A/N Thanks for the response yet again! I'm not too happy about this chapter...but I hope it is ok! BTW freaking LOOOOONG chappie for me! Stick with it! Please review.
Lloyd's eyebrows twitched as he rolled his head against the rough bark of the tree. Blinking against the sunlight, the teenager awoke from his deep sleep and rubbed the back of his aching neck vigorously.
It was dusk, an eerie red glow was tainting the Sylverant sky and the echoing calls of owls filled the trees. Lloyd rubbed his eyes and crossed his legs, gripping his feet and yawning. He noticed something sticking out of the floor only a few metres away from where he was sat.
Flamberge. His sword. Confused, Lloyd crawled over to the blade, hoisting it out of the soft mud easily, wiping it on his red jacket. He threw it back and forth between his palms while his brain whirred. What was his sword doing here?
Wait...
His sword? It's his father's sword!
Why was it here? Why didn't Kratos have it?!
Lloyd sprung to his feet, gripping the sword tightly in his right hand, and he sped around the tree in panic.
'Huh...?'
Lloyd scrunched his face up in confusion. There at the base of the tree sat his family. His mother, asleep on Kratos's shoulder, Kratos with his arm around her, resting his head on hers, and a three year old Lloyd curled up on his father's lap, the older man's hand covering his shoulders like a blanket. A white and green Protozoan was lay on guard, his dark eyes shining as they darted across the area.
And there, next to the sleeping family, was the sheath holding the blood red sword.
'What?' Lloyd looked down at the sword he was holding, passing it between his hands once more. It was unmistakably the sword he had fought Yggdrasill with. So why were there two of them?
'That's stange...' Lloyd looked up from the sword and back down at his family. Shaking his head, he smiled and sat opposite them, clutching his knees to his chest. He had never seen Kratos sleep so calmly, so relaxed, happy even. Lloyd was glad. He even envied his younger self, curled up, asleep and safe in the Seraph's grasp.
If he was honest, Lloyd had never really felt comfortable around Kratos. He did everything in his power to impress the older man, even from the first time they met in Martel temple. He was delighted to have Kratos train him to be a better fighter, and hurt beyond words when his trainer betrayed them.
But he had always believed in Kratos to come through. He had always felt Kratos was looking out for them, whether it be a 'chance' meeting in a town, or a stray blue feather on the streets of Meltokio. Lloyd was shocked to hear of their connection, but part of him wasn't phased.
'Somehow I knew...' Lloyd muttered to himself, finally taking his eyes off the sleeping family.
'You remember what it felt like with your family, don't you?'
Lloyd stood abruptly, and turned to face the voice. A matter of feet away from him stood Mithos, arms crossed, with a lopsided smile etched across his pale face. Lloyd bent his knees into a prepared stance, holding Flamberge out before him.
'I can't hurt you,' the half elf muttered, 'I am merely a shadow of mana from my own Cruxis Crystal. As are you.'
Lloyd cocked his head, 'What are you talking about?'
'You are but a memory, stored inside the Cruxis Crystal you wear. You wonder why you have no Exsphere? No scars? Nothing that relates to your modern day self? You are a memory of a younger self,' Mithos motioned with his head towards the sleeping family, 'A memory stored in your mother's Exsphere.'
Lloyd turned his hands over, observing them.
'That is how your mother remembers you. Therefore, that is what form you take.'
'Am I dead then?' Lloyd mumbled.
'In a sense. Those close to you will not be able to sense any life from you, you will be just a body. However, your mother managed to store a small amount of mana in this Crystal, processing it through her own memory. She prolonged your life as a hologram, a projection if you will, of what she anticipated you to look like.'
'But this place...how did I get here?'
'You were somewhere you feared when you woke, were you not?'
Lloyd bit his lip, 'I was in a dark room, only a small spotlight separated me from the dark abyss...'
Mithos's smile widened.
'But I'm not afraid of the dark!' Lloyd shouted defensively.
'It appears your mother remembers differently,' Mithos smirked, 'It was your fear that retained the memory of you, the fear you felt as a child for your life. The three year old Lloyd would do anything to fight the darkness, to not surcumb to the oblivion. So he made a spotlight for you to survive in, at least long enough for you to wake. It was that desire to survive and fight against the thing you fear that brought you to this place.'
Lloyd's eyes wandered over to his sleeping self, 'So...these are my mother's memories?'
'Indeed.' Mithos watched the twin swordsman pace absent mindedly, amused at how readily he accepted his situation. The brunette turned.
