A/N: Some action, primarily flying(I love flying scenes expect as many as I can squeeze in in this fic and in all my others), but some combat. Since combat is not my specialty I tend to avoid it when I can. I consider this one of my darkest chapters. You all have been warned.
Serrated Darkness: Kvar is one of the highest on a long list of villains that I have either been exposed to in video games, literature, or my own twisted imagination. This chapter that I'm putting in now did more then just put shivers up my spine, and I wrote the thing.
MoonCanon: Here you go, and enjoy!
FairyV: Like Kvar hmm ( bad Kvar impersonation there), and not so much as moody Kratos as glimpse of "Kratos of the future".
ArchNavy: I've heard about both games, and "Tales of Legendia" is a totally different game then Symphonia. Unfortunately it's only for the PS2 so I wont be doing any work on it...
Lady Serefina: Your wish is granted and then some in this chapter and the next one as well.
Crimson Ties
Chapter 31
Anna shivered, the room was dark, no not dark, it merely seemed dark. The walls were black, the and the white light above her. It turned the ceiling grey, it illuminated the room, but did not take away from the darkness it harbored. There was a smell, an all too clean smell, the scent of chemicals. She had heard of this place from the guards during her short span here before. She had heard them talk of how the Shadow Rooms had this scent of being un-lived in. Of being far too clean...
She hadn't believed them.
Now she did.
She was alone, a bowl of water left by the door, a crust of a piece of bread left on a plate. That was her meal for the day, that was all she was getting. She'd been here before, remembered the long days of hunger as it's ghost stirred in her belly. She went to the bowl, tried to lift it from the floor... the underside of the bowl tingled, it was.. how had Kratos put it, magnetized? Something like that, the floor was steel, and the thing in the bowl was attracted to steel, she could tug all she wanted that bowl wasn't coming up. It was one of Kvar's subtle torments, his pleasures, as he would watch and laugh as the mass of his human test subjects got on their knees and lapped at the water like dogs. Anna grimaced, considered the bowl and her aching throat. It had to have been a day, the hunger felt like it was a day old. Soon though her hunger would twist into her, would gnaw away at her mind until time became meaningless. The bread, Anna realized after a tentative nibble, was harder then a rock. With a sigh the woman dipped it in the water till it softened, then ate half of it. The other half she kept out of the water, left it on the plate. When the ache in her stomach grew too strong she would finish her food. For a long moment she regarded the bowl, hoped, but understood that she had not choice. She would lose too much water should she try any other way... with a curse got to her knees, and like that time long ago drank from the bowl as a dog would.
Xxx xxx xxx
"I'll be damned." Laric whispered, putting his glass of wine down and watching as a ragged Kratos slipped into the common room. It was impossible, Laric had been teleported here. Yet Kratos, he looked as if he had traveled through hundreds of miles of wilderness, his clothes were travel worn, ripped, muddy. A months worth of travel, all in one evening. Laric, seeing the man's eyes calmly sift through the crowd, shivered. It was safe, the man -if it was even a man- had yet to notice him. Then with a slight grin Kratos spotted him, nodded his head like all the other times, and wove his way through the crowd. Four days, four days and this man had probably traveled more then anyone else would in their life, and Laric would be damned if the bastard didn't even look winded.
"For a man who's on a mission to save his family you seem to be in a good mood."
Kratos chuckled, took the seat across from Laric, a smile on his face.
"What the Hell man, you must have gone nuts or something..."
"Perhaps." Kratos shrugged, "something has occurred that has put me in a good mood. Come, certainly you don't wish to eat your meal in here?"
"Huh?"
"I beat you here, ordered a dinner at one of the tables outside. Come."
