A/N: Yeah, I know, kinda short. I just wanted to put something out there since it's been awhile since that last update. Um…I haven't forgotten about this. Just been busy and very lazy. But make sure to stay tuned for the next chapter when…stuff happens! OMG!

XXX

Kratos arrived at the manor as soon as the sun came up, beaming down its soft rays onto the limestone bricks that lined the streets and walls, making them warm and inviting to the touch. He knocked on the door and was greeted by a butler who ushered him in and politely requested he wait while the Master finished preparing himself. Kratos noted that this was the same butler who had greeted him yesterday. Wasn't there any others? He found it odd that this man, Sebastian, was the only apparent staff that ran the house. In a place this big, it was typical to have more. But this was a trivial thought, as all were except for ones that concerned completing his current mission; making sure the Chosen could defend himself. Then Kratos would greatfully head home. Home, could he really call it that?

He shook his head; again, trivial. Just like last night, when he laid awake wondering who that woman was in the picture and what her significance had been. She really was beautiful. He noticed she had eyes similar to ones the Chosen had been blessed with and although one of his had been recently damaged in a bar fight, they hadn't lost that peculiar gleam that seemed unique only to that particular shade of blue.

Kratos unconsciously began tapping his foot impatiently as he waited. Ten, twenty minutes, maybe even half an hour passed and there was no sign of Zelos. Kratos wished he would hurry; he was letting his mind wander again out of nothing than perhaps pure boredom. How long could a man possibly take to get dressed in the morning? He himself only rolled out of bed and ran a brush through his hair and teeth. His clothes were always carefully laid out the night before as he liked to be organized about things like that, so there was never much of a delay.

His gaze once again strayed to that large oil painting of the woman with blonde hair. He noticed there were others too, only these paintings portrayed scenery. Beautiful spring gardens, vast sunny beaches, and other such things were painted in rich vivacious colors.

The collector seemed to favor that sort of summery tone.

"Sorry to keep you waiting!" Kratos snapped his attention away from the walls of the living room to see Zelos standing on the top of the staircase, looking very much like the king of his castle. He smiled brightly and made his way down the steps in a manner that made it appear as if he was gliding on air. It was hard to believe this was the same pathetic excuse for a living person Kratos had found curled up in a ball in his bed yesterday.

"Good morning, Chosen, it seems you are feeling better," Kratos stated but he didn't miss the slight discoloring under one eye that even a heavy layer of make-up couldn't quite hide.

"Yeah well, I still feel like shit but the sooner I get out and train, the sooner I can go kick the guys' asses who did this to me, right?" Zelos said as he reached the foot of the steps so that he was now standing just a few feet away from Kratos. It gave him the perfect view to see the disapproving frown Kratos was wearing.

"I don't think revenge is the proper motive for this sort of thing. If that's how it's going to be, I'll leave now."

"I was just kidding! Geez, lighten up will ya?" Zelos grinned but Kratos just stared back at him with a face that he would have killed for in a poker game. The grin the redhead had been wearing died on his lips. It wasn't so much the fact that the man was so stoic that unsettled Zelos. Those vacant eyes were what got to him. "So, um…where we off to?"

"You'll see," Kratos answered lightly while turning to leave, not bothering to look back to see if his new student was following him. Zelos had to run for a moment to catch up with the man. He really walked fast! Or maybe he just walked with importance, Zelos couldn't tell. Still, he was curious to see where this mysterious new man was going to take him for their first lesson.

"Are we going into the forest?" Zelos questioned, figuring there would be tons of monsters there and thus a good place to practice fighting. Kratos remained silent. "No, the Temple of Darkness maybe? I've always wanted to go there!" Zelos' eyes lit up at the thought. The king had guards that watched his every move so it was very difficult to get out beyond the city walls. He had his ways though.

"No, I wouldn't take you to a place like that."

"Why not? I'm the Chosen," Zelos stated simply.

"So?"

"So, I was meant to go places like that. It's in my blood."

"You're not ready yet." Zelos narrowed his eyes at the man's back, already disliking the superior attitude that practically radiated off of him. He was well aware that first impressions could often be misleading though, that you should never judge a book by its cover. So he pressed on.

"Where you from?"

"That's not important."

"You don't talk much do you?"

"I do when it is necessary. Otherwise I enjoy my silence, yes." Zelos half wondered if that was a polite way of asking him to shut the hell up. No, it couldn't be though. Didn't everyone love the sound of his voice? It was quite melodious. The mercenary should be honored.

"Alright, sorry. Just trying to get to know you better is all."