'But...what about my sword,' Lloyd motioned with his hand, 'and...dad's locket.'
Lloyd held the shining gold object in his palm, Mithos grinned yet again.
'That is a sign that your mana is strengthening.' Lloyd turned his head up to the half elf, 'I believe Yuan put a key crest on your Exsphere and so the mana your mother collected has begun to grow. Therefore, reflections of the real world are visible here. I can only assume the sword and locket were put into your hands at some point.'
Lloyd scrunched up his face.
'They really think I'm dead, don't they...' he mumbled, 'Will I ever wake?'
'That is my intention.'
Lloyd looked up at the half elf, noticing the smirk had disappeared from Mithos's face. 'Your intention?'
Mithos broke Lloyd's gaze, 'The mana from my Crystal should be enough to restart the regeneration process. I can only hope your mother can retain her memory projection for long enough.'
Lloyd turned his head, as if to examine the ancient hero, 'Mithos...what-'
'Over here, sir!'
Lloyd turned quickly, noticing the sound to have come from behind him. He saw a number of desian soldiers, one pointing energetically at the tree where his family slept. Noishe's ears perked as he lifted his head, scrambling to his feet as around 10 of the desians emerged into the clearing.
'Shit...' Lloyd mumbled, he ignored Mithos and stumbled over to the tree. Noishe was nudging Kratos firmly, but the Seraph remained asleep, obviously exhausted, his face contorting as his pet pawed his leg aggressively.
'Wake up, dad!' Lloyd shouted, thrusting his arm out to push his father's shouder, 'Huh?'
Lloyd stared in shock as his arm ghosted through Kratos's shoulder.
'Your just a profection of mana. These are real events that happened, you cannot change a thing,' Mithos's voice from behind Lloyd explained.
Lloyd watched as his younger self awoke from Noishe's nudging and pushed his father's hand off him. The soldiers were drawing nearer and Noishe was having trouble waking the Seraph. The three year old leapt down from Kratos's lap and walked around the tree.
'Sir, the child!'
'Who are you?'
The young boy put his thumb in his mouth and scowled at the strange men. The desian soldiers laughed and one approached the young Lloyd.
Yuan deserved a rest. The events of the day had fully caught up with him as he rested his head in his hands. Sat at his desk, the half elf allowed his fatigue to overwhelm him as his azure hair fell over his crossed arms. He was fast asleep when Kratos returned.
'Aw...is he sucking his thumby?' Lloyd swatted away the desians hand as the soldier tried to ruffle his hair, 'Isn't it past your bedtime, little man? Your daddy will not be pleased when he sees you are not asleep.'
'DADDY!' The boy squealed as the desian grabbed him roughly around the waist and swung him over his shoulder. Kratos had finally begun to stir and Noishe sprang from his side, growling menacingly at the desian soldier.
'Gerroff me! Daddy!' Lloyd struggled in the soldier's arms, his screams causing the Seraph to wake fully. He sat upright, causing Anna to wake as her head fell off his shoulder. Noticing Noishe and the group of desian soldiers that had surrounded the family, he sprang to his feet and whisked his sword off the ground, sheath falling to the ground.
'Ooooh, daddy awakes,' the desian holding Lloyd laughed. Kratos's eyebrows drooped and he pointed Flamberge straight at the desian.
'Put him down,' his stoic voice silenced the desian, as Anna stood and clung to her husband's shoulder, knowing it were better to stay quiet.
'Mummy! Daddy! It's dark, I'm scared...' The three year old held his hands out at his parents, Anna biting her lip worriedly, Kratos not taking his eyes off the desian soldier.
'You can't possibliy think you can take us all!' Another desian roared, causing a ripple of laughter to echo around the group. Kratos's gaze hardened.
'I said, put him down.'
The desian shifted his weight to try and control the struggling youngster. He smiled silently, before stepping backwards away from his comrades. In one fluid movement, Kratos pushed Anna back towards the tree and blocked a tirade of attackes from the soldiers. The teen Lloyd watched silently as Kratos and Noishe leapt into action, the Protozoan ducking under swipes and bowling soldiers over as he did, Kratos's precise footwork dodging the onslought as the pair fought off 9 other soldiers.
The teen felt helpless, clutching the sword beside him tightly. Kratos ducked under an attack and stabbed the oncoming desian, kicking him backwards as he withdrew his sword, face calm and calculating. Turning quickly, he blocked two other attacks with one swipe of Flamberge and swung his foot round in a large arc, knocking the weapons from the desian's hands. The soldiers stood, stunned as Kratos followed his kick up with a slice of his sword, causing both desians to fall into a crumpled heap on the floor, large gashes streaking across their chests.