Annoyed Laric began to protest. The mercenary met his eyes, and there was a searing explosion in his skull, a numbing pain, he wanted to cry out, to say something... His lips would not obey, his throat felt paralyzed, his eyes would not weep though he was in agony. From far away he heard himself mutter an agreement, felt himself stand, and watched, a prisoner in his own body, while he walked out the side entrance and onto the small patio. The second Kratos locked the door behind them Laric regained control of himself, he fell to his knees gasping in agony. He was aware of someone standing a bit behind him, but he couldn't lift his head, the agony in him... It knew no bounds, he felt as if he had been dropped in fire.
"This the bastard?"
"Yes, it is."
"Aye, so you're Laric eh lad? A damned fool you are, doin' what you did." Knuckles cricked unpleasantly. Laric tried to get up, tried to go for his sword.. The pain he couldn't... all he could see were the floor boards, and those black boots. "You wanna question him now or do I get a few hits on 'em first?"
Boards creaked, the boots that were on the edge of his vision came closer, then a cold hand touched his brow. There was another blast of pain in his skull, another moment of agony, then the hand withdrew. Tears streamed down his face, tears of agony, frustration. All his life he had spent fighting, being able to fight and now... now he was more helpless then a babe fresh from it's womb.
"Beat him until you have satisfied your rage... Do not kill him though, he is mine to kill."
"Wouldn't be arguin' that with you with that look on your face Ruian."
Then the pain that he thought could get no worse did get worse, as scared and sun worn hands slammed into him for a few minutes. then the hands withdrew.. it wasn't all that bad really, just a light thrashing.
"Is that all you are going to do?" Kratos' voice sounded amused.
"Aye, all I can get myself to do right now. I got more important things to do then waste my time beating the shit out of this one. I think I'll be cleain' my hands now, do what you will to him, then lets be off."
"Of course..." There was a hiss of a blade being drawn.
"Don't be too messy 'bout it, I have to clean up after you're done, and I don' want anyone stumblin' on this so don't take too long."
"If it were your wife and children would you take any such reprimand from me?"
"I don't know. All I know is that I'm lucky as Hell it wasn't me and my family dead instead of the artsy fellow. I feel sorry for the man, but I have to protect my own right now because I can't protect him, him bein' dead and all that."
"Understood, I will tend to the mess myself, you would be best to absent yourself for a few moments."
"Aye you don't need to tell me that... Fountain?"
"Yes, in a few minuets."
The impatience, the hate in Kratos' voice made Laric shiver, he gathered the last of his strength to speak.
"If you are a man with any good in you, you wouldn't leave me with this monster!" He wanted to scream it, but all he could manage was a horse whisper.
"Aye need to be lookin' in the mirror before you say anything of the like Laric. I love Anna, she's like a sister, and Lloyd is one of my boys, as far as I'm concerned you aren't human. You turn your weapon on an innocent, you serve demon's like the Grand Cardinal you aren't human. Make it quick Ruian, I know you hate him but don't drag it out. Make it slow for that Kvar bastard, not his pawn."
"Begone Syt."
The other man walked off, and he was alone, the stars gleamed off the edge of Kratos' silver sword. Laric tried to grab his sword, managed to get a twitching hand around the hilt, and he held it for a heartbeat. Warmth throbbed from his hand, the ex-sphere gave him the power to work around the pain, to draw out his weapon. He blocked the chop that would have split his head down the middle. With a grunt he managed to find his feet, to shrug off the attack that would have left his arm numb. Kratos regarded him, considered his new power and nodded. Kratos brought his sword around, Laric managed to catch the blow. This time when he pushed back the mercenary did not move. Did not respond to the new power that Laric wielded, did not bow to it.
This item, taken from the life of another of your specie, will give you the strength of ten men.
Kvar's words echoed in his mind, he grinned, drew deeper in the ex-sphere's power. His shirt that had been loose, tightened as his muscles swelled due to the burst of mana they absorbed. Kratos took a step back, for a second disgust touched his face, then he brought his weapon to block the impossibly fast swipe that Laric delivered.
"So you have truly sold what remains of your soul for power."
