Title: Disintegration

Author: Tenohikari

Fandom: Tales of Symphonia

Pairing: Mithos(Yggdrassil)/Lloyd, and more pairings to come.

Disclaimer: I don't own Tales of Symphonia. I do own a copy of the game, the manga series, and some doujinshi... obsessed? Probably...

Warnings: male/male pairings. Ratings will go up in some chapters. AU twist but with a lot of Symphonia Game/Manga/Anime spoilers. Oh yeah, the story is 100% unbetad (this chapter was finished at 4:1am and I'm down to my last can of soda) – so it's probably littered with tons of grammar/spelling errors.

Chapter 6

Lloyd couldn't tell whether or not he was dreaming. He was certain that he had leapt from a cliff in order to escape the Desians; but for some reason the young swordsman couldn't understand why he wasn't afraid. His heart was beating normally despite the fact that he could be falling to his doom. But he felt confident for some reason; a lone voice in the back of his head insisted that he was in no danger.

It was only when the soles of his red boots touched the ground was he fully awake. The teen turned around half way from where he was crouched to look up at the cliff behind him. At first he was worried that the Desians would follow him down, but there were none as Lloyd gaped in disbelief at the height. Had he really fallen that far? He could still remember vividly, three summers ago he had jumped from a tree and sprained his ankle. Below him, both his legs felt fine – in fact, he was well enough to sprint the rest of the way home.

Upon standing, he could hear the sound of heavy footfalls coming from the forest and quickly brought up his swords in anticipation. Fortunately it wasn't anymore Desians. Instead a familiar green shape leapt out of the bushes to whine at him, it's little white and blue bundle looked equally distressed.

"Lloyd!" Genis cried out as he reached out to grab his friend by the sleeve. "It's all my fault! Because of me, you… Oh Martel, I'm so sorry. What are we going to do? The Desians they saw you…!"

Genis clung to Lloyd and refused to let the other go. The half boy broke off in a wail and was crying as if the other boy had been given the death sentence. It painfully reminded the brunet how young the little mage was despite his intelligence. Lloyd reached out to steady Genis who looked ready to fall from Noishe's back, and then affectionately pat him on the head.

"Don't worry, Genis," he gently assured his friend as if it were no big deal. "I took out the ones who saw my face and turned away when the others came before I jumped. Let's just head back before it gets dark."

The other boy still refused to let go and was still sniffling apologies before Lloyd sighed and lead Noishe back to village while avoiding the road.

"It's no big deal, really; but if you feel that bad about it, you could always do my homework for me."

Finally, the small half-elf calmed down, brushing the remainder of his tears away as tried to return Lloyd's smile.

"O-Okay…"

Afterwards, the two remained quiet on their way back to the village. Both were straining their ears just in case the Desians decided to follow them back after all. By the time they reached the gates, both broke into relieved sighs and bid each other goodnight.

Lloyd lowered his arm after he finished waiving to Genis, and stared at the back of his hand. Once again, his eyes were locked onto the sapphire oval that seemed to flicker back at him. Wait… what had happened to the bandages? He was certain that they were still on before he and Genis left the house. Did his exesphere somehow destroy them? They were now in plain sight for anyone to see…

His eyes widened and automatically as he stared at the exposed gem before he slapped his other hand on top of it. Dirk's warning came back to scold him and he quickly locked around to see if anyone was nearby. Luckily the villagers were behind the gates, but that didn't stop Lloyd from taking another cautious glance around him before turning to leave.

'This isn't good,' he thought to himself, 'too many close calls today. Does the Goddess Martel have it out for me or what?'

On the way home, Lloyd began to feel sick. It started out as a small headache, which understandable after his fight with that Desian giant at the temple and he hadn't gotten any rest as Raine had ordered him to. But as his house came into sight, the throbbing intensified with each step. It was as if his hearing were on some other level and he could actual hear the impact of his father's hammer against hard steel surface of his anvil over and over again.

