, and gasped. Lloyd was struggling to get away from someone restraining him to the floor of the transparent light path. His captor was wrapped in a sleek, black trench coat, with the hood obscuring his or her face. The stranger had pinned Lloyd's arms to the floor, and had the younger boy flat on his back.
"Lemme go, you bastard!" Lloyd cried, sounding quite helpless.
"You have something I want, you miserable hellion." The foreigner hissed, so lightly that only Lloyd heard it.
"Lloyd!" Kratos yelled. His son glanced down at him, sighting both him and Zelos below.
"No! Don't come near! It's a trap!" The red-clad boy desperately shouted at his father and friend.
The cloaked person holding Lloyd down shifted his gaze to look upon the new arrivals. He smirked, refusing to let go of Lloyd.
"Ah, so the little angels are here to play, aren't they?" He muttered something else the newcomers didn't understand, and the doors all melted into the stonewalls, becoming the walls. There was absolutely no way in or out of the Tower.
Zelos growled, angry that this unfamiliar person dared to take Lloyd like he did. What did Lloyd have that this guy needed, anyway? The redhead nodded to Kratos. They both flew to the kidnapper, but ended up flying headlong into an invisible wall surrounding Lloyd and his captor. Kratos banged on the barrier with his fists, although he knew it was hopeless. Only the one who conjured the barrier could take it down. Lloyd strained against his captor once more, failing miserably to break free of his painfully tight grip on his arms.
"Please, Dad, Zelos! Don't come any closer!" The boy begged.
"I'll take what I want now, if you three don't mind." The kidnapper hissed, removing only one of his hands from Lloyd's arms.
Before anyone could say anything, the kidnapper delved his hand into Lloyd's chest, where the Exsphere shards resided. Lloyd screamed out in agonizing pain as the person hovering above him twisted his hand around, gripping the crystal pieces. The foreigner jerked his hand out of the boy's body, painfully removing the crystal shards, spilling an abhorrent amount of ruby red blood.
Still hovering next to the invisible wall separating him from his son, Kratos watched in horror as the kidnapper fingered the crystal shards. This person wasn't human . . .he had freaking claws!
"Damn you! Let my son go this very instant!" Kratos shouted angrily. The kidnapper eyed him lazily.
"What vulgar language, Kratos. My name is Raphael Leonazium."
"Do we look like we give a damn!" Zelos hollered, floating adjacent to Kratos.
Lloyd panted, rendered too weak to do anything save lie where he was, waiting for Raphael to do what he will with him. The bleeding was worsening; his upper body was already covered in blood.
"LLOYD! YOU FUCKING BASTARD! LET HIM GO!" Zelos screeched, now striking the unseen obstruction with his short sword.
Raphael leered at the ex-Chosen, licking some of Lloyd's blood off the palm of his hand. The action made Kratos and Zelos grimace.
"Let him go? Fine, I've already gotten what I needed, so feel free to take him back." Raphael said in a bored sort of tone, waving his free hand around.
The invisible barrier was disenchanted. After that, Raphael picked up Lloyd, smirked at the two enraged angels, and stood, holding Lloyd by the collar. The dark-haired youth moaned, clasping a hand on the chest injury, which was positively pouring out blood. Raphael allowed a small chortle to escape him before powerfully throwing Lloyd to the angelic duo floating before him.
Kratos wrapped his arms around Lloyd as he caught him, hovering to the ground. Zelos took the opportunity to attack Raphael, who avoided his offense. On the ground, Kratos held Lloyd close to him, wishing for him to be all right.
"Dad . . ." Lloyd began, but his father interrupted.
"No, don't force yourself, Lloyd . . ."
Kratos stared at Lloyd's face in horror. Blood was now seeping out of his son's mouth as well as his chest. The seraphim placed a gloved hand (which was also purple) on Lloyd's wound, concentrating hard.
"Healing Stream!" He cried.
The glimmer of blue light danced all over Lloyd's injury, but quickly faded. Kratos cursed under his breath.
"Dammit . . .we need the Unicorn Horn to cure a wound this serious . . .Dammit!"
There was nothing he could do, so Kratos held his beloved son close, shedding tears.
"Lloyd . . ."
Hikaru: How'd you all like it?
Lloyd: Uh . . .begging your pardon, but WHY IN HELL'S NAME DO YOU FEEL THE NEED TO VICTIMIZE ME?!?!?!?!?!
Kratos: I believe I told you before; she enjoys it.
Hikaru: Got that right. Anyway, I know, I know, I've named Raphael's surname after one of Pronyma's attacks, but it sounds cool, so there! By the way, I'm planning to throw a little romance in here, but I want my readers to vote on who's going to be with Lloyd. I have no problem with yoai couples(I don't want Regal, Genis, or Kratos to be with Lloyd, so please don't torture me!). Actually, the only yoai coupling that I like for this game is Zelos/Lloyd. So, FEEL FREE TO VOTE!!!!!!!!! And please review. See, I say please!!!!