"Shut up, what do you know about souls? You must have sold yours to get where you are!"
Kratos calmly regarded his foe, his face and eyes empty of all emotion.
"You were one of the best, you never could have measured up to me because of what I am. You had a life, ambitions, dreams, and you toss it aside for something as stupid as pride."
"Shut up!" Laric roared, he aimed a thrust Kratos' chest. Coldly the mercenary side stepped the wild attack, his sword flashed between them, then Laric's blade fell to the ground, still gripped by his hand. Power that had been fed into him flickered and died, Laric wailed, clutched his hand stump, then there was another flash of pain...
Kratos did not bother to salute his foe as he would have for a honorable opponent. Laric did not deserve such respect. He had far too much practice with this, he mused as he pulled his sword out from the back of Laric's skull. The sword make a grinding sound as it slid through the shattered bone. Yet the strike had been clean, he had effectively shut off his opponents vital organs by piercing the part of his brain that conducted each organ's movements. Kratos knelt by the man's side, white power arched in his hands. Laric's body spasomed, then turned to dust from it's brush with angelic mana. He passed his hands over the bloody spots on the deck, and watched as the blood shined silver, then it too turned to dust. Kratos took a step back, considered the clean up, then winced as blood from his sword fell on the deck. He should have first grabbed the man's cloak, cleaned his blade, then destroyed the evidence.
A wind stirred, clothes on a nearby string danced in the night breeze. Kratos turned, watched them for a moment as they danced on the string, as much as they could anyways. Opportunity never knocked more then once, that's how the old saying went. As if to disprove it the clothes stirred yet again, repeating the soft noise that had gotten his attention in the first place.
Xxx xxx xxx xxx
She lay, not on the table that so many other's had lain before, but on the floor. She slept, shivered in her sleep, from the cold. Her clothes were in tatters, they could not keep her from being cold and miserable. Despite being ordered to leave her alone the guards had come for her, had tried to... She swallowed, forced down the memories of those rough hands. She gripped the hilt of her blood stained knife all the tighter. They had come a little while ago, taken the corpse out of the room. She had watched them do it, they had watched her, weary of another attack. Now, at least now they were leaving her alone. She gave up on sleep, sat up, and held herself. She hadn't seen Lloyd in days, hadn't been told anything that was going on with him. If her situation was bad... then his must be a thousand times worse. She closed her eyes, wept for her Son, and wondered if perhaps Kratos had left them here, if he didn't have the power to stop Kvar.
"Kratos, come for us please... Don't leave us here..." She bowed her head, wept into her knees.
Xxx xxx xxx xxx
Kratos paced, his cloak snapped behind him with each sharp turn he made. Back and forth, he had probably covered the length of the fountain thirty times. Each lap added to his rage. Each lap made him seethe, but he had to restrain himself, had to hold himself in check. His allies were human, were not aided by any Desian or Cruxis technology. Syt came then, he heard the man, saw the man, before Syt's rather limited powers of perception could make Kratos out from the thousand and one shadows that filled the square.
"All's set Ruian, we have all that you asked. I'm taken it Anna's gunna be in bad shape when you get her back."
"Bad is not the word, Kvar is a sadist of the worst kind... if she is... if she is alive then..."
"She is alive. I know now don't you go doubtin' me on this. Go, all the medical stuffs ready, we whapped the Doc upside the head and tied him up in our house. The children are with a friend for a week. Everything's closed as closed gets. But you have to be back by tonight, you hear? He'll be missed if he's gone any longer."
Kratos didn't respond, he merely drew his wings. Syt paled at the sight of Kratos' wings, they were frayed, chaotic. Even as the Seraphim kicked off the ground and soared off Syt felt his blood turn to ice. Ruian had once told him a Seraphim's wings betrayed his soul. If that was Ruian's soul... Syt shivered.
"Martel, help them, keep them safe."