"Why?" Kratos asked as if it was the most absurd question he had ever heard in his life. Zelos gave him a strange look. What kind of response was that?

Kratos didn't notice the baffled expression directed at him and continued walking just a few paces ahead of his companion. Zelos caught up to the man's side and took the chance to study him quietly. His face seemed to be plastered with a permanent scowl and he was wearing dark colors, complete with a long trench coat that floated around his legs as he walked. Zelos noticed he didn't have his sword on him today. He found that odd.

"Ya ever smile?" Zelos tried again, raising an eyebrow wryly. Kratos turned to meet his eyes for the first time since their little walk. Zelos looked down at the ground quickly, trying to ignore the cold shiver that went down his spine.

"I suppose I have in the past."

"Does that mean you don't anymore?"

"I can't recall a recent occurrence… No," Kratos admitted after some consideration.

"You know it takes less muscles to smile then it does to frown," Zelos stated and Kratos wondered if the boy actually believed that was enough to change his mind or if he merely wanted to demonstrate his knowledge of the human body and how it worked. Why make a pointless observation such as that? The Chosen seemed to be full of them. It's not as if Kratos didn't already know these things.

They walked a few more paces and Kratos found comfort in the silence. He heard a soft chuckle from his companion; apparently he wasn't done talking yet, "That's really why I do it all the time, not because I'm happy but because I'm lazy. Less work, ya know?"

"I suppose that is a reasonable method." Kratos felt the urge to smirk pull at his lips but he ignored it promptly. They had reached their destination; the time for idle chatting was thankfully over. Zelos noticed the mercenary had stopped and looked up at the building that was now looming over the two of them.

"This is…" Zelos frowned as a look of realization came over his face and that look quickly became sour. "I can't believe this, I don't wanna go back to school!" he whined. It was the Meltokio Private Academy, the very place Zelos had just graduated from a few months ago. He hadn't even noticed that's where they had been heading, too wrapped up in the conversation. Which was probably the most one-sided conversation Zelos ever had to endure in his life. Honestly, it was like prying teeth.

"I contacted the headmaster and he's letting us borrow a private room for the duration of your training," Kratos stated in a tone that gave Zelos the impression he was supposed to be grateful for this display of generosity on the headmaster's part. He wasn't! How could he be? He wanted to kick some ass, not learn his ABC's all over again!

"I thought I was going to learn how to fight!"

"You are, but we must start from the basics. You will learn the fundamentals before I ever let you lay your hand on a sword," Kratos scolded and Zelos sighed. Here he was thinking that this whole training ordeal was going to involve snapping wood with his bare hands and sitting underneath waterfalls and whatnot. Looked like it was going to be another long boring process instead. Like the etiquette classes the King insisted he attend, and the years of Sunday masses that the Pope practically black-mailed him into attending just to make the holy man look better.

"Yeah, fine, lead the way," Zelos said in a less than enthusiastic manner.

"Be patient Zelos, I promise this will pay off."

"I'm going to hold you to that," Zelos stated ashe followed his teacher into the building.

XXX

"You know…at least if you had boobs I'd have something to stare at when you ramble on like this" Zelos seemed to mumble out as if the thought just slipped from his mind, sitting with his chin in his palm and gazing out the window blankly. Kratos stopped talking mid-sentence and just sort of let his mouth hang open at the brash and rather unexpected statement. Zelos curiously glanced to the desk at the front of the room the man was currently leaning on. He wanted to die laughing at the expression on his face but held it in for the most part.

"Excuse me?"

"Oh…did I say that out loud? Heh…"

"Zelos…Please start taking this seriously or stop wasting my time." Kratos crossed his arms and fixed his troublesome student with a hard glare.

"Yeah I know, I was just kidding," Zelos said in a reassuring manner.

"Really? Care to give me a summary of today's lesson?"

"Love to!" Zelos smiled brightly but Kratos could have sworn he'd never seen one so fake. The readhead then went on to recite his version of the hour long lesson he had just sat through. Kratos nodded and watched the boy with an indifferent expression on his face, but the truth was that he couldn't be more surprised the boy had actually been paying attention. "…the sword is an extension of yourself and therefore the mind must be at ease for the blade to be steady…or something like that. Right?" Kratos realized that Zelos had wrapped up summary and nodded his head slowly.

"…Impressive. Perhaps you really are ready."

"Yeah, thanks. When do I get to hack shit up?" Zelos grinned broadly and Kratos rested a hand on his forehead as he mentally counted to ten. Perhaps he had spoke too soon.