Drawing in a ragged breath, he could easily visualize himself within the blacksmith workshop attached to their home. He could smell the forge, the burning coals and hot steel. The metallic smell of blood suddenly filled his nostrils and he was overcome with nausea. Clamping a hand over his mouth, he heard Noishe whine in concern as he stumbled over onto the makeshift bridge over the creak and promptly emptied the contents of his stomach into the water below.

As he wretched, nightmarish images gave Lloyd no peace as they assaulted his mind. Instead of the pounding of a hammer, he heard the crack of the whip as Desians punished humans as if they were cattle. The blacksmith forge was replaced with burning buildings with people screaming within them. The screaming turned into high pitched inhuman shrieks of agony that made Lloyd pray for deafness. Then he saw coffins, hundreds of them, suspended in the air and then… it was finally quiet.

A cool touch against his feverish cheek brought him out of the nightmare. He turned to face a set of cold green eyes set into a hauntingly familiar face that was so pale that it looked to be carved of fine marble. A cold chill ran down his spine despite the layers of clothing he wear, and instinctively he drew away.

"Whine?"

He blinked and the human face was gone, replaced with Noishe's furry green and white one. Beady black eyes watched him intently, following his every movement as he pulled himself up into a sitting position. The large dog made another noise in concern for the teenager, before pressing his cold nose against Lloyd's face one more.

The illness began to fade and Lloyd scratched around Noishe's ears in gratitude. He then rubbed the back of his head and wondered what had come over him all of a sudden. Never before had he been so sick, even with Raine's home-made oatmeal, that he would hallucinate line that. He really needed to get some rest, and with Noishe's assistance, walked into the house.

Upon entry the same smells he had imagined were not strong enough to make him violently ill again. Dirk turned around to welcome his son home, but stopped half way and frowned at the teen's abnormally pale face and ordered him straight to his bed. Lloyd complied eagerly and trudged up the steps leading to his room, wishing he had stayed there in the first place the whole day.

"Should I go get Raine?" Dirk asked worriedly outside his room.

"Nah, I'm good. Just need some sleep is all."

He heard Dirk's heavy footsteps depart from his door before sighing in relief. The thought of his overbearing school teacher coming to chew him out for not resting and then force-feeding him medicine along with her dreadful cooking only made Lloyd feel worse. He would no sooner go another round with the Desians rather lose whatever food was left in his stomach any concoction his friend's crazy sister passed off as 'comfort food'.

Shuddering at the thought, Lloyd quickly shrugged off his weapons and clothes before he eagerly crawled into bed. As tired as he was, sleep was not instantaneous. The pressure that had been pounding at his skull had moved down to his back and there was a slight burning sensation beneath his shoulder blades. Gritting his teeth he scratched at the sore and stiff places until he felt the familiar pulse of his exesphere once more. He stared as the gem's soft blue seemed to illuminate his dark bedroom, then finally his eyes grew heavy and he fell blissfully asleep.

Fire and brimstone,

Death and despair,

Thou memories disowned,

Make thee aware.

"Your majesty! Your majesty!" he continued to call out while pounding at the resilient immovable door with fists. "The castle is under attack! I have to move you to safety now! Please open the door!"

As is his cries fell on the deaf ears of the room's occupants, he stepped back and unsheathed his sword. There was no other option but to cut through. The sounds of the fighting outside the castle were growing louder each second.

"Get back! I'm coming in!" He counted to five before unleashing a series of devastating blows on the once impenetrable door.

"Sword Rain!"

His blade moved fluidly, stabbing and utterly destroying the door until it was torn from its hinges. He kicked it aside and rushed in, avoiding the servant who had been hiding were now fleeing to the exit. One person remained, however, kneeling in prayer and seemingly unaware of the chaotic atmosphere that forcefully infiltrated the palace.

Biting his lip, he dropped to one knee at the other's side.

"Your majesty," he began and frowned at the lack of response. "The castle is lost, we must flee!"

The other person did not move, seemingly resembling a statue rather than a human being. He cursed in several languages as his ears picked up the sound of several footsteps coming closer followed by the screams of the servants who had fled several minutes ago.