Xxx xxx xxx xxx
Wind rushed around him, tugged at him even as he fought against it. It was a slightly breezy night to those on the ground, but as high up as he was the winds were more potent. His clothes were pressed against him, his cloak flared behind him like another set of wings. His wings snapped up and down, threw him against the air. He could feel them quaking, he'd never used them like this before, never had them out this long before, never had he strained against the limitations of his existence so much
The world below was a blur of black green, the sky above obsidian with nicks of silver. He did not look up though, he glimpsed the sky from the lake of Luin, he glimpsed it as he followed one of the small man made rivers that lead to where Kvar hid his forces. A sudden breeze picked up, his left wings slowed their mad pumping while his right picked up the pace. The stillness, the tautness of his left wings and the motion of his right made him slowly turn. The motion was a little like a rafter who would paddle on one side of his vessel, the motions on that one side rather then the alternating strokes on both sides made him turn. Unlike the said rafter he dropped as he circled the area where the river just suddenly stopped. He could feel mana whenever he looked beyond the river, when he regarded the forest. For a moment he studied it, to any unversed in nature it would look much the same as any other patch of forest. There were trees, yet there were many flaws. All the trees looked more or less the same, there were five specie of tree around Luin, this rather large patch only had one. And all the trees looked exactly the same...
He drew his right wings together, they pressed together, formed on greater wing, or rather the illusion of a large wing. Gravity pulled on him, with the left wings he snapped against the air. He dove down, veered away from the hidden fortress, when the trees brushed at the soles of his boots Kratos unfurled his left wings, stilled his right. Though he still plunged through the branches, though he still fell, the force of his earlier motion made him turn. When he was facing the right direction flared both his wings as wide as they could go. He could feel them strain, the rips in his flesh around where they poked out ripped a bit, and fresh blood gathered at the base of each feathered membrane. The force of his dive, and his sudden stalling, pushed him back. It pushed him away from the ground, sent him flying backwards. The energy of his motion made the air around him shiver, made his muscles tingle with strain. He gathered that energy, the potential, energy, the residue energy from his dive, he drew that all around him and the tingle around him intensified. Then he channeled the power, turned it into raw speed. His wings were whirling as he threw him forward. He blazed through the forest, a harsh snap of one wing would send him to the side, this allowed him to weave through the trees without slowing down.
A tingling assaulted his body, the air around him shimmered, then what had been trees was now a steel wall. Snarling a curse Kratos stilled his wings, his feet touched the earth, kicked off... He managed to keep most of his momentum, turn it from a wild rush into a decent leap. The Seraphim kicked off the earth, kicked off of one of the protrusions of the fortress' wall, then snapped his wings down wildly. He just barely made it over the wall, a guard looked up, lifted a cross bow. The Desian didn't live long enough to pull the trigger. He held back none of his angelic strength, the solder fell in a bloody mess under the swing of Kratos' broadsword. Landing on the wall Kratos withdrew his wings, he had strained them enough for now, he would draw them out later if he could... A voice cried out in elvish, the Seraphim pulled a dagger from his boot and threw. The cried of alarm turned to a gurgle, there was a loud thump a few moments later. Alarms whooped, lights flashed, combed the walls.
"Damn it! I do not have time for this..."
From either side three Desian's came out of the very night air, someone had teleported them in. Arrows hissed through the air, one of them drew a symbol in the air and a bolt of lightening streaked down from the heavens. All the attacks hit nothing but air, as the Seraphim had merely leapt from the wall. He grunted as the air was blasted out of him, he broke into a staggering run. A few archers managed to shoot at him while he ran, luckily they all missed their mark.
xxx xxx xxx
Lloyd lay down in his lap, sleeping. He did that quite a bit, not that Kvar minded. Every time the boy took a nap Kvar would gently nudge the boy's mind, mold it into what he needed. Hatred, malice, all were dreadfully dormant in his boy. He coaxed them into wakefulness, being oh so gentle about the whole thing. After all he needed a heir who was sane, who possessed his full wits. Lloyd yawned, stirred, and Kvar ruffled the boys hair. So he heard it too, the howl of the alarms. Lloyd cocked his head to the side in confusion, obviously he heard but did not understand what the noise meant. Kvar didn't quite like that gesture, he'd take some time later on to train it out of him.
"The bad man I warned you about is coming." Kvar said softly. "He's coming to take you away now."
Lloyd whimpered, looked frightened. Kvar smiled, gave his boy's shoulder a squeeze. Lloyd relaxed under the familiar cold hand, took comfort in the gesture, as he was well supposed to.
"I can't stop him right now, but I will get you back. I promise."
Lloyd nodded his head, tried to look brave. Kvar gently took his boy up in his arms. He had so little time left, so little time with this one. Kvar had just barely began to mold him, to coax him down the path that human's termed as the fallen. Humans were fools in that way, but not his, not his human.
"Do you remember the game we played with the rabbit and the knife?"
"Yep!"
"Good, I want you to remember that, remember everything I told you. No mater what the man and woman who take you away say, you remember that game. We had a lot of fun didn't we?"
Lloyd smiled.
"You need a little more practice though, you aren't very good yet, but when I get you back we'll work on that. Do you remember how I showed you to slash the throat, to make it quick?"
"Uh huh!"
"Good, and remember, it's the same side on a person as it is on the rabbit."
Lloyd looked a bit confused, Kvar was more then happy to clarify what he said.
"Maybe, when the woman's asleep you can play with a knife and the human. When you do that I'll know where you are, and I'll find you really quick, now... Daddy has to tend to some adult things. You stay put in this room."
Kvar sighed, took in the small bed and bare walls. It was rather dull, boring even.
"Would you like me to bring you a knife, and a new toy before I go?"
"Nope."
Lloyd looked at his old toy in interest. It was still alive. Soon though it would be very dead, it's life blood splurted out of the wound over it's heart. All and all it was a good thrust, it didn't kill quickly, but that wasn't the point of the game. Kvar had done the damage himself, had left it in Lloyd's room so he would grow accustomed to the sight of death and dieing. How he had cried the first few times! How he had gone to Kvar and cried in his tunic! Kvar had held him then, told him that everything had to die at some point. Kvar never wanted Lloyd hurt, so he did this to make Lloyd strong against death. Personally the Desian didn't understand why the Seraphim had left such vital life training go untended for so long.
"Alright then, I'll come back for you as soon as I can." Kvar smiled down at his boy. "And remember..."
"Left to right!" Lloyd chirped.
"There's a good lad." Kvar bent, ruffled the boys brown hair not so different from his own when he had been young.
Xxx xxx xxx xxx
"Mrs. Aurion..."
Anna shivered, stood, and turned expecting to see Kvar behind her. No, he wasn't in the room, his image was though. It was the faint blue tint, the translucency, that told Anna that he was not with her.
"How are you feeling Mrs Aurion, well rested I hope? As much as I'd love to hear your response I am afraid I don't have time for pleasantries. Your husband has violated our little game, he is here in my fortress even now blasting it to bits and looking for you. He has killed my men, my messengers, and now threatens to do the same to me." The old half elf's image shrugged, as if his death was un-
important. "As it stands we have little less then half an hour before he barges in here, and takes you back. Your son though... now we have a little predicament don't we? He is in my personal quarters, while your cell is clear on the other side of the fortress. He is sleeping right now, I've been taking very good care of him, much better then you host body. He is totally ignorant of the true nature of this facility, I have been keeping my hobbies from him, and the guards know very well not to lay a hand on him, or even to speak harshly to him."
Anna froze, hope and fear rising in her.
"That could change in any moment, I could kill him, and I will. The second your husband enters this room I will personally slash his throat, and you both may watch. That is after all why I have the monitor in here for, it's a fascinating device that..." Static hissed, Kvar's image grew fuzzy. "Hmm annoying human, he seems to have knocked out the camera's power source, never fear though, while his entrance and wanderings in my fortress will remain unrecorded we can still talk to each other. I have a private generator in my own quarters after all, something that he probably never suspected. The monitor will still work, and the camera that links it to this room is still functional, after all we're still talking aren't we?"
Anna nodded her head, her mind whirling as she tried to figure out how to warn Kratos to find Lloyd first.
"Imagine as he holds you you get to hear your son's final wail. Have you ever seen someone's throat slashed before Mrs. Aurion?"
Anna shook her head.
"It's a rather messy a fair. You see, if you do it right the person chokes on their own blood before they bleed to death, and trust me when I say this Mrs. Aurion... I have had plenty of practice, you both can watch as your son chokes to death. It's a rather pleasant sound they make, the eyes bulge out, the person falls over thrashing, choking. Perhaps even bringing a hand up to stem the flow of blood, although at that point it's a futile exercise. They then gurgle, go limp, and slump forward, dead. Of course they bleed for a little while longer, after all one of their main arteries has been cut."
Tears stung her eyes, Anna found her feet.
"You bastard! I'll..."
"Do what Mrs. Aurion? My guards have locked the door, they will stay there until they meet their death at your husbands hands, and if you get out they have standing orders to kill you. You are completely helpless... Now while I'd normally take the time for your anxiety to build, or even make an example of some brat that we have in the facility, I'm in a bit of a rush. So I'll be quick about this. You can stop this, you can do something for me and I spare your Son."
"What... anything..."
"You do know what a Key Crest is, don't you? If so, show me."
Modesty had no place, she took off her tunic and ignored Kvar's humored chuckle. He regarded her for a moment, took a long look at her ex-sphere then looked at the cruxis crystal in her throat. When his eyes strayed down Anna glared at him, he laughed.
"God has given you many gifts host body A012, is strength one of them? There are an assortment of knives on the table, I only see a Crest on your throat so you'll have to be very careful when you cut it off wont you? I'd be a shame if you accidently slashed your throat."
"What!"
"It's that, or your son dies... Oh, and if you die in the attempt to remove your crest then I will consider that sufficient and your son will be spared."
Anna trembled, then went to the tray, there were several knives awaited her.
"Come now, don't dither, your husband is very near after all. If you aren't done when he comes in the room, if that crest is still attached to your skin by even a sliver, I will go in the back room and kill your only child. Tick tock..."
"Shut up!"
Kvar smiled, his image wasn't going anywhere. He hummed a little tune while Anna picked up a knife and turned it on herself. Then sat back and clasped his hands in his lap while she tapped against the band of metal around the base of her throat.
"Time is wasting... What do my monitors spot an angelic presence in the hall that leads to your room?" His voice was high pitched, a mock pronouncement of doom. "Ahh well, wrong hall, my he does move fast doesn't he?"
"I thought I told you to shut..."
"The room isn't sound proof Mrs. Aurion, far from it, if you scream loud enough he might hear you."
Anna fell silent.
"Now get to what you were doing Mrs. Aurion, you seem uncomfortable doing this with an audience, so I'll leave, make a little snack. When my monitors tell me he is in the hall I will re-appear to assess if you are done or not. If you don't look like you'll be finished with this little chore in a moment of two then I will go back and do what needs to be done."
His image disappeared. Anna shivered, then with the knife still in her hand began to cut at the skin around her throat. It hurt, burned, she wanted to scream, to stop... Gripping the edge of the metal band Anna tugged, and felt it give a little. She would have to cut around the whole Crystal.. there was no other way. With crimson hands she turned the knife about, and began to work more furiously, desperate to finish, she had no choice. Tears blurred her vision, streamed down her face... And somewhere, form far away, she thought she heard Kvar's manic laughter.