Tic: Hello people, welcome to the fourth chapter of Guardian Angel! Four is my unlucky number, so I've decided today will be an unlucky day for Kratos
Kratos: Oh… crap. :(
Tic: Now don't worry, you're not gonna get any serious injuries and/or deaths! That would be horrible for the plot.
Kratos: Hmph. Some relief. :leaves:
Lloyd: Actually Tic was just kidding! Jeez you don't have to leave!
Tic: great, thanks for ruining it Lloyd… anyway, as you can see I don't own Kratos. Or Anna. Or ToS! I only own this story! So have fun reading it!
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HomesickI don't know when I truly woke. For a long time, I felt as though I were flowing first into a dream and then out of it into reality, only to slip back into darkness once more. When I finally pulled out of my world of half-thoughts, I realized that I was back in my cell. My head was woozy, my vision blurry… I sat up as best I could with my heavily throbbing head, and ran my hand through my hair. Then I heard the voices.
They were distant and muffled, but sounded so wrathful the hair on my neck stood on end. This is oddly reminiscent of my first day here, I thought dryly. I could recognize the voices now, as they were drawing closer. Forcystus and Kratos were obviously having another argument, but this time they sounded much more heated. Instinctively I drew back and pressed against the wall of my cell, not eager to make myself noticed while they were so angry.
The door suddenly burst open and the pair walked in, Forcystus leading the way and Kratos looking livid and following. The other experiments in the room were moaning loudly, indifferent to the commotion.
"You cannot expect me to give you that much freedom, Kratos!" the green-haired Desian shouted at Kratos, his one eye glittering dangerously. "Kvar has already tipped me off… you're a suspicious one, you know. I can't let you!"
"Now it's a matter of who you trust more, Kvar or me," replied Kratos darkly, his voice calm but on the verge of shaking.
"I trust neither of you, only my own judgment!" Forcystus snarled back, twisting around and marching straight up to Kratos. I clambered to the back of my cage, my dizziness now completely forgotten. What were these two talking about?
"You know Lord Yggdrasill's orders," Kratos muttered, still calm. "Kvar knows it too, but he won't accept it! You know how he started this project, and he knows you will claim the glory if given the chance. You must let me—"
The whole room suddenly shook violently. I let out a small cry before falling; the entire room was suddenly filled with screams as the other experiments began to cry out confusedly. Forcystus had fired his cannon—FIRED HIS CANNON—in the midst of all of us! Kratos had dodged, though only narrowly. A semicircle was dug into the wall, still smoking. The Grand Cardinal, his robotic arm still exposing the energy cannon built into it, slowly pointed it again at Kratos.
"You really shouldn't try my patience," he whispered with malice. "You know how I don't have any." With that he turned and walked swiftly out the room. The door shut behind him with a little difficulty, as the door had been dented in the explosion.
Kratos simply stared at the crater on the wall, anger impounded into every inch of his body. I watched with morbid curiosity, though I knew that I would be thrashed in an instant if he found out that I had been eavesdropping. Then again, with an argument like that, who could miss out on it? I didn't know what to think.
The red-haired man finally stalked angrily to the door, fully intending to leave, but then he seemed to change his mind. I hastily lowered my eyes as Kratos approached, half from fear and half from—no, no. It was all fear… Of course it was all fear! What else could I feel for my tormentor? A small argument began to flutter in my chest, but it quickly died out. I caught my breath as Kratos quickly unlocked the door to my cell. It opened with a quiet beep.
"Anna," he said shortly. "I had a little discussion with Forcystus, as you can see. It concerned you."
"Yes, I saw…" I replied, turning my face up to him at last. I kept my eyes looking down, though. "What… what are you going to do with me?"
He laughed suddenly, a sound that took me by surprise. Then he crouched onto the floor so that we were eye-to-eye. "I don't want to be your 'instructor' anymore, to be frank," he said softly. His words hit my like stones.
Not my instructor? Then who, Forcystus himself? I would be dead within the week, I knew it.
"Instead, I wanted to take full control of the Angelus Project," he continued. "Kvar's already found out about Lord Yggdrasill's intent, but Forcystus refuses to see the fact that—"
He stopped when he noticed me, with mouth agape and a stupidly shocked expression on my face. Hastily I shut it, angrily reprimanding myself for committing such an idiotic blunder. Here he was, spilling deep Desian secrets, and I had ruined myself of the chance for escape! All because I was surprised at the fact Kratos had decided to be so bold with the whole Project!