Looking around, he knew they could escape through the window, but he had to make sure the enemy would not follow. It was when spotted the lamps that had long gout and stood quickly as a plan quickly came to mind. He rushed over to a barrel and picked it up with all his might before turning to the door.

"They're in here!" snarled an enemy soldier as his comrades crowded around the door.

With a snarl, he threw the barrel at them. Most were able to dodge the impact, but all were covered with lamp oil. He backed away; taking hold of the person he had come to save and began to drag them over to the window.

"You fool!" one of the soldiers spat in his direction. The others all chuckled sadistically as they approached while dripping and wreaking of oil. "I'll snap your neck with my bare hands before you can even make a spark!"

He glared back at menacing crowd before aiming his fist at them. Behind him, he heard a gasp of horror coming from the monarch before the sound of agonizing screams filled the room. If they had only been wise enough to notice the warning glint of the Sorcerer's Ring and had backed away, he would have let them live.

Fast forward... Play … Rewind…Play…

"Again," commanded Grand Cardinal Forcystus, standing still as a statue for the past two hours. His single seeing eye was fixated on the frozen visuals on the large screen before him. The Desian soldier sitting at the terminal, whose fingers must have been aching terribly by now, quickly complied.

Fast forward... Play … Rewind…Play…

On the monitor, the footage from one of the security cameras displayed a red-clad intruder cut down their comrades with inhuman strength. It was inconceivable. Not even a prisoner of the ranch – a human physically enhanced with a modified exesphere - could do serious injury to his men. But the bodies of their slain comrades proved that there must be something else…

"There! Freeze frame at point 2:21 and enlarge."

"Yes, my lord."

The other Desians in the back could not believe what they were seeing; they had believed a rogue group had ambushed the perimeter guards from behind. But no, the attack had been carried out effectively enough by one single human… a child no less. Forcystus stared unblinkingly at the still image for along minute, going over every single detail and committing them to memory. His critical eye kept returning to the white bandage that was wrapped around one of the boy's gloves rather than underneath it. After several more minutes of scrutinizing, Forcystus turned to one of his subordinates standing behind him.

"Do we have a match from the database, Lieutenant Elric?"

As he was addressed, a shorter Desian soldier stepped forward with a printed file in his hand and presented it to the Cardinal.

"Yes sir, he is a human resident who lives outside of Iselia by the name of Lloyd Irving."

The impassive look on the Grand Cardinal's face changed into something none of his soldiers, who had served under him for decades, could identify. Then the look was gone as quickly as it came that many thought they had imagined it. His lip then curled into a sneer that caused the soldiers to stiffen in anticipation.

"Those inferior beings violated our treaty, and we will ensure that they will pay for their audacity," he promised before lifting his gaze back to the screen. "Bring that prisoner the intruder was talking to, she will be accompanying us tonight."

Lloyd woke up screaming, bolting up in bed at the horror he had just witnessed in his own dream. His eyes went wide to see that he was drenched in what he had first believed was lamp oil rather than sweat. It was only after he vigorously dried himself off, did the shivering boy realize the difference.

He sagged down onto the hard wood floor and stared out at the moon peaking through his window. Lloyd could not recall any of his past nightmares ever being as vivid as the one he had just had. Usually he could forget them and even go back and have a proper night's sleep; but now he was wide awake. With a groan, he stood to clean himself up in the bathroom and got dressed while running the events of the dream around in his head.

Lloyd was hesitant at first to put on the Sorcerer's Ring back on his finger again. When Collette had told them she did not want use it after accidentally setting Phaidra on fire; he had brushed it off as his friend just being a really dangerous klutz. All he ever used the ring was for lighting torches with small burst of flames that was nothing compared to Genis' magic. In the dream, however, the ring had unleashed a torrent of fire; and with the oil, burned those soldiers until their flesh burned to ash…and he watched unblinkingly without regret or remorse.

'Both at the temple and then at the ranch, I've killed a lot of people today,' he thought grimily. 'But I never killed like that.'

