Title: Protozoan

Characters: Lloyd, Kratos, Noishe

Themes: #3 - Photograph, #55 - Pet, #94 - Goodbye

"Don't die before I do, Lloyd…my son."

III

Thunder tears the sky like the edges of the battered image in your hands. It's not old, it's just been through a lot on your travels to finish what you father began millennia ago.

You want to resent the duty that's been forced upon you and also the man whose actions led you along this path. But looking at this photograph, taken only a year ago, just before your journey to destroy the ex spheres began, you wonder how he is.

Is Kratos alive? Do you want him to be? You can't die before him but, clutching your side, you wonder how much longer you'll have to wait. There is no telling you'll ever know. But you'll feel it.

The legacy that began with a journey'll end with what adventurers and scholars say is the greatest journey of all. And what was Kratos if not intelligent and what're you if not an adventurer? Your father will die soon, alone among the stars. Not that you can see the stars in the cloudy dusk. You won't die alone; Noishe refuses to leave and you don't want Colette to see this, so you can't persuade Noishe to find her.

You may not die alone, but you know that your father will be. He has let age get to him at last, half-elf or no. He has accepted his human side now that his job is done. Now that yours is done, you don't mind losing to such a comparatively weak monster. Your father will die in the battle against the ultimate enemy of all life; finally he will stop struggling against it. Noishe whines, and you strain your throat to whisper a reassurance.

The sky threatens to shatter. The clouds darken further. And even now you can see the silver lining there.

II

The darkened halls hold many memories. I don't want to dwell on them but I must. I used to believe I was better on my own, with no ties to hold me back or get in my way, but now I have become accustomed to it. It's hard enough already to be alone now that I've been reminded of what I used to have - friends and family. I can't have that now, and I won't in the future. There isn't much of a future left for me, and as much as I want it, I have the feeling that I won't live on in the next generation either.

Now I've finished the journey I began so long ago with three friends, finally it ends with the memory of ten friends, a wife and a son. Sometimes I think so hard on them, wishing that they were all around me once again, that…no, I don't see them, or even hear them, no matter how lonely I may feel now. It's a foolish belief. I only forget. I refuse to forget anymore.

A shuddering cough. Are the floor tiles cold? The dark on the edge of my vision is finally welcome.

I

The clouds burst at last and a single raindrop free-falls onto your forehead. The forerunner. You know it's okay to follow now. You raise your hand in a mock goodbye salute to stars that you still can't see. It's a shame as you'd always loved stars.

Noishe is making sure that you don't die alone, and now you'll make sure your father doesn't die alone. Your hand falls to your side. Your dog, the protozoan howls, but it's distant now. It becomes anguished screaming. Human hands grab your arms. The rain falls on a crumpled photograph of eight smiling faces.

No true explnation for that one. Yes, I know I promised a Sheena one next but this one hit me and I find its best to write them as they come. I know the 'pet' link was tenuous but I couldn't fit it in as well as I'd planned due to the structure.

Oh and the bit at the end, in case you're confused was a reference to Noishe's protozoan species. The children in Heimdall say he's one and that they steadily evolve on and on, while they're alive. Noishe will be a human next. At the end of this, Noishe becomes human. Random, I know, but it seemed like a good idea at the time...

Ever experimenting, I decided to write alternating second and first person. I sure hope you can tell who's who, if not shame on you just as muhc as me. Also, I decided to structure the sections quite a bit while I was at it. I couldn't say all I wanted as a result, but I managed to get the first part to 300 words exactly, the second to 200 words and the last to 100 words. It's metaphoric in its own right, I tell you. I'm kinda proud of this one. Maybe. I need to get back in the swing of pain, blood and VENGENCE. Hum. Sheena next, I swear. Really. Honest.