A Tainted Mind leads to a Betraying Heart
Author's Notes: Sorry for the delay everyone but in any case here's the newest chapter with a bit of Lloyd/Sheena. So as usual please read and review.
Disclaimer: (see beginning chapters)
Chapter 5: Change is UnavoidableKratos gave out a sharp gasp at Sheena's words and instantly tried a "Healing Stream"(the highest form of healing that he knew) in hopes of reviving his son.
"Come on Lloyd…wake up my son. I can't loose you now…no I can't loose you the way I lost your mother…"
Sheena then noticed that for the first time in the entire time she had known the elder swordsman, Kratos wore a look of pure sadness. Granted she did not know much about him but she figured that he was probably not too much of an emotional person so it was quite surprising to see Kratos with an expression unfamiliar to him.
She then shifted her view down to Lloyd as her own tears fell and splashed on his gentle but pain-stricken face.
"Please Lloyd…don't you dare leave us…or me." Stated Sheena as she gently kissed his forehead and brought him into a gentle embrace.
Suddenly she felt a slight bit of movement coming from his body. She backed her face away and heard Lloyd cough for moment. Slowly but surely his brownish eyes began to reopen.
After a taking in a deep breath he slowly picked himself up and took a slight seating position but even after this he still felt a bit lightheaded from the whole ordeal.
He was quickly interrupted though as Sheena suddenly tossed her arms happily around his waist. Her eyes while tear-filled gleamed with happiness at the same time.
"Huh…Sheena?" asked Lloyd slowly as he shook his head slightly.
"Lloyd you're okay. You're okay!" she told him giving him a massive hug.
Kratos as well smiled kindly at his son afterwards he mouthed a silent "Thank You" as he shifted his vision to the heavens above.
Lloyd cringed a bit, because of his healing wound, as Sheena hugged him but still found enough strength to return a hug to her even though he was still slightly confused as to what had happened. Suddenly the memory can back to him; he had saved her life from the mysterious attacker but in turn nearly lost his.
"Sheena are you okay?" said Lloyd with concern in his voice as he eyed the young summoner.
"What? I should be the one asking you that. But um yeah I'm fine Lloyd…thank you."
Sheena then smiled the kindest smile Lloyd had ever seen her give anyone. He also noticed her deep blush and how her head was slightly tipped in downwards almost as if she was trying to hide her blush from his eyes.
"Sheena…" said Lloyd softly before he ran a hand through her dark locks of hair and her right cheek, he then slightly lifted her head so they were eye to eye with each other.
"Don't worry about me. All that matters is that you're okay. I made a promise to you and to your grandfather…and I'm not going to break it. I'll always be here for you, Sheena." Then without rhyme or reason Lloyd gave her a quick yet gentle kiss on her cheek.
Afterwards Lloyd had fully realized what he had done and blushed a very deep crimson.
'Wait a second…why did I just do that…?' he wondered to himself.
Sheena as well was stunned by his actions but simply smiled at the young swordsman.
"I like the way you response to people who thank you." Stated Sheena with a small giggle.
The two friends then shared a laugh before they helped one another up.
Kratos who had been silent during the entire time simply smiled warmly at the youths. For he knew that slowly his son was realizing the hidden love he had for Sheena. Also he was proud to see that he would protect her at any cost.
Yes Kratos had already known about his son's feelings for the summoner even before they had parted ways three years ago. Through his own methods and with some info passed on to him by none other than Zelos Wilder. Kratos slowly pieced together that his son was beginning to fall for the summoner, or at the very least cared deeply for her.
Of course Lloyd was oblivious to this fact even when Tethe'alla's Chosen tried to "inform" him of her feelings for the clueless swordsman.
But it didn't matter for that was in the past and now Kratos could see plain as day that Lloyd was slowly awaking to those feelings, the same feelings that Sheena had for him.
Kratos then remembered when he himself told his beloved wife Anna that he would always be there for her as well. Even now many years after her death he still remembered her fondly. It was something that brought a gentle smile to his face though neither Lloyd nor Sheena caught sight of it.
'I truly believe Sheena would have gotten along just fine with Anna.' Thought Kratos happily.
Within the next few minutes the trio found their way out of the forest and met up with Noishe. Noishe arose from his resting position and welcomed them back in his own way, meaning with a kind "whine".
As they approached Noishe Lloyd, who was bandaged up, still continued to wonder just how exactly he felt for Sheena.
He remembered they had shared many great and fun filled times together and seemed to get along real well with one another.