"I apologize… I have spoken too much," he said, turning away bluntly. I thought I felt a little weariness in that smooth voice of his.
"I want to go home, Kratos," I suddenly whispered. For some reason I thought that I wouldn't get punished for voicing such thoughts, and for once my thoughts were right.
"You can't," he said simply. "I'm sorry…"
Was that compassion in his soul? I felt so torn. I was the prisoner, I was the slave, I was the Project. Why was I being apologized to? I'd never known any pity from anyone before, especially a Desian. It was enough to make any head spin.
Before I could help myself, though, I began to sob openly. "Why can't I go home? Why can't I leave this wretched place?" I cried bitterly. Why, indeed?
"My entire family… you Desians killed them. My mother, my father, my brother, all of my family was slaughtered in an instant!" I raged on, oblivious to the consequences. I ignored the twinge in my hand, a twinge caused by the Crystal. "WHY? I WANTED A NORMAL LIFE… WHY DID YOU SINGLE ME OUT?"
I collapsed onto my arms, still weak from my excursion earlier. The strain of shouting had tired me out. I still sobbed, though, my tears feeding a slowly growing puddle on the floor.
I tensed when his hands suddenly gripped my shoulders and pulled me back into a sitting position. The tears I had shed moments before couldn't hide my blush—why was I blushing? I averted my eyes from Kratos's own. I couldn't look into his eyes… not yet.
Something else filled my vision, though, and it took me awhile to realize that I was staring at my own reflection. Kratos was holding a small mirror in front of my face, and the girl I saw in that window shocked me into tears again.
I hadn't looked at myself for many years, ever since I was a normal girl of six. My face was dirty and streaked, as ugly as the earth itself must have looked at its creation. My brown hair was rough and cropped short, so that I resembled a young boy. Though my true age was 24, my reflection showed the image of an aged woman. The image was so familiar, and yet so ghostly at the same time. I looked away, but there was nowhere else to look except into Kratos's eyes. Instead, I buried my face into my arms and began to cry once more.
I don't know how long we sat there, with my uncontrollable crying and his silence. Eventually, though, he spoke.
"You aren't alone as long as you trust someone," he said quietly.
I raised my head, still smeared with tears. "I don't trust anyone," I replied. "Why did you give me that potion?" He seemed surprised by the sudden change of subject, but dropped his eyes and reluctantly answered.
"It wasn't a potion. It was just some juice…" he said, a little sheepishly. "I'm sorry for lying to you, Anna. But there were too many sensors… I'm not allowed to be kind. You should know that."
Sensors! Dammit, I'd nearly forgotten about those. "But this room… it has cameras! I saw them!"
"Don't worry," he said, laughing softly. "I turned them off, so no one can hear us." I breathed a sigh of relief.
"Well, thank you… Kratos," I said stiffly. "I still want to go home… Why couldn't I have a normal life?"
Kratos slowly stood up and turned away. "I'm sorry…. I can't do anything about that," he replied sadly. That sadness… I felt it was sincere, but by now I wasn't surprised at all. Kratos had a kind heart.
"I see," I said shakily, trying to stop my tears. I was crying too much for my own good. I didn't normally cry—this was a first. "I suppose I should just blame my fate, shouldn't I? Fate has been cruel…"
Kratos stepped out of my cell and closed the door. I caught a shy smile on his face, another emotion that looked sincere to me.
"Blame your fate… Yes, it is a cruel thing to say, but it is true." His smile faded away, and it was like shutting a door. Once more, I could not read his face. Once more he became another hidden entity, another Desian in this whole city of Desians.
After he left I felt a terrible loneliness. It was like losing my mother all over again, though I couldn't fathom why.
He is your enemy, I told myself repeatedly. And he was. That would never change. And though I had just woken up, I suddenly felt so weary that I lay back down. The world swirled, making taunting faces. I do not know when reality finally ended and my dreams finally began.
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Tic: so that was chapter four. I started it at 12:30 AM and now it is 1:16 AM! Kudos to me. Right. I guess the fact that I wrote it really fast balances the suckiness? No, I don't think so… Well, anyway, please read and review! Also, next chapter will be very exciting, I promise! (I hope…)