Chapter 23: "They've Found Us!"
The family had lived happily in the village of Iselia for about three years with no word of Kvar or the Desians. The sun rose one morning on a particularly overcast day.
"Mommy! Mommy! Dark clouds!" Lloyd said happily that morning looking out the window.
"Yes, Lloyd. Dark clouds." Anna kneeled on the floor next to her son. "What do dark clouds mean?"
"Rain!" Lloyd screamed. "Rain, rain, go away!" Kratos walked into the living room and shook his head slightly.
"Lloyd wants to go play?" he asked.
"Daddy!" the little boy ran over to his father. "Make dark clouds leave!"
"I can't make the dark clouds leave. But…maybe if you ask them nicely, they'll go away." He smiled down at his son and watched the boy scramble back over to the window.
"Please go away, clouds?" he asked. After waiting a couple minutes, the boy turned back to his father. "They aren't leaving! Make them leave Daddy!"
"Give them time, Lloyd. You can't expect everything to just happen. Some things take time." Kratos walked over and sat with his family.
"Why not?" Lloyd asked, cocking his head to one side and staring at his father.
"Because that's not how it works, honey." Anna said, stroking Lloyd's hair. "The clouds will go away."
"Daddy said they would if I asked nicely."
"What else has Daddy told you?" Anna glared at Kratos.
"What?" Kratos asked, slightly offended.
"What have you been telling him?" she asked again.
"I haven't said anything 'out-of-bounds' if that's what you're implying." Kratos huffed.
"Good." At that point, there was a knock at the door. Anna sighed and stood up to answer it. As she opened the door, Yuan charged in, his blue hair hanging out of its ponytail and his eyes wide.
"Lord Kratos! You have to get your family out of here!"
"What? Why?" the auburn-haired Seraph stood up and stared blankly at Yuan.
"Yggdrasill! He's found you and he's sent Kvar!"
"What? NO!" Anna cried. "What are we going to do?"
"Go to Triet. I'll hold them off…"
"No, Yuan. I won't run. I'm a Seraph, for Martel's sake!"
"Daddy! What's happening?" Lloyd ran over and hugged Kratos' leg.
"Don't worry, son. Mommy and I will take care of everything." Kratos bent over and looked Lloyd straight in the eyes.
"What about Uncle Yuan?" the boy asked. Yuan smiled slightly at the endearment.
"Listen to your father, Lloyd. We will handle everything." Yuan answered. Lloyd nodded. Just then, a burst of light came through the window and open door. A voice, then a flurry of other sounds, and finally, a figure appeared in the doorway.
"Well done, Yuan. How very nice to see you again, Kratos."
"Lord Yggdrasill." Loyalty and status dictated that he knelt, so he did so, taking this opportunity to hide Lloyd behind him.
"You've been very disobedient, Kratos. When I summon you, you had better answer!" Yggdrasill stomped in and, grabbing Kratos by the collar, jerked the angel to his feet. "We can't have Origin's Seal running all over Sylvarant, now can we?" The leader of Cruxis was momentarily distracted when Lloyd started to cry. Anna rushed over to pick him up before Yggdrasill did.
"Hush, Lloyd. It's going to be fine…"
"Don't lie to the boy." Yggdrasill smiled evilly at the mother and son. Then, as if things couldn't get any worse, he saw it. "You!" He rounded on Kratos and grabbed him again. "So! This is where you've been hiding the Angelus Project!"
"Let me go, Lord Yggdrasill." Kratos growled.
"How amusing. A minion ordering his leader!"
"I am no longer your minion. I do as I please."
"Oh, ho. No, Kratos, I believe you are mistaken. You do as I please. Now, come back to Derris Kharlan like a good angel and I'll be lenient with you."
"I will return…"
"Kratos! No! You can't!" Anna cried.
"…on one condition." Kratos narrowed his eyes at the Cruxis Lord. "You leave them alone…to live happily and safely anywhere they wish."
"Ha, ha, ha!" Yggdrasill laughed. "Let the Angelus Project go free? Why do you care so much?"
"For the same reason you care about Martel." Kratos knew instantly he had gone too far when he saw the pure, unadulterated evil gleam in his lord's eyes.
"You are never to mention her name in my presence!" Yggdrasill started to glow and a ring of light appeared beneath his feet.
"Anna! Get Lloyd to safety! He's casting!" Kratos called. Anna held Lloyd close and ran to one of the back rooms. Just in time, too, because at the exact moment that the dull thud of a door shutting, Yggdrasill cast Judgment. It didn't hit anyone, but it damaged a lot of furniture.
"You missed." Kratos mocked weakly.
"Why did you protect them? Who are they to you?" Yggdrasill roared.
"As I said before…They are to me who your sister is to you…family."
"Family?" Yggdrasill dropped Kratos into a heap on the floor and left him there panting for breath while he headed back through the house. Kratos sat straight up when a door slammed open and Lloyd screamed. He bolted for the room.
is the suspense killing you yet? if you review, i'll put it (the suspense) out of your misery.