Even back when she first joined their original group Lloyd was first of the group to really open up with her, she as well did the same. The others outside of Colette weren't still completely convinced with Sheena's motives so she distanced herself from them for awhile until Lloyd was able to convince her and the others to trust one another. Sheena never forgot that and neither did Lloyd.
Even now after traveling with her for three years they had gotten even closer each trusting the other with things that no one else ever knew. In time they became the best of friends and were each thankful for that.
Lloyd then remembered how he felt back at Mizuho when he saw Orochi bring in Sheena. The strange feeling of jealously he felt and he still couldn't explain why. Even now he nearly killed himself saving her but despite that he didn't regret his actions.
'Is it possible…that I, do I…do I have feelings for her? That could explain my recent emotions and actions. But still do I really have feelings of love for Sheena?' he continued to ask himself until his chain of thought was broken by Noishe's "bark".
"…Oh hey Noishe, good to see you're okay." Said Lloyd with a grin as he glanced at Sheena.
Sheena had semi cleaned her clothes from the bloodstains they once had only several small bits of crimson were still visible but only from up close.
'She really must have been worried about me…Sheena.' Thought Lloyd with a sigh.
Suddenly he felt a hand touch his shoulder and slightly leaped because of it. After the shock wore off he turned to his side and saw Kratos standing next to him.
"…Dad?"
"You seem troubled Lloyd. Is something wrong?"
"Um well…it's about what happen recently with that guy whoever he is and about me…and Sheena."
"Hmm I see."
"Well that young man is an apparent threat to us now. I have a strong feeling he is somehow connected to my attack back on Derris-Kharlan. But something about him felt odd…in a sense. I don't know exactly what it was but something within his aura seemed to grab my attention." Stated Kratos as he brought his free hand towards his chin.
"Really how so?"
"I don't know exactly…but there is something about him I can not grasp. But one thing I do know is that this youth is powerful. His Mana aura flowed intensely, the likes of which I have never felt before.
Only Mithos had that much power but it can not possibly be him…you know as well as I that Mithos is gone from this world." Kratos closed his eyes for a second before reopening them and continuing, "I feel that from this point on we must be on guard at all times."
"Yeah I agree, also I don't like the fact that this guy sure knows a good amount of information on us…yet we don't know a damn thing about him and what was he trying to hide with the robe and hood?" Lloyd sighed in frustration after he finished speaking.
"True it seems he wants to keep his identity a secret from us for whatever reason." Said Kratos as he ran his free hand through his locks of hair. "Now as to your second question, what exactly is the problem?" asked Kratos as he released his hand and gave Lloyd a slight head tilt.
"Well I'm not sure but I think I'm starting to have feelings for Sheena…"
"I see, are you positive about this?"
"Yeah, at least I think I am. I mean in the past three years we've gotten really close and I trust her with anything now as she does with me. But recently I've been feeling these strange emotions within me.
A certain happiness when she's around me also when she's safe. I nearly gave up my life to protect her…and even now I have no regrets about it. Also I felt weird when I saw Orochi carry her inside instead of me doing it…"
"That was a form of jealously Lloyd." Stated Kratos coolly.
"Yeah that's what I thought it was…but why would I be jealous of Orochi?" asked Lloyd with a confused look in his eyes.
"Perhaps because you have allowed Sheena to take a special and personal place in your heart that you now feel it is your own personal responsibility to protect her and no one else. Lloyd your jealously of Orochi merely shows me that you care for her in a much stronger way than you do for others." Said Kratos with a small smile.
"Heh you know I never thought of it that way, thanks again Dad. Man I sure am happy you're with me again." Stated Lloyd giving his father a full smile.
"Of course Lloyd anytime you need help or have a problem I'm here for you, my son." Kratos then smiled back as Lloyd nodded in response to his words.
An hour later the trio found themselves at the entrance of the small hidden village of Ozette.
"Well here are at last, hope Presea is home." Stated Lloyd as they walked up to a man standing watch at the entrance.
The man lazily turned to the trio and Noishe as they approached him.
"Hi" said Lloyd with a semi smile.
"Oh hello and welcome to Ozette…You know you folks are the first travelers we've had here in a while. What can I do for you?"
Kratos raised an eyebrow at the so-called "guard" though it went unnoticed.
"Yeah if its not too much trouble um do you know if Presea Combatir is in town?" asked Lloyd kindly.
"Presea…oh you mean the girl that works for the Lezareno company, right?" Lloyd nodded and the man continued, "…Sorry she hasn't been back home for sometime now, but I'm sure she's back at that company, again I'm sorry if you journeyed here for nothing." Said the man with a bow.