'Kratos!' Lloyd and Anna yelled in unison as a desian soldier who had escaped Noishe sliced open Kratos's back. The Seraph recoiled in pain, before gritting his teeth and swinging his sword wildly with two hands, crying out, finishing off his attacker.
'Daddy!' The young Lloyd was crying, the darkness was too much for him. He wanted daddy to hold him while he slept, that way the nasty dark wasn't going to get him.
'I'm coming, Lloyd.' Kratos murmured to himself, as he ducked and counterattacked one of the soldiers, wincing slightly at the pain in his back.
Anna was leaning against the large tree, eyes darting quickly between her son and her husband. She hated herself for not being able to do anything to help, but she was too weak. She winced everytime Kratos did, his pain was her pain. Her vision zoned in and out before her as the black-clad swordsman put 4000 years worth of fighting into practice.
'Noishe!' The Seraph yelled as he found himself surrounded by 4 soldiers. The green and white 'dog' growled and butted one of the soldiers roughly in the back, bowling him over and catching another in the process. Kratos was quick to dispose of the two before him, and aided Noishe in the finishing off of the remaining two soldiers.
Wiping a stream of blood from a cut above his eye, Kratos turned towards the last remaining desian soldier, the one holding his crying son. The desian held out his sword, backing away from Kratos slowly. Kratos and Noishe edged towards the soldier, followed by a staggering Anna.
'I said...' Kratos murmured, voice booming, 'Put. Him. Down.'
The desian smirked before dropping the sreaming child to the floor, Lloyd landing on his backside with a bump, and speeding away into the woods.
'Lloyd...' Anna ran over to her son and held him in her arms, the young boy mumbling something about the darkness. Kratos laughed bitterly to himself before staggering back to the tree, leaning forward against it and using it to support his weight.
'Kratos?' Anna enquired quietly as Lloyd sobbed into his mother's shoulder. She edged over to her husband slowly, the man breathing heavily as blood dripped from the gaping wound in his back, 'Can you heal it?'
Kratos turned and pulled Anna towards him, enclosing her and Lloyd in a tight hug. He closed his eyes and rested his chin on her head.
'I need to rest first. But then I will be able to fix it.'
Anna pushed him away out of the hug, handing her crying son to his father, 'Why don't you use your Angelic abilities? You surely have enough mana to-'
'No.' Kratos shook his head, wiping the tears from Lloyd's eyes, 'We need to get Lloyd to a safe place for the rest of the night, the darkness has made him frightened and I doubt he will sleep. Besides, I don't want him to grow accustomed to seeing me like...that, I don't want him mixed up in all of this.'
Anna buried her face in Kratos's chest, 'You're hopelessly protective of him you know.'
The teen watched as the family embraced once more, unaware of the impending darkness that was developing around him. Trees in the distance faded to black and Lloyd shuddered as the darkness began to surround him. The small spotlight encircling him shrunk, until the twin swordsman was fully encapsulated by the darkness...
The machine whirred into the night at the Sylverant base. Kratos knew. He watched it.
Leaning his hands on the steel desk, Kratos stood watched the generator power deep into the night. The Renegade watchman's visits were less frequent, Kratos noted. He had been observing the generator since he returned to the base. Kratos had flew around the skies of the worlds, although he couldn't quite place why.
His eyes dropped back to the steel desk as he crossed one of his feet behind the other. He watched the stringy ligaments beneath his skin pulsate on the back of his hand as he twitched the muscles in his fingers absent mindedly. The Seraph wasn't tired, his brain felt like mush as he had walked through the limbo he found himself in that day.
His senses were so out of touch that it took him a second to register the feeling of a hand on his right shoulder blade.
His gaze rose to the glass of the window before the generator. In the dimmly lit, dark room, a small reflection was visible against the window frame.
Kratos choked.
For the first time, a small tear escaped the tightly shut eyes of the 4000 year old Seraph, dripping onto the cold blue steel of the desk. His elbows shuddered beneath him, causing the swordsman to stand as the hand was withdrawn from his shoulder blade. His eyes still squeezed shut, Kratos turned towards the owner of the reflection. He felt rough hands grip the front of his shirt and a forehead press itself onto his chest.
'...I was so scared, Dad.'
Lloyd shook violently as he allowed his tears to soak Kratos's shirt. The Seraph opened his eyes slowly and wrapped his arms around the shaking teen's shoulders, burying his face in the long brown hair.
'...I was too, son.'