A/N: No offense taken. I just do what I do. As for the song Kratos had been humming in Thoughts in the Dark, yes, it's the song that Zelos sings at the beginning of this story. In fact, Kratos still hums it when no one is around to cheer himself up. Zelos is the only one who will actually dance to the song. Lloyd just tolerates the both of them when it comes to it. Monty Python was partial inspiration for the flesh wound joke. Well, here's the next one!
Ch 9
He stood at the bow of the ship, gazing out at the ocean. The wide, deep blue, sometimes green water reminded him of his brother's eyes. They shifted color when his moods changed. Sorrowful blue when hiding pain, deep shining emerald when angry, a myriad of colors that shifted and flickered with each emotion that passed through.
"We're going to Altamira. If Zelos needs a new Key Crest, we can get inhibitor ore from Regal and Presea. I'll get it to Altessa, carve the charm, and stop this transformation." Lloyd murmured. He jumped when Zelos's voice came up behind him.
"Hey, bro, we had that idea already!" the redhead remarked brightly and walked up beside him, "Sorry for startling you. My hearing's gotten real good lately." He looked half wistful, "Kinda gives me a headache sometimes. Doesn't do me any good to make potions for myself though."
"You stupid, stupid jerk! Why didn't you tell me anything?!" Lloyd renewed his fury and started pounding on Zelos's arms and back, hitting as hard as he could as the redhead calmly took the blows, bracing himself to prevent being knocked over. "You lied about everything! You and Dad!"
"Actually, he did get the ice cream. It just melted when that woman blasted it." Zelos pointed out and closed one eye as a swipe hit across his cheek. "Okay, Lloyd, I get it. You're pissed off at me. Cut the mauling and relax some." He held out an arm, poised in the air, waited for another attack, then grabbed Lloyd into a tight hug. "Enough! Stop getting so riled up about it! Yes, it's my stupid fault for getting myself into this! Yes, it's my idea to lie and hide it from you! Put all the blame you want on me!" he declared and sighed, resting his cheek on the boy's head, listening to him sob as he shook in the embrace, "I'm the idiot Chosen, remember? I don't think ahead. So, do me a favor and think for me. Will you raging around the ship for the next few days help anyone? No. Will it hurt Dad and everyone else? Yes. Should you knock it off and concentrate on what's important? Hell yeah!"
"I'll fix it. I'll fix the crest and you'll stop being an angel." Lloyd murmured. Zelos released him and stepped back, shaking his head.
"It won't work now. We'll have to wait until it's done." he remarked and smiled at him, ruffling his hair. "Let me get back to helping Dad. Ask the brat to cook something up, or make it yourself. You need to eat." With that, Zelos returned to the lower decks. Lloyd stood behind, sighing once before angrily kicking at the banister surrounding the bow of the ship.
"Ow. Ow. Ow." Kratos grumbled under his breath as he kept his eyes closed. Zelos frowned as he deftly moved the needle through the flesh, stitching as quickly and efficiently as he could. "Ow. Ow."
"Dad, you're not helping. There!" Zelos muttered and bit the end of the thread. Setting the needle aside, he picked up the fresh bandage and applied another coat of ointment. "It should heal quickly. And I suppose you're clear to rest." Kratos gingerly pat the cloth wrapped around his head and climbed out of bed. "Eh, Dad?"
"I'm not dead or crippled, so I'm going to walk. Where's Lloyd?" the seraphim grumbled. Zelos pointed above himself and watched him leave.
"Stubborn old man." the fledgling angel sighed and began to work on patching himself up, having sent Sheena running down the hall with a green face when he had returned.
Sheena sat in her room, legs folded up to her chest and hugging them as she gazed down at the jar of belladonna before her. Zelos hadn't been mad at her, he seemed almost happy to know that she was the one who helped Nadilene do this to him. It wasn't right. She didn't want him as an angel; no one deserved that kind of pain, not even that idiot. Death would have been kinder. And he had given her something to kill him with.
"Ten ounces to a standard dinner. I'd be dead within an hour." his words echoed in her mind. She reached out and picked it up, holding it close to her. It was a gift, a horrible gift, but one nonetheless. It was ironic; she had given him a ring, something he MIGHT have given her, and he gave her a deadly poison, something she COULD have given him.