The nausea returned, but did not overwhelm him like it had earlier and then left as swiftly as it came. Again, he had to remind himself that it was only a dream and one that was as far from reality as possible. There was nothing to regret from it, all he had to do was clear his head and think about what he was going to do tomorrow when… Collete was going to begin the Journey of Regeneration.

'I should go see her,' he concluded as he got up and headed down stairs.

He passed his father's workshop on his way and wasn't surprised to see him still working this late. Dirk claimed that being a dwarf he didn't need as much sleep as humans did and liked to keep busy especially if there was someone in need. After the attack, Lloyd was pretty sure the villagers would request Dirk's assistance to creating stronger weapons and gates for their protection.

A person in need… and the Desians…

Suddenly the image Marble's scarred hands and her exesphere reminded him that he was supposed to ask Dirk to create a key crest. She needed one badly before she got sick or worse. He would have like to slap himself on the back of the head for forgetting, until Dirk lifted his head to regard him.

"Lloyd? It's late. Where ya goin', son?"

He had to admit he was pretty lucky that Dirk adopted him. Any other adult would have told their child to go straight back to bed. But his father did acknowledge that he was close to an adult so he didn't enforce too many rules.

"Collette received the Oracle today so she'll be heading off on the Journey of Regeneration soon and..."

"I know, the lass came by earlier to see ya."

"Collette was here?"

"With Genis, Raine and a mercenary, but I told 'em ya were sick."

"Oh."

"Ya were gonna ask if ya could tag along with them?" Dirk asked a short time later.

Well he had wanted to go, but was flat out denied by the Mayor and Kratos. Lloyd was also certain his teacher was against it as well.

"I mean, if Collette wants me to come along, then sure, but she hasn't told me anything so I just wanted to spend some time with her before she left," he answered truthfully. "So can I go?"

Dirk nodded. "All right, but don't bother her too long, ya hear?"

"I won't… oh and Dad, I have a favor to ask."

"I heard ya fought the Desians who attacked the temple and lost your swords. Take the ones on the table behind ya."

Lloyd threw the dwarf a grateful look and eagerly replaced the stolen Desians blades in his scabbards for his father's finer work.

"Thanks, Dad! These are great!" Lloyd took a moment to admire the craft man ship of the hilt and how smoothly he could wield them before calling out to Dirk before he started working again. "Actually, I need something else."

"What?"

"Err… a key crest."

Dirk's eyes narrowed in suspicion. "For who?"

"There was someone I met today who had an exesphere without a key crest mount," he admitted honestly. "You told me that without one, you can get really sick. So I thought that we could help."

"And who is this 'someone', Lloyd? Where did ya meet them?"

This was going to be difficult. Lloyd knew how to lie, but to his father was nearly impossible who instilled Dwarven vows into him. But he had to try this time in order to keep his promise to Genis.

"Her name is Marble… I met her in town and…"

"Dwarven Vow #11," the blacksmith spoke gruffly as he frowned at Lloyd, "lying is the first step down the path to thievery. Where is she from?"

The boy winced, suddenly feeling very small as his dwarf dad approached him. He could chose to try and lie again, but it would only just make the situation worse. If he told the truth to just Dirk, surely Genis wouldn't stay mad at him for too long.

"She's a prisoner of the Human Ranch."

He immediately regretted his decision when a fist went sailing into the air and connected the wall just an inch away from his face.

"Ya went to the ranch?" his father roared with fury. "Lloyd, that's going against the treaty!"

"But the Desians violated the treaty first!" he tried to argue back but Dirk turned a deaf ear to it and instead pointed down to the clearly visible exesphere on his hand.

"Did anyone see this on ya?"

"N-no, I don't think so. The bandages broke though when I was fighting… and doesn't it matter if someone saw it? I'm old enough to defend myself from…"

Lloyd was abruptly cut off as he was roughly shoved against the wall this time, and grew quiet as the color of Dirk's face darkened.

