Chapter Nine:

Reminiscence

The group of four rushed into the small port-town of Izoold, worry clearly written on the faces of the three who were conscious. Lloyd was in grave danger, after the fight with the Sword Dancer, and in desperate need of medical attention.

Looking around worriedly Raine saw nothing that stood out to indicate a doctor's office or a hospital. The port-town simply consisted of several small, wooden buildings that likely housed residents. Spotting a girl walking along down the dirt road, Raine hailed her.

"H-hey! You! Can you tell me where I can find a doctor around here?"

Turning around the brunet girl felt her eyes grow wide as she spotted the bloodied boy in Raine's arms.

"Oh my! What happened to him?"

"There's no time for that! Is there a doctor here?!" Genis cried, spreading his arms wide to emphasis the situation.

The girl hurriedly shook her head in response. "I don't think so. There are people with basic first aid training, but not an actual doctor. Palmacosta would be your best bet there."

Raine shook her head grimly.

"I don't know if he can hold out that long. Even basic attention might help a lot," she pleaded.

Looking from the boy to Raine the girl finally nodded her consent.

"I'm not sure how much help he'll be, but I do know someone who might be able to help."

"That would be wonderful," Raine replied as the girl sprinted off toward a small house.

Following at a slower jog, so as not to disturb Lloyd too much, the three arrived at the quaint building.

Appearing on the doorstep the girl quickly hastened them inside.

"He's not sure what he can do, but he says he'll give it his best shot."

Raine hastily lay the unconscious teen down upon the bed that the medic motioned to.

"Oh dear, this doesn't look good…" mused the doctor as he examined Lloyd, "what on earth happened to him?"

Explanations and introductions were quickly handed out as the medic began his work.

Motioning Raine to him the medic, Carnil, quickly began passing out brisk orders.

"Raine, you'll find some clean towels in that cupboard over there," he began, before turning to the girl who had helped them. "Lyla, go boil me some water in a clean pot. Genis, I'm going to need you to make your way into the lean-to and get me my satchel of herbs—you'll know it right off. Colette, go help Lyla with boiling the water and the two of you sterilize some bowls for me, but don't forget my water too!"

Once the orders were passed out the group jumped to it with a will, everyone eager to help Lloyd.

Tears streaked down Lloyd's face as he gazed up at his father, a pathetic look on his four-year-old face.

"Daddy? Why'd it hurted so much?" he whined, pointing to his ankle, which was twisted at a grotesque angle.

Kneeling down alongside his son Kratos sighed softly as he gently ran his fingers through the child's brown locks.

"Because Lloyd, jumping off of Refreshers in an attempt to fly falls into our 'Bad Ideas' category, now doesn't it?" lectured Kratos, attempting to get a lesson out of the bad event.

Seeing the much younger boy's eyes well with even more tears than before, Kratos felt his heart melt a little. Scooping his son up the Seraphim stroked his hair gently.

"I know it hurts, Lloyd, but you have to realize that that was a bad idea."

Nodding his head, Lloyd attempted to suppress some of his tears.

"I knows, Daddy, but it still hurts lots!"

Ruffling his son's hair Kratos smiled encouragingly at the young child.

"Well, how about this. What if Daddy lets you try to heal it yourself?" he asked, indicating the child's broken ankle.

"Hahah! That's a new one! The great and mighty Seraphim Kratos referring to himself as 'Daddy?'"

Turning to confront the newcomer, Kratos frowned slightly.

"Put cork in it Yuan."

Forgetting almost entirely about the pain, Lloyd squealed happily.

"Nuncle Yun!"

"Yun?" Yuan muttered with a raised eyebrow, "that's a new one…"

Oblivious to Yuan's statement, Lloyd continued his exposition, "guess what Nuncle Yun! Daddy says I can heal my owie by myself!"

"I said you could t-" Kratos began, yet was cut off by 'Nuncle Yun.'

"Really now? Well then, I'm glad I didn't miss this…Daddy."

Letting out a sigh of resignation, Kratos nodded his consent.

"Fine, fine, you ready Lloyd?"

Lloyd nodded excitedly at this as he spoke, "yeses Daddy! I ready!"

Shifting into a sitting position Yuan hovered in midair as he observed the scene before him.

"Oh, this oughta be good."

Ignoring his best friend, Kratos ruffled his son's hair affectionately as he smiled encouragingly at the boy.

"Well then Lloyd, go ahead."

Lloyd, however, was already two steps ahead of his father.

"First-Aid!"

Kratos' eyes grew wide as he realized how quickly his son had completed the spell. The redheaded Seraphim had been planning to 'assist' his son in healing the wound. Yet closer inspection revealed that Lloyd had successfully healed it on his own.