"Oh I see…nah forget about it and well thanks anyway." Lloyd then turned around to face the others. "Guess it's off to Altamira then."
"So it would seem…I have no objections." Stated Kratos as he crossed his arms around his chest.
"I agree with your Dad, Lloyd. I have no problem with that." Said Sheena with a grin.
"Alright lets go then." Lloyd then turned to face the man again. "Thanks for telling us about Presea though." The swordsman then bowed kindly.
"Of course." Said the man as the trio then made their leave.
Another hour passed and the trio now found themselves in sky as they sailed through the clouds using their Rheairds.
Lloyd and Sheena took a frontal position and Kratos stayed in the rear, but something seemed to have the elder man's attention.
Sheena glanced once to her rear after she noticed that Kratos had been quiet since they had left Ozette. In truth she knew that Kratos always was the silent type and seemed keep to himself a lot, as did Lloyd at times, but this time it felt different than usual.
"Kratos is something wrong? You seem deep in thought?" asked Sheena kindly.
Lloyd heard Sheena's words and tilted his head a bit so he could see his father's face. He noticed that it was true Kratos seem to be wondering about something.
"Hey Sheena's right you do seem to be wondering about something Dad, mind sharing what it is?"
Kratos blinked once before he spoke up to the youths.
"Actually its nothing really, it just seems to me that the man we spoke with back at Ozette's entrance was unusually kind about a question related to Presea.
I was under the impression that the villagers were not too fond of her. So what caused this sudden change of heart?" asked Kratos with a slight look of confusion in his eyes.
"Oh that's easy…oh yeah I forgot you weren't here for three years so some things have changed." Answered Lloyd with a nervous laugh.
"How so?" asked Kratos with a raised eyebrow.
Lloyd coughed a bit to kill his laughter before he spoke up. "Well for one thing the villagers of Ozette are much kinder to Presea since it was her that asked Regal to help reconstruct the burned down village."
"Yup, Presea went to Regal personally and asked for his assistance…the sweet girl wanted to do it by herself at first. Thankfully Regal agreed to assist her, for no matter how strong Presea is…she would have died from fatigue and all the hard labor had she gone through with her original plan." Added in Sheena with a slight frown as she finished.
"Ah I understand now. So that is why the hostility toward her has faded. Presea wanted to simply have a home to return to." Responded Kratos.
"Yeah I guess you could say that, and I assume also to show to the villagers that she held no grudge against them. Either way they no longer hate her and now welcome her when she visits her father's resting place." Said Lloyd with a small smile.
"That's good to hear, I assume you two have had previous conversations with Regal and Presea over the years, I'm I correct?" asked Kratos kindly.
"Yup you're correct Kratos, me and Lloyd have spoken with them a few times over the years…and even with that idiot of a Chosen…" said Sheena with a laugh.
"Yeah even though he's no longer a Chosen just like Colette both are actually former Chosen now. Thanks to some kind words from Zelos his sister Seles has become the one true Chosen.
Since the world was reunited it was decided that there is no need for two and only one Chosen would be needed. So Zelos spoke up for his little sister and the rest is well history. " Stated Lloyd.
"Interesting but I'm surprise Colette agreed to this I always believed that she was going to stay with the title that was her birth right?"
Sheena shook her head a bit before she spoke up. "Nope, just like Zelos, Colette wanted nothing more than a fun and simple life though she still devotes time to the church she's decided to simply settle down in Iselia."
"So the world has a new Chosen and the formers have now settled down in their own respected towns and started life anew." Said Kratos with a small smile.
"Yeah the only ones we haven't run into are Genis and Raine…" Stated Sheena with a frown.
"I see…though you shouldn't worry Sheena, they are greatly skilled with magic of all kinds so I'm sure they are safe no matter where they are." Said Kratos kindly.
"Yeah I suppose your right, thank you Kratos." Responded Sheena with a smile.
Kratos simply nodded to the young summoner's response.
"Yeah I'm sure Genis is doing alright…. and the Professor is probably having a great time seeing all those ruins again…bleh." Stated Lloyd with a roll of his eyes.
"Heh, I suppose some things never change." Said Kratos with a slight smile as he ran a hand through his hair, as the two youths simply laughed.
"Well Altamira is just up ahead so we should start descending don't you guys agree?" asked Sheena.
The Aurions nodded and the trio began their descend to the resort that was also the home to their friend, Nobleman Regal Bryant.