"Boy, listen to me and listen good!" once he saw that his son had his complete attention, Dirk continued. "That there exesphere is special. Those Desians would kill to get their hands on it… on ya… if they knew about it."

Now this was new information to Lloyd, and he wasn't about to let it go.

"Why? Why is it so special?" he demanded. "Why give it to me then?"

"Because, Lloyd, it belonged to yer mom." All anger from Dirk's voice was gone and replaced with remorse. "The Desians, they killed her to get that there exesphere back."

Lloyd was lucky to have the wall for support as his legs trembled and threatened to collapse underneath him. He felt as if he were thrown into yet another nightmare. Images of poor Marble and the other prisoners of the ranch came to mind and although he couldn't remember his mother's face, his heart broke at the thought of her suffering at the hands of those monsters.

He was suddenly overcome with an intense fury he had never experienced before. It felt as if his blood were boiling beneath his skin. It almost drove him to the point where he wanted to look for barrels of lamp oil and set the Human Ranch on fire with all the Desians roasting alive within it.

'Without regret… without remorse…'

"You kept this from me, the entire time…" he accused softly though his fierce glare spoke volumes.

Dirk continued to frown but wisely distanced himself from the teen. "If I had told ya sooner, ya might not be alive today, Lloyd."

How he wanted to rebuke against that but he knew his dad was right. If he had found out before having any training with weapons, there's no telling what he would have done. His life span would have definitely been shorter, so he couldn't fault Dirk for trying to protect him. Still, his anger remained, burning as brightly as the embers within the blacksmith forge. After a long uncomfortable silence, Lloyd turned and walked away.

"You're absolutely certain?"

"Yes, sir. The profiles match. He is the offspring of prisoner A012."

"After all this time…"

"How do you wish me to proceed? Forcystus is on the move and he brought one of the Ranch prisoners with him."

"Do not compromise your position, Elric. Stand by and continue to monitor the Chosen's group."

"Yes sir, but what about Lloyd Irving? What if Forcystus tries to kill him?"

"You need not worry about that. I will deal with Loyd another time."

"Yes, my lord."

The quiet walk to the village did manage to settle his nerves. Sure he still hated the Desians – more than ever – but he wouldn't go off charging into t he Ranch. One day he would avenge his mother. Not just her, but all the innocents who suffered under the brutality of the whole Desian system; which is why he was going to see Collette and convince her to let him come on the journey. The Chosen of Regeneration would have the final say over her bodyguards after all.

Upon nearing his destination, Lloyd picked up the smell of burning wood in the air. Normally the villagers would light fires in their fire places to warm their homes; but the smell of smoke was never this strong. Lifting his head, his mouth fell open in shock to see dark clouds rising above the tall trees around the village.

'Collette!' he thought desperately. 'Genis, Raine, all the villagers –please let them be okay!'

He broke out into a run; racing the rest of the way to his home away from home and the other family members who resided there. What could have caused the fire? Were the Desians attacking yet again?

Lloyd came skidding to halt as his wide and fearful eyes were fixated on Iselia as it burned. Not all the buildings were on fire, but there were still plenty that were and he could hear – he could actually hear – the families screaming within them. Was he trapped within another nightmare?

It was only when the Desians lined up around the entrance to the village had turned to face him did Lloyd wish he could wake up. He wasn't overly concerned about the foot soldiers he had taken out at the ranch, or even the mages; he could probably take them all out if he was fast enough. However, there was one half-elf that made him feel rooted to the spot. In the world of Sylvarant, there was only one Desian leader who had spiky green hair, a canon for an arm, and one seeing eye – an eye that was now fixated on him and there was a flash or recognition.

Grand Cardinal Forcystus's smile was replaced with a leer before turning his back on the fiery chaos they had unleashed upon Iselia, to face him.

"We finally meet again, Lloyd."

End Chapter 6

Author's Note:

Ugh, another long delay and I do apologize for all the mistakes you'll find in this chapter – pretty much wrote it all in one of my rare days off. I'll go back to make corrections but wanted to post this before I forgot. Thank you all for reading, and please let me know what you think by sending me a review.