Flexing the joint to its max Kratos smiled his approval as he praised his son, "excellent job, Lloyd. You did it!"

Squealing excitedly Lloyd scampered off to brag to every angel he could find about how he had 'healed his owie himself.'

Yuan shook his head slowly as the young half-angel scurried away.

"That, now that was impressive."

"Understatement of the year."

Carnil wiped the sweat from his forehead as he stepped back to examine his handiwork.

"Well, that's the best I can do for him. He's not in as severe danger now, but he still needs a doctor."

"Where would the closest one with the necessary skills be?" asked Raine from her position on the couch.

Lyla flicked her head in the general direction of the water.

"Probably over in Palmacosta, like I said before. Travelling by water would be best for him, too."

"Well then, where can we get a boat?"

"You're going to have trouble getting one. Rumours tell of an increased number of sea monster attacks lately."

Ignoring the older man, Lyla turned to Raine.

"My friend Max will take you."

Carnil sighed as they watched the girl run out the door.

"That Lyla…"

Several minutes later saw the group spread out upon Izoold's dock as Carnil gave explicit instructions for transporting Lloyd.

"Try to keep him as still as possible, I refrained from even attempting to give him any stitches as I don't think that would be best yet. Also, try to keep him dry, I doubt he'd be very thankful of salt water in his cuts."

Nodding in acquiescence to all of Carnil's instructions, Raine shuddered noticeably whenever she was forced near the water.

Colette noticed her Professor's actions and furrowed her brow slightly as she spoke, "uh, Professor Sage? Are you okay?"

"O-of course! I was, uh, just thinking about Lloyd. Yes, that's it."

"Oh, okay!" Colette chirped out happily. She was glad to know that nothing was wrong with Raine.

Raine let out a relieved breath, thankful that Colette had chosen not to press the matter.

"Thank you for doing this, Max," Lyla muttered as she gazed at the wood beneath her feet.

Blushing softly Max chuckled, "well, if it wasn't that his life was in danger, then I wouldn't be doing it. I can't very well let him die though, now can I?"

"Exactly, so can we get going?"

"Genis!"

"Sorry sis, but Lloyd's in danger!"

"He's right, we should be taking off," Max cut in quickly.

That being said good-byes were passed around as the group piled onto the small boat.

Sucking in a deep breath, Raine followed the others, not at all comfortable with the boat.—or the water.

"Good luck on your journey and take care of that boy!"

Leaning over the stern of the boat Colette waved back to the two on the dock as the ship moved away.

"We will! And thank you for all of your help!" she called out in assurance, as her blonde hair fluttered about in the breeze.

Making his way to the bow of the ship, Genis gazed off into the distance as the boat crashed through the gentle waves.

'You better make it, Lloyd.'

Gazing about himself, Lloyd let out a small sigh, a look of boredom plastered on his features. He was with his father on the top of a grassy hill. Below them stretched a long valley with a thin strip of blue running through it. Sheltering the valley was a collection of mountains reaching high towards the sky; like the teeth of a comb reaching up to brush a sheep's wool. Dotting the valley floor and the mountain sides were rows upon rows of trees, decorated in every shade of green, red and yellow imaginable. This was compliments of the early-autumn weather.

"Dad, what are we doing here?" demanded the thirteen-year-old brunet.

Letting out a soft breath, Kratos walked over to his son. Ruffling the brown locks none-too-gently the Seraphim used the motion to push Lloyd to the ground.

"Stay quiet and watch."

Falling to his knees, Lloyd lowered his voice to a soft whisper.

"What am I watching for?"

Instead of answering, Kratos indicated a grove of trees to his left.

Following his father's finger, Lloyd felt his eyes grow wide at the scene that greeted them. Moving out of the trees was a large, mixed herd of monsters. Moving his eyes back to his father's face, Lloyd knew his eyes were glowing.

"C-can I? Are you letting me?"

Kratos nodded as he spoke, "yes. This is your chance to practice mana usage on a large number of opponents."

With an excited grin, Lloyd unfurled his wings from his back and used them to glide silently several inches off of the ground. As he moved in closer the half-angel carefully pondered what spell to start out with. He still had yet to master Judgment, besides; he was not so sure his father would be overly pleased with him throwing that spell around. Meteor Storm was always a candidate for slicing through large numbers, yet it took him so long to cast it. Prism Sword did not have very good range, the same with Thunder Blade.

Finally Lloyd settled on a plan of action. Who needed range spells when one had awesome, electrocuting pain? It had taken him so long to learn it too, so why not put it to use?

Watching his son start to cast Kratos suddenly realized what the boy was casting. 'Oh no, Lloyd! That's a bad idea!' