A/N: It's the heroes of Symphonia vs. Abyssion pre-game show! Enjoy!
A
number of people seem to believe that Kratos is gonna die. Hmm…
guess
we'll see, eh?
Thanks again for all the kind reviews and I apologize for the lengthy delay in-between chapters. I'm beginning to work on the first chapters of two of my soon-to-be stories as well as my other two works in progress, "Under the Sky So Blue" and "A Fun, Easy Life", so work on this story is somewhat delayed. Rest assured though that my main efforts are concentrated on this story.
Work isn't helping either Xx Anyway, enjoy the new chapter!
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Chapter 8: A Ray of Hope
"Lloyd? It's time to wake up," said Kratos softly.
Lloyd opened eyes and saw that Sheena was still in his embrace, sound asleep. He kissed her on the tip of her nose, being as careful as possible to not wake her up. That being said, he took great care in slowly letting her go and pulling himself away. Despite the successful blood transfusion, he thought that she would still be too weak to fight and thought that it would be best if she just stayed behind. Once free from her, he stood up and looked down at her.
"Dad, please be honest with me," he half-asked his father.
Without looking at his son, Kratos asked in reply, "What is it son?"
Lloyd said nothing for a moment as he gazed at his sleeping beauty. He then looked up at his father and asked, "Do you think there's any chance that we can win?" He looked back down at Sheena. "Will I be able to see her again?" he asked in an almost inaudible tone.
The angel remained silent. How could he answer a question like that? In his heart of hearts, he didn't think victory was possible. Sheena fell very quickly against Abyssion's assault and felt that Lloyd and himself would last much longer, even with his own repertoire of magic. However, he couldn't just tell his son that. It just wasn't fair. His son had only got to spend one night with the woman he was finally able to confess his love to and more-than-likely wouldn't see her again… except perhaps in the afterlife.
"Anna," he said to himself. "What should I do?"
He looked down at his son and saw a single teardrop fall to the shadowy floor as Lloyd was staring at Sheena. It was just too heart-breaking. For a moment, Kratos had regretted pulling Lloyd aside last night and explaining to him the meaning of love. If he hadn't, perhaps Lloyd wouldn't be as heart-broken as he was now.
"No Kratos… you did the right thing," said a voice that sounded like Anna's in the back of his mind. "Give him something to fight for. Everyone knows that the heart is potentially the most powerful weapon in the world Give him… a ray of hope."
"A ray of hope…" The voice was right. Even if he shouldn't have told him in the first place, Kratos had to give Lloyd a sense of hope so that he could fight at full strength if not more. However, he had to be careful not too give him too much confidence. Kratos took a deep breath of the cold, stale air of the dark temple.
"I'm not going to lie to you Lloyd," he started with a bit of hesitation, "our chances aren't great." He watched as a saddening look came across Lloyd's face. Kratos held up a finger. "However, that's merely from one point of view, perhaps from that of an outsider's. We, on the other hand, know better, Lloyd. We have something to fight for, you more so than myself. We both seek to stop Abyssion from terrorizing the world outside these doors, but you…" He pointed to the still sleeping Sheena. "You have to fight for her. She is your ray of hope and you are her's. You have to protect her, and in order to do so, you have to give everything you've got to defeat Abyssion. She's counting on you Lloyd, and as the man she has entrusted her love to, it is your duty to do everything you can to defeat Abyssion. Do you understand, Lloyd?"
Lloyd was silent for a moment as he took everything in. He looked over at Sheena. "Sheena…" he said to himself. "I… don't know how I'll do it… but…" He turned back to Kratos, a defiant look shining in his eyes as he did so. "I'm going to fight! Not just for the world, but for… Sheena! I won't let anything hurt her! Let me at 'em!" He started charging towards the stairs leading downward before Kratos grabbed his shirt.
"Easy, son. Let's both go get him," he said in a comforting tone.
Lloyd eased up a bit and looked back at his father. "All right dad. Let's do it!"
They nodded to each other and proceeded to walk to the staircase leading down. Before they could take their first step downward, a load "Ahem!" and boot stomp could be heard. The two angels turned around slowly to see a smiling Sheena with her arms folded across her chest. "What's the matter?" she asked. "You boys act like you've seen a ghost."
They took a step back. "Sheena?!" exclaimed Lloyd. "Y-you're awake!"
She slowly walked in their direction. "Of course I'm awake, silly! You guys wanna tell me why you were gonna leave me behind?" Once she reached them, she put her hands on her hips, leaned forward, and glared at them.
Kratos shook his head. "I apologize Sheena. I was under the impression that you'd be too weak from your wound from yesterday to join us. That being said, I must ask you something: how is it that you're able to walk and protest with so much energy? What of your wound? Last night, you could barely talk or move. Yet, here you are now moving about as if nothing happened."
Sheena removed the makeshift bandage that covered the spot where her wound was supposed to be, exposing the bare flesh underneath. Much to Lloyd and Kratos' surprise, the wound was no longer there. In fact, there wasn't even so much as a scar or even a red mark. It looked as if it had never been struck. "I'm not so sure myself. I woke up a few minutes before Lloyd did and I-"
Lloyd cut her off, his face reddening as he did so. "Wah?! You were awake the whole time Kratos and I were speaking?"
Sheena shot a sly smile at him. "'Course I was. Thanks for asking... thanks for wanting to protect me, hero."
Lloyd scratched his head and closed his eyes. "Ah heh heh…"
She continued. "Anyway, I woke up and felt surprisingly refreshed considering what I had been through. I felt for the wound and noticed that it wasn't there. I'm not sure what happened, but it doesn't matter. I'm just glad I'll be able to see this through to the end with both of you."
Lloyd lost the "aw shucks" look on his face and brought his hand up to his chin as he was thinking. "That's pretty weird. I was sure it was gonna leave a scar. I wonder what happened."
Kratos had remained silent throughout the course of the conversation as he was taking everything in. He remembered what he had seen last night as the young lovers slept the last night and he felt that he had an idea of what was going on.
He turned to his son. "Lloyd, roll up your right sleeve. I want to see something."
He turned to his father, a bit perplexed. "Huh? Why?"
Kratos said nothing and instead stared at Lloyd. His son shrugged and he rolled up his sleeve. Kratos removed the bandage that was covering the small scar that was created via the blood transfusion process. Just as he had thought, the scar was no longer there.
"Hmm… just as I thought," he said thoughtfully.
Now Sheena was confused. "Thought what?"
He turned to her. "Lloyd had a tiny scar on his arm created by the blood transfusion process I performed between the two of you last night. It is no longer there."
Lloyd looked down at his arm. Sure enough, the scar was missing. Sure, it was small in the first place, but it was still a scar. "Whoa, wait a sec; I know there was one there last night. Scars don't just disappear… do they?"
Kratos thought for a moment. He grinned. "Heh. So that's it."
Lloyd was becoming quite agitated. "Ugh! Why do you always have to be so mysterious? Do you know what happened to us?"
Kratos turned around and began to walk downstairs. "It's not important. Come along, don't dawdle. We have an archfiend to take down."
The summoner and swordsman turned to each other. They examined their wounds once more and shook their heads.
"I don't get it," said Sheena.
Lloyd nodded in agreement. "What makes it worse is that Kratos knows what's going on and won't tell us."
She sighed and smiled at Lloyd. "That Kratos… some things never change."
He nodded again. "Yeah. If he wasn't like that, I would think that someone kidnapped the real Kratos and replaced him with an imposter. They both laughed at Lloyd's last comment. It was short-lived however, for, from the bottom of the first flight of stairs, Kratos could be heard yelling, "Come along! Let's not keep Abyssion waiting!"
The laughter slowly died after they heard this. They gazed into each other's eyes for a moment.
"Lloyd... let's do this!" said Sheena proudly.
"Yeah! Let's show him who's the boss!" said Lloyd in response.
They then held hands as they walked down the staircase that Kratos had just descended down. As they held hands, the entire temple began to slowly light up. They didn't notice this until they were half-way down on account of the light already produced by Kratos' wings. Once they stopped and witnessed the brightening of the room. Once it was all said and done, the temple had brightened to the level of early morning twilight. While not exceptionally bright, the light was certainly an improvement over the darkness that had preceded it.
"Another mystery! What the heck is going on here?" Lloyd asked as he and Sheena looked around.
Kratos took note that the light didn't come about until they had begun to hold hands. There was no doubt about it now. They would not be alone in fighting Abyssion. "Heh…not bad," said Kratos quietly.
Sheena looked back down at Kratos. "Huh? Did you say something Kratos?"
He shook his head. "Let's hurry on." He did so.
The two lovers blinked twice, shrugged, and walked after him, hands still held as they did so.
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After a long descent, the three heroes finally reached the bottom floor where an imprisoned and highly agitated Abyssion awaited them. An evil smirk crossed his features. "Heh. Hey! Who turned on the lights?"
Despite having made the trip downward with so much confidence, Sheena was beginning to feel great amounts of fear within her. She took a few steps back as she held the spot where Abyssion had injured her before.
Lloyd turned to her. "Sheena… it's not too late. If you're scared, you can go back."
Sheena first looked at Lloyd. Then, she turned to the demonic Abyssion. The guardian's prison wouldn't last much longer, a few minutes, tops. This was her last chance to do anything before he broke free. Her brain was telling her to run away. Her heart was telling her otherwise. It told her to stay with Lloyd until the end, even if it meant her own death. She turned back to Lloyd.
"I… I want to be with you Lloyd," she started, "no matter what. I love you Lloyd. I will fight with you!"
He gave her a nervous but otherwise warm smile as he embraced her. "I love you too Sheena. I'll do whatever it takes to defend you. Just stay close to me, ok?"
She nodded to him, sharing with him the same warm smile that he wore. "Thank you Lloyd."
Abyssion could be heard chuckling. "Bleh! Are you trying to make me sick?" Almost on cue, the prison around Abyssion slowly began to fade into nothingness. He smirked. "Heh. Good timing." As he awaited the full disappearance of the prison, he drew Soul Eater and crouched into a sprinter's stance, ready to pounce on whoever he decided his first victim would be.
Kratos brought his sword-arm to the hilt of his blade, ready to draw it when the time was right. "Lloyd! Sheena! This is it! We have to destroy him, no matter what!"
Lloyd drew the Valkyrie sabers and Sheena drew Acalantha, a card with a picture of Luna on the front. The two assumed their battle stances, prepared to face the greatest enemy they had ever known. Not even Mithos or the incarnations of their sins from Welgaia would stand a chance against Abyssion. Despite the chances of victory being slim, they were fully prepared to fight with every last ounce of strength.
The time finally came. The prison completely faded, leaving Abyssion uninhibited and free to roam about. The smirk that was on his face vanished as well as extreme hate crossed his features. "YOU DARE STAND AGAINST ME?! ME?!?! YOU'RE ALL GOING TO DIE IN THIS VERY TEMPLE!!!"
With a blood-curdling scream, he leaped at the staunch defenders, sword reared back as he did so.
Kratos put his shield in front of him, prepared for the worst. "This is it! Here he comes!"
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And so ends the pre-game show! Now it's time for the prize fight: Kratos, Lloyd, and Sheena vs. Abyssion. Is victory even possible? Only one way to find out, and that's by reading my next installment of "Unconditional Love"! Thanks again for any reviews. As always, they are greatly appreciated. Next chapter coming soon!