"Why would he know anything about poisonous plants anyway? Isn't that a knowledge for assassins and alchemists?" she murmured and rubbed at her eyes. "And he's still walking around with that damn cut open! Doesn't he care that he could lose more blood and die?!" The ninja screamed and hurled the jar across the room, shattering from the force of the impact. "Of course not! That damned idiot wants to die!" Sheena sobbed softly as she gazed at the broken glass and crushed leaves. "Dammit, now I've gone and broken the only gift he'll ever give me."
Colette and Genis stood in the kitchen, cutting up ingredients for a snack. For a long while they were silent. Colette was the first to speak as she chopped the apples up.
"He's hurting inside, but he acts so happy and cheerful. Just like I did." she murmured and threw the chunks into a bowl. Genis nodded wordlessly, adding oranges to the mix. "Did we ever think that what happened to me could ever happen to him? That Zelos could be an angel and be so empty inside? Is that why he hurts so much?"
"No one expected it. Why would anyone want Zelos as an angel? As a vessel?" he pointed out as Raine entered the room and sat at the table with them. "Anyways, what was up with the Imperial Academy in Sybak inviting me to be a student? Zelos brought the letter and it was a shock, y'know? You'd think I'd be the last person to be invited and him the last dude to let me know."
"He was the one who tried to send presents to me, but I told him to just look after Lloyd for me. He's been keeping his promise so far." Colette added, throwing in cut pears. Raine blinked and looked confused.
"Odd, Zelos sent me books and texts on herbology and subjects that I am having trouble teaching in school. He wouldn't tell me why, just said they were donations and gifts from other women that he was passing on to me." she remarked and pulled out one of the bound books from her pack, "But it's annotated right here by the scribes that this book is a copy of one in Zelos's personal collection. And I didn't see the original anywhere in that overly lavish room of his."
"So Zelos has been giving us presents? Why?" Genis asked in surprise, pausing in the cutting of bananas. Raine and Colette both shrugged and jumped in startled exclamations as the ship suddenly rocked with the sound of an explosion above deck. They raced up the steps with Sheena and Zelos following closely behind.
Nadilene's figure hovered above the ship, laughing as water poured into the wooden hull. Lloyd struggled for air and freedom as Kratos, with empty eyes, held him tightly, standing on the edge of the ship's bow with one arm tightened around his son's neck and the other holding him close to his body. The group halted before her and prepared for battle before realizing the ship was sinking. Zelos pushed past them to the forefront and stared up at the seraphim in horror.
"Help!" Lloyd managed to squeak out.
"Well, isn't this a fine night for a swim?" Nadilene asked with a smile as Raine cried out and curled up in a ball, too overcome by her memories to do anything else.
"What did you do to him?!" Zelos demanded, "You witch, you're after me, not them!" The dark angel flicked a lock of her hair back and gazed at the seraphim.
"You should have paid more attention to the energy I sent him. That mana charge was made from my own special blend of my mana, my husband's, and the control properties of a Cruxis Crystal. I'll have control of him just for a short while, but it'll be enough to force him to kill his son and dive into the ocean to finish himself off." she remarked and laughed, "On top of that, this silly little piece of jetsam will take the rest of your friends with them! How wonderful!"
"What lengths will you go to just to have your way?!" Sheena shrieked, "You lied to me about your plans! I refuse to have any part of them anymore! I'll find a way to make you pay for the suffering you made me cause my friends!"
"What are we gonna do?! The ship's taking on too much water!" Genis cried, "We can use the Rheairds to escape, but what about Lloyd and Kratos?! And the Exspheres they collected!" Zelos shook his head and screamed wordlessly, holding his head with both hands as the group stared at him. Had he lost his mind?
"Enough! That's enough! I know what you want!" he shrieked and glared up at the angel. She smiled and flicked her hand slightly. Kratos tightened his grip and continued to stare blankly out at the group, face partially hidden by his son's hair. Lloyd choked and shut his eyes tightly, cheeks turning a slight shade of blue.
"Remember, you can't escape fate." Nadilene remarked. Zelos sighed and nodded. Lifting his head to gaze up at her, he allowed tears to run down, a grin spreading over his face.
"Lay me down broken in public view. Follow my fate, that's all I can do. My family's salvation granted once I die, closing forever my empty eyes." he sang out and lifted his arms up to her, "Set my father and brother free! Repair this ship and save my friends! I surrender my voice and another part of my humanity!" Nadilene threw out her arm, the scarf flying around her as light shone down on him.
"Done! You are so pathetic once you allow yourself to have a weakness like family! Did you ever think they would care about you at all?! You're a Chosen! Born to die! You can't change that!" she declared and the explosion of light blinded the group as she vanished, her laughter lingering in the night air.
Slowly, Raine, Genis, Colette and Sheena came around and picked themselves up from the floor. The ship was no longer sinking, Kratos and Lloyd both lay on the deck of the ship, but they, too, were shaking off the blanket of unconsciousness. Zelos knelt over them, checking them for vital signs and sitting back with a smile when Kratos reached up and rapped his head.
"Are we... okay?" Sheena asked, looking around, "She's not here anymore." Lloyd sat up and rubbed his neck, then hugged his father tightly, startling the seraphim.
"Dad! You're okay again! I thought something horrible happened when that lady showed up and you just turned cold on me!" he cried and pulled back, "What happened to you?"
"I don't know, but I will make her pay for all that she's done to us." Kratos murmured and looked over at Zelos, "I'm not sure what happened, but thank you. I think you had something to do with our rescue." Zelos shrugged and grinned wider. Kratos narrowed his eyes at him. "What did you do?" he demanded roughly, standing up and glaring at him. Zelos took on an innocent expression as Lloyd stood with him, eyes widening.
"No. You didn't." he whispered as Kratos clenched his hands into fists, teeth grinding together in anger.
"What the hell have you done?!" the seraphim raged as Zelos merely stood and let the waves of emotion pass over him, gazing coolly back at Kratos. After a moment, he reached out and pulled Kratos's hand towards him, writing out in his open palm.
"I did what I could. You guys are always calling me a loudmouth anyway. This should solve that problem." the redhead answered and blinked when Kratos jerked his hand away as if he'd been burned. Lloyd was on him again, pounding helplessly away at his chest and arms in tears.
"You idiot! You gave up your voice for us, didn't you?! You sacrificed another part of your humanity just to save us!" he yelled and yelped when a sharp slap came across his cheek. Zelos glared down at him and pulled his hand up, writing into it as well.
"Stop beating yourself up, and quit beating me up! My voice is nothing, no real loss! I would rather give that up then let her sink the ship we built and kill our friends, and use Dad to kill both of you!" he paused and looked into the boy's tearful eyes before sighing and finishing his writing, "I don't regret what I did. I love you all that much." He pulled back and smiled at Lloyd.
"You're still an idiot." Lloyd sighed and hugged him, "But thank you for helping us. I wish we had more time to help you."
"It appears we no longer have any options in this matter." Raine began, trying to think of the situation than of the fact that they nearly sank moments earlier. "We need to go to Altamira to get the inhibitor ore for Zelos's new Key Crest. Time is of the essence. So, here's what we can do. We can abandon this ship and use the Rheairds to go to Altamira. It's far faster and we can potentially avoid Nadilene's next attempt to force Zelos's transformation."
"But if we do that, the Exspheres will stay here unprotected! Someone could come by and steal them all!" Lloyd exclaimed, "People will suffer from these stones if they are taken and equipped without the Key Crests!"
"All right. Then this is our next option. We will send Zelos ahead on a Rheaird to get the ore himself, the rest of us will stay to keep the ship on course." Raine went on.
"I'm not sending my son out there alone!" Kratos yelled and covered his mouth with a surprised look as everyone turned to stare at him. He blushed and pulled his hand away, trying to look serious again. "Wh-why are you staring at me? I said nothing out of the ordinary." he stammered, rubbing at his cheek to hide the blush.
"I volunteer to go and act as his bodyguard." Sheena declared, "I want to make up for all the wrong I did. I'll keep him safe." Zelos looked at her in surprise, an expression of hope lighting up in his face. "Can any of you forgive me for what I've done?"
"You were tricked, like we all were at one point in time." Lloyd told her and smiled slightly, "Of course I'll forgive you. Please keep him safe."
"We should all get a good night's sleep. Sheena and Zelos can go to Altamira in the morning after breakfast." Genis pointed out and headed back downstairs with Raine. The others began to descend and Lloyd hung back slightly, looking back at Zelos.
"Are you coming with us?" he asked. The redhead blinked at him, smiled and shook his head. "Won't you get bored and lonely out here by yourself?" Another shake of his head. "Counting stars, huh?" A nod. "I'm already missing your voice." Lloyd murmured and walked down the steps. Zelos sighed silently and watched him wistfully, then turned and gazed heavenward, mouth moving in defiance of his lack of speech as he began to count again.
Take my words,
Take my song;
The feelings I have
Will not be gone.
Do as you want,
But do it to me;
Please don't involve
My family.