Doot doot doot doo...! n.n Zelos' theme song is so catchy, nay? (Dances)
Colette: Um... Freakyanimegal owns nothing?
Me: Enjoy! (dances more to music)
Colette:...Well, that was kinda odd....(blink)
Blank
"...What?" Lloyd said numbly, staring at the 'teen'.
"I SAID who the heck are you?" Kratos scoffed, glaring. "And how do you know my name?"
There was a long silence in which Lloyd stared at his father, then up at Origin.
"...What happened?" Yuan hissed.
"Well, the seal weakened when he reverted to this state," Origin explained calmly, "it weakened enough where I managed to worm my way
out of it, though whatever steps I used to meet that end must have had an effect on Kratos..."
"And what steps were those?" Raine asked.
"I'm afraid it is beyond a mortal's realm of comprehension," he stated.
"Try me,"
"So you getting free made him like this?!" Lloyd accused, pointing at Kratos.
"Made who like what? What are you guys- HOLY SHIT!"
Kratos turned and caught sight of Origin, falling over onto his rear in shock.
"What the heck is that thing?!" the teen yelped, wide eyed.
"'Thing'? How disrespectful," Origin snorted.
"You're a floating four-armed guy, what am I supposed to call you!?"
Origin rolled his eyes, disappearing in a blitz of mana.
Come see me once he calms down, I tire of this.
"Why you-!" Lloyd shouted.
"Where'd he go!?" Kratos yelped.
He stared a minute before he quickly looked around the room, his head moving in frantic twitchy patterns like a squirrel, fear growing more
evident in his face by the second.
"Where AM I?!" he shouted. "What's that big glowing thing-? Who's that lady in it?"
"Uh-" Colette started.
Kratos had clambered back to his feet and looked at her, gasping as he back-stepped.
"Martel!? What are you doing he- Wait, you're not Martel...but then who...?"
"I uh..." the blond trailed.
"Who are all you people?" Kratos asked, backing away from the group. "Where am I? What's going-?"
He caught sight of Yuan, who looked as if he was trying very hard not to twitch.
"...Yuan?" Kratos said slowly, dumbstruck. "Yuan? Is that-?"
Yuan sighed, rubbing his forehead before he locked eyes with Kratos.
"Hey, dingbat," he said with a straight face.
"Holy SHIT it is you!!" Kratos yelped. "What's going on?! Why are you-?! Who-!?"
"Just calm down," Lloyd said, putting a hand on his shoulder, "please, we want to he-"
"Hey hey hey!" Kratos slipped out of his grip. "Don't touch me!"
"Okay..." Lloyd drew back, "...uh, look, we're- ...um..."
"What's the last thing you remember?" Yuan said, taking up the role as the one 'in charge'.
"What-? I..." Kratos' face fell, "..I...didn't...you and me just went to the factory-"
"Because I bet you you wouldn't have the guts to even step inside?"
"Yeah, actually-" Kratos glared, "...jerk."
"I see..." Yuan sighed, rubbing his forehead. "That's it then..."
"Yuan, care to tell us-?" Lloyd started.
"He doesn't remember anything after the Lestuk,"
"Lestuk? What the heck is that? Yuan, why are you old? Who are these people- ...and why am I wearing something like this?" he added in
disgust, looking at 'his' apparel. "Ugh...did I lose a bet?"
Lloyd grumbled to himself as Yuan smirked.
"No, not quite...look, you-"
"Am I in the future?" Kratos stared.
Yuan barely contained a laugh.
"No, you're not," he shook his head, "you're supposed to be here, but uh...something rather unfortunate has happened regarding your
memory."
"So I have amnesia?" Kratos asked. "But...if I just have amnesia, how come you're older and I'm not?"
"...Complicated," Yuan said simply.
"Well get to explaining it then," Kratos huffed, crossing his arms.
Yuan glared.
"I forgot how much of a little prick he was..." he muttered.
"What was that?" Genis asked.
"Nothing, all right...who wants to explain to Kratos?" Yuan asked.
Not surprisingly, no one volunteered.
"...You're not going to make me explain everything, are you?" Yuan's eyes twitched.
"Um...okay," Lloyd started, "uh...Kratos, you don't remember anything past going into that factory, right?"
"No, not-" Kratos looked at him.
There was a moment in where he stared.
"Lloyd,"
Lloyd flinched, as did the rest of the group when Kratos said his name.
"What-? You remember me?" Lloyd stared.
"Huh-? Well...I..." Kratos grimaced, "I remember your name... and you seem familiar...huh, I must have amnesia after all, then... Okay, so if I
just have amnesia and it's in the future that I don't remember...or something like that, then why is it I don't look any different? Besides the
tard-clothes, I mean..."
Lloyd grumbled again as Kratos pulled on one of the suspenders in disgust.
"There was an incident involving a spell of some kind," Yuan explained, "it changed your physical appearance. In reality you should be looking
as if you were in your late twenties."
"...Riiiiiight....and that's possible how?" Kratos huffed.
"It's either that or I suddenly aged," Yuan pointed out, "either way it seems impossible, yes?"
Kratos seemed to think about that a minute before he sighed in defeat.
"Okay, fine, it's not like anything else is making much sense anyway," he huffed, "so I got my age messed with and then something happened
to make me get amnesia? Well gee, I'm cursed aren't I?"
"Ill-fated, for sure," Yuan said snidely.
"You shut the hell up!" Kratos snapped, pointing at him.
The rest of the group tried very hard not to twitch.
"...What are you all staring at?" Kratos asked, directing his attention toward the rest of them.
"...You," Zelos said bluntly.
Kratos glared.
"Um...you don't remember us? Then I'm-" Colette started.
"Wait, no, no one tell him our names," Raine said.
"What? Why not?" Sheena asked.
"He remembered Lloyd, it might help him get his memory back if he has to figure it out on his own," she said, a calculating expression on her
face, "so if we just leave him to it..."
"Great idea!" Genis said. "Okay, Kratos, do you remember my name?"
Kratos stared at him blankly, taking in his appearance.
"Uh..."
"If we're gong to play this little game, I can think of better places to do it," Yuan stated, "we should work on getting out of here and then we
can decide what our next step should be. You all can try to revive Kratos' memory on the way."
"The way? Where are we, anyway? Nobody answered me," Kratos said.
"We'll explain on the way, now let's get going,"
"Um...another question," Kratos said, "...where'd I get this trippy sword?"
The group was granted the almost obscene gift of seeing Kratos call the Flamberge 'trippy'.
"...Nevermind that, you can use it, right?" Yuan asked.
"Well sure I can use it, but I was just wondering-"
"Let's get a move on," Yuan stated, turning for the exit.
"W-what? Hey! Don't ignore me!" Kratos snapped, irritated.
"Uh-" Lloyd started.
"What?!" Kratos snapped at him this time.
"..." Lloyd blinked.
"Uh- oh...oh, sorry about that..." Kratos said, his face falling.
"...Let's just get going, okay? Watch out for the monsters,"
"Monsters? Figures, this place creeps me out..." Kratos shuddered.
Everyone stared at him.
"...Would you all please stop that?"
They tried to stop staring at him.
"...Man.." Kratos sighed.
Kratos didn't know why he said sorry to Lloyd like that. Usually if he snapped at someone, he didn't give a damn who they were and normally
didn't care anyway. What was his name again? 'Lloyd'? Lloyd...why did he actually feel bad around him? Was this 'Lloyd' guy someone special?
"Um...Kratos?"
Kratos looked to his right, where Colette was walking.
"...Do you remember any of us yet?"
"I..." Kratos bit his lip, frowning before he sighed and shook his head.
"Oh..." her face fell.
"...Sorry," Kratos muttered.
"I...it's okay," Lloyd said, forcing a smile, "...so, do you remember anything else?"
"Um....your name is Lloyd," he supplied, frowning, "...I don't remember where we are...and-"
Kratos looked Lloyd full in the face and then visibly flinched.
"Kratos-?"
"Oh- OH! I remembered something!" he shouted, eyes bright.
"Really!?"
"Yeah! I remember-!"
They all stopped to look at him before his happy expression shattered, slumping over as if a deflated balloon.
"I lost it," he sighed.
The rest of the group sighed along with him.
"...H-hey! I'll keep trying!" Kratos stammered, flushed.
"...Teenager Kratos is so weird..." Genis whispered to his sister.
"Compared to his normal self, yes..."
The Sage siblings looked back at Kratos, who had just yelped as he almost tripped over a root.
"..." they blinked, then sighed.
"Well, just what we needed," Zelos joked, "an amnesiac, lovely, he was enough problems before-"
"Shut your trap, Zelos!" Kratos shouted.
"What?" everyone looked at him.
"W-what? You're taking his side? Was I really that bad-?"
"No, what did you call him?" Sheena asked.
"Zelos," Kratos blinked.
There was a moment of silence before Kratos jolted.
"Oh yeah! His name is Zelos! And the busty chick his keeps hitting on is Sheena, right?"
"Excuse me?!" Sheena scoffed.
"Yeah, it is!" Colette smiled and clapped. "Great! You remember their names!"
Kratos smiled and then performed a very Lloydish action of sticking his finger in the air.
"Well, I mean, it was only a matter of time and all..."
"Why does he look so proud of himself?" Presea said softly.
Regal shrugged.
"And Gorilla-man is Regal, right?"
Zelos burst out laughing as the company president raised an eyebrow.
"G-gorilla man! AHAHAHH!" Zelos laughed.
"What? Did I get the name wrong?" Kratos frowned.
"No, but that was rather rude," Raine stated.
"Whatever," he shrugged, rolling his eyes.
"Th-that wasn't very nice," Colette said softly.
"So?" Kratos said bluntly, almost causing them to stagger.
"Y-you should say you're sorry, to Regal, I mean," she blushed.
"You're right, he'd probably break my neck if I didn't..." Kratos bit his lip, glancing at Regal's robust arms.
Lloyd felt his eye twitch involuntarily. Somehow, Kratos was beginning to aggravate him. His snide- or actually, rather blunt comments were
annoying for some reason, and his entire attitude was lax and a little bit rude, even. That and...maybe he was a little disappointed. His father
had just came to...to admit, almost, his fatherhood and then right afterward he thinks he's seventeen again. Lovely. Not like a father-son
moment would really work with them physically how they were anyway...
"So...um...how old am I?"
Speak of the devil, he was talking to him.
"What?" Lloyd asked.
"How old am I? I mean, how old am I SUPPOSED to be, anyway?" Kratos asked.
"Didn't Yuan-?"
"Yuan said I was supposed to LOOK like I was in my late twenties," Kratos glared, "and if I know Yuan- well, I don't remember if he's still like
this, but never says everything right away."
"Well, that's true," Lloyd admitted, "wait, so you think you're older-?"\
"Well, if I look like this when I SHOULD look like I was that old, I'd imagine I could look that old and be older, right?" Kratos asked. "Or at
least...I'm getting this weird feeling."
Lloyd raised an eyebrow. He didn't remember, sure, but he was damn close anyway...maybe some part of him did remember, but it was just
taking a while to come out....
"But why would you think that?" Lloyd asked again.
Kratos looked at him a long minute, both males locking brown and wine eyes...
"...I don't know," Kratos sighed, looking away, "I just...I don't know."
Lloyd sighed. Crap, so close...
"Guys! Monsters!"
The group looked up as they were ambushed by several floral fiends, all of them drawing their assorted weapons. They pushed Kratos toward
the middle of their group as they had decided earlier, seeing as he was now technically the most inexperienced in means of memory. The battle
went on without much of a fuss until a certain young mage was tripped by the roots of a boxer iris, the half-elf yelping as it swiped in for him.
Lloyd went to eliminate the monster when Kratos got in the way of the monster's attack and took it for him.
"Kratos-!" Lloyd went wide-eyed.
Kratos staggered backwards a minute before he sliced one of the plant's limbs off a second before Lloyd killed it, just then another monster let
loose a cloud of poison gas and then Kratos did something he would certainly never have done normally. He charged right through the cloud
and hacked down the monster, apparently not caring if going through such would poison him to a deadly extreme. Raine noticed and quickly
cast recover as the teen began to stagger, Lloyd doing his best to keep anything from touching him. Once the fight was over, Kratos
immediately turned to glare at Genis.
"That was smooth, dumbass!" he snapped. "You tripped and that thing almost had you!"
"W-what-?! You-!" Genis started.
"You're not one to be talking!" Lloyd snapped, coming to his friend's defense. "You got poisoned very badly just a second ago you idiot! You
charged RIGHT INTO IT! Don't you know what that is?!"
"W-well yeah, it's poisonous, but I-" Kratos stammered.
"You knew it was poisonous but you charged it anyway?!" Lloyd scoffed.
"It came up behind me and I just- I just acted, okay?! I didn't think about-"
"OBVIOUSLY you didn't!" Lloyd snarled. "You need to think about things like that! Especially during a fight! You can't just blindly swing a sword
around and hope it kills something!"
"I wasn't-" Kratos protested.
"You did good protecting G- him, but you need to THINK about things-!"
"Look, I don't need to take this from you!!" Kratos snapped back. "You're not the boss of me!!"
"Even still, you-" Lloyd continued.
"I'm healed now, the kid is safe, what more do you want?!"
"You could have gotten seriously-"
"UGH!" Kratos growled. "You know what? I don't have to listen to a damn word you say!"
"You don't, but if you actually want to be a help instead of a burden on a battlefield then you need to take all advice that's offered," Lloyd
lectured, stunning the rest of the group into silence, "if you refuse something that can help you you're behaving like a child."
"...What happened to Lloyd?" Colette asked dumbly.
"Well maybe I'd rather be a child then take advice from you, then, think about that?" Kratos snarled.
"Why you little-"
Kratos flipped him off.
"I'm going to-!" Lloyd started.
"Both of you knock it off!" Yuan snapped. "This isn't the place! Save it!"
Both Aurions sent one last glare at each other before they looked away and actually continued onward, both of them silently smoldering in their
anger. Eventually Lloyd fell toward the back of the group and Raine slowly slipped behind with him, frowning.
"...Lloyd, are you all right?" she asked.
"I was just worried about him, and he had to act like that," Lloyd muttered, his teeth gritted, "seriously, I just didn't want him to get hurt and
he gets all defensive like that."
Raine looked at him in silence, an almost baffled look on her face.
"Then he has the nerve to go and-"
"But you were lecturing him," Raine pointed out.
"L-lecture-!? I was just telling him what he needed told to him and he completely over-reacted!"
It wasn't his fault! It wasn't his fault Kratos was being an idiot and some overly-defensive jerk! And he had the nerve to yell at Genis for
tripping when he went and did something like that?! Stupid! What if Raine hadn't been able to cast recover in time? What if Raine hadn't even
noticed it, what then?
"...You were worried about him," Raine said.
"Well of course I was, I just said that a minute ago," Lloyd growled, "I just wanted to make sure he was all right and then he gets angry at me
for- for- Goddess! I hate teenagers!"
Raine stopped to stare at Lloyd, who apparently didn't realize the massive irony that had just slipped out of his mouth.
"...What?" he asked, stopping as well.
"Lloyd, you do realize you're...." Raine sighed.
"I'm what?" Lloyd looked at her.
"...A...teenager," she finished.
"I-..." Lloyd's face shot red, "...o-oh...oh yeah-...did I just say that?"
"Yes," she nodded, "you did."
"...Do all adults feel like this?" he asked.
Raine smiled gently, thinking of all the times she had scoffed at her brother and students.
"Yes," she said, "it's normal when you're worried about someone you care for."
"...It feels weird," Lloyd muttered, glancing aside as if embarrassed.
Raine smiled softly.
"...W-what?" he asked.
"...Nothing, Lloyd," she said, walking ahead.
"Wait, what was that look? Come on, Professor...!"
In the timespan of a few more minutes, the group finally found fresh air outside of the Tower of Salvation. Kratos looked around and then
gaped at the huge tower.
"Holy crap that thing is tall-! What is it!?"
"It's the-" Colette started.
"Remember what the Professor said," Yuan said, "let's see if he can figure it out on his own."
"Feh," Kratos snorted, "fine then, be a jerk."
"What should we do?" Colette asked. "Do you think Origin can help with Kratos' memory?"
"Who?" Kratos asked.
"He did say to go see him once we got out," Lloyd said, "we have the aionis now, too-
"The what?"
"We've got the furkiol, too!" Genis said. "We can get you back to normal, now!"
"The what? Who? Get back to normal? What's wrong with him?"
"We may have the aionis, but the adamantite and sacred wood needed to fuel it..." Yuan frowned.
"The what and the what and the what?"
"Well, maybe we could-"
"WOULD YOU ALL STOP IGNORING ME AND FREAKING TELL ME WHAT'S GOING ON!?" Kratos shouted, red in the face from irritation.
Everyone turned as the teen huffed, obviously angry at the lot of them.
"...Do you have a wingpack on you?" Yuan asked.
"Huh? Me?" Kratos blinked. "Um...I think- here's one! Huh, I must've- hey!"
Yuan snatched the wingpack and examined it, a smirk coming to his lips.
"What do you know, he had it the whole time," he stated.
"What? Had the wingpack?" Kratos asked dumbly.
"The sacred wood and adamantite are in there?" Lloyd asked Yuan.
"Yes, he didn't fool around I see..." the half-elf smirked and pocketed it.
"Who didn't-? ...You know, I'm just going to stop asking," Kratos sighed audibly.
"So the only thing that's left is to go see Origin," Zelos said.
"Okay, but first we can fix Lloyd!" Colette chirped.
"No," Lloyd blurted flatly.
They all stopped, turning to look at the brunette with expressions of shock.
"...W...what, Lloyd?" Genis asked numbly.
"I- I...that is, not yet," Lloyd said, "if we have to fight Origin first it's best I'm like this. Once we're done I can go back to normal."
Kratos, having grown bored of trying to figure things out, took to looking around the area attempting to see the top of the tower like some kind
of tourist with ADD. Lloyd, however, was very deep in thought now....
"Oh...okay, that makes sense," Colette nodded.
"It would be a wise course of action," Regal stated.
"Okay then, so I assume we're heading for Heimdal?" Raine asked.
"Yes," Yuan nodded.
The Seraph looked over at Kratos, who was currently muttering something about 'bigass towers'.
"...I suppose I'll tag a long with you all a little longer," he sighed, "to make sure certain people don't hurt themselves."
"...Does he still know how to fly a rheaird, you think?" Genis asked.
"Well...he should, we hot-wired his cousin's one time..." Yuan trailed.
"Hot-wired?" Sheena raised an eyebrow.
"...Simply put, we took it for a joy-ride,"
Zelos laughed.
"Hot-damn! And here I thought you were always a bunch of stiffs!"
"Silence yourself before I silence you," Yuan stated curtly.
"...Cold,"
So after a few minutes they managed to convince Kratos to board a rheaird and follow them, Lloyd once again finding himself drifting toward
the back lost in thought. No? Why had that word come so swiftly from him when they asked that? When they said he could go back to normal?
He wanted that, right? He wanted to go back to normal. ...Right? Of course he did, everything logical pointed to going back, so why was it that
somehow he... Somehow he didn't want to? Was it he had simply gotten used to it?
Some part of him felt it was just wrong to go back now, that he had settled on this. But he hadn't! Why was there this weird feeling that to go
back to being a teenager would be...pointless. Pointless? Come to think of it, everyone he knew and cared about had already accepted him,
and were getting used to him like this as well. Did he really have a reason or a need to go back to 'normal'? That and...he was actually a bit
fond of his new body. Tall, broad-shouldered, muscled, deep-voiced, handsome...hah, he could take Zelos any day; he already took his hunnies
in Meltokio, didn't he? But then...so what? He'd be like this again eventually, another ten years, time really does go by faster than you would
think.
"Ugh," Lloyd shook his head.
He had been doing quite a lot of thinking lately...something he would never do, usually.
Maybe-
"HEY! CHECK THIS OUT!"
Lloyd snapped to attention as Kratos pulled a barrel-roll, laughing.
"Hey!" he found himself snapping. "Be careful, these aren't toys! You could get hurt!"
"MAN you're stiff!" Kratos scoffed at him. "Your parents chain you to the wall or something?"
Lloyd stared at him.
"...W-what? Did I hit a touchy subject?" Kratos frowned.
"..."
Lloyd sped up with the others.
"Hey! You could at least-! I'm sorry, okay?!"
They BOTH needed to get back to normal, he decided, as soon as possible. The way things were going now, you'd think that Lloyd was the
father and Kratos was the danger-prone, reckless son.
"Heimdal's in sight," Yuan reported.
He looked down at it.
"Joy..." he muttered as an after-thought.
"Heimdal...?" Kratos muttered. "...Where-?"
He jolted violently, his face going pale.
"Kratos?" Genis, being closest, asked.
"...That was where... I met you guys at the gate there once, right?"
"Y-yeah," Colette nodded.
Kratos bit his lip, his face falling.
"We should be landing," Yuan stated.
The group landed at the gate to the village, Raine, Genis and Yuan lingering toward the back.
"What is your business here-?" an elf started, then caught sight of Yuan and Kratos.
Yuan stepped up in front of them, trying not to snarl at his obvious dislike of the elves.
"They need to see Origin, would you please grant the humans access?"
"S-silence half-elf-!" the other (obviously less intelligent) guard said.
"What's the meaning of this?"
The guards turned as the Elf elder approached. The old male took one look at Yuan before his eyes jolted to Kratos and Lloyd, his expression
darkening significantly.
"...I assume Kratos' current state has something to do with your leader?" he asked Yuan.
"Mithos is dead," Yuan said flatly, "the rest of them have come to see Origin. Kratos' memory is currently impacted otherwise I believe he would
currently be requesting entry himself."
The elder glanced at Kratos, who gave him a completely clueless expression rivaled only by Lloyd on a pop quiz.
"...I see, then how do you plan on releasing Origin?"
"Origin has already been released," Yuan stated, "Lloyd and the others are headed to make the pact."
"...Very well, they may enter," he nodded.
"...Then we'll see you when you get back," Raine said.
"Wait," Lloyd spoke up, "Elder, can't you let them into the village? They've been with us since the start, I only think it's right that they're with us
at the end too."
"No half-elf may enter the village!"
Lloyd glared.
"It was that attitude that gave rise to Cruxis!" he snapped. "It's because of your hate of half-elves that any of this started!"
"Why you-!"
"Silence!" the elder snapped. "...Until the pact is made, I will allow the half-elves in the village."
This seemed to surprise all of them, Yuan even more so.
"Seriously?" he asked. "You are actually allowing-?"
"They may not use any of our facilities, but you are all allowed," the elder repeated.
"...Thank you," Lloyd grinned.
"Y-yeah! Thanks!" Genis copied his friend's expression.
"...Well, I might as well see this through," Yuan muttered.
"Yuan is grateful too, as am I," Raine supplied.
Yuan sent her a brief glare and looked away.
"Let's head in," Lloyd said.
Lloyd looked over at Kratos, who once again looked deep in thought, his face furrowed. ...He remembered standing here before, didn't
he? ....And so far he remembered his, Zelos, Sheena and Regal's names...that was a start. There had to be something that would give him his
memory back, all of it. The 'teen' had already made some progress, so...?
"Heimdal," Yuan muttered, "I haven't seen this village in- a long time."
"A long time? How long?" Kratos asked.
"...We may have to spend the night here," Yuan ignored him, "or else we'll be traveling through Torent forest at night, and that isn't exactly the
wisest course of action."
"We all need a rest any how," Raine added, "...it's been a long day."
Lloyd nodded with a sigh. Of course it had been a long day...
"Okay everyone, meet back at the inn at nightfall," he said.
With that he headed off from the group.
"W-wait! Lloyd, where are you-?"
Lloyd looked back at her and smiled softly.
"I just want some time to myself, okay? I'll be okay,"
"Oh...okay..." she said meekly, her face falling.
Lloyd wandered off into the village, ignoring the odd looks the elves were giving him. Right now he really did just wanted some peace and
quiet...to forget it all for a couple of minutes. He was tired...not physically, not really, but mentally he was exhausted. One thing after another,
geez. Eventually he found a spot near the water and sat down, gazing off numbly into the reflection- damn it! The reflection! He could never
get away from things, could he? He growled and looked away, guilt eating at him. ...He should've stayed back there with Kratos, not have just
dumped him to the rest of them.. Ah! What did it matter? Since when was he in charge of Kratos, anyway? ...Wait, what was-?
Lloyd leapt to his feet and whirled around at such a speed the person coming up behind him was thrown off balance and hit the ground with a
very ungraceful 'thud'.
"..." Lloyd blinked.
"Ouch...geez..." Kratos muttered, getting onto his knees.
Figured.
"...I'm sorry, are you all right-?" Lloyd asked, offering him a hand.
"Yeah yeah, I'm fine, sorry," Kratos shook his head, getting to his feet, "...look, I just wanted to say sorry for...um, whatever I did to tick you off
so much."
Lloyd gave him a blank look, causing Kratos to fidget.
"...I...did do something, didn't I?" he muttered. "That's why you keep looking at me like that and stuff, right?"
"...You- no, never- just forget about it, it's okay," Lloyd sighed, looking away.
He caught sight of his reflection again but this time simply endured staring blankly into his own eyes. Slowly, a second reflection joined him as
Kratos came up beside him.
"...We look alike," Kratos stated dumbly.
Lloyd went to say something, but his throat caught and he only managed to grunt out a 'yeah'.
"...Hey Lloyd, I've been meaning to ask you...what's with that locket?"
Lloyd's gaze jolted to fix on Kratos' face.
"W-woah! Don't look at me like that! I'm sorry!" he yelped.
"My father gave it to me," he said, "it's a picture of my family when I was little."
"Oh..." Kratos' face fell.
A little too much, actually, which prodded Lloyd's curiosity.
"What's wrong?"
"...Must be nice," Kratos shrugged, "I never knew my dad."
Lloyd drew up a blank when it came to thoughts.
"N-never-?"
"Nah," Kratos shrugged, "ditched me and mom the day I was born, apparently. Not a big deal, happens all the time, right?"
The teen's blank expression changed from nonchalant to angered.
"I swear to the gods, though, if I ever had a kid, it would take hell itself to keep me away from it! I wouldn't just abandon my kid and wife for-
for anything! They'd have to kill me! Do you hear me?!" Kratos shouted, talking more to himself than Lloyd now. "I wouldn't leave like a- damn-
!"
Kratos caught sight of the expression on Lloyd's face and shook his head violently.
"I- I'm sorry about that," he snapped, blushing, "...really, you didn't want to hear any of that. Sorry."
Lloyd did want to hear it, actually, he wanted to know the things about his father that he normally would never have been able to find out, that
normally his father wouldn't speak about to anyone, not even him. Kratos didn't know his dad? Well, neither had he until recently, but still...
"Hey, Kratos," Lloyd said.
"Yeah?"
Lloyd looked up at the sun, which was slowly creeping down into the horizon.
"...Do you like stars?"
"Stars-? Y-yeah...why?" he asked. "..Do you?"
Lloyd smiled weakly.
"Yeah, I love astronomy,"
Kratos grinned.
"W-wow, really!? That's awesome-! I mean, that is...I haven't met anyone else who really-"
"Would you like to look at them with me later?" Lloyd asked.
Kratos looked at him dumbly, as if he couldn't believe he had just asked that.
"S-sure!" he blurted, his eyes lighting up. "Sure! Definitely!"
Lloyd's smile grew into a grin.
Maybe this wasn't such a bad thing...if he could get to know his father more, then maybe when he got his memory back they could actually
really be father and son.
"Okay then," Lloyd grinned, "I'll hold you to that."
Okay! Next chapter...is the last one! D: GASPETH!
Colette: It is?
Me: SWEET! I ended it in under twenty! (Happy dancing smilies)
Colette: Please review! n.n
Me: And expect sever oyako fluff next chapter! :D YAY!
CHRISTMAS IS COMING! D: SKLEE! MERRY CHRISTMAS! n.n Now I just need a candy-cane...I get candy-cane withdrawal...n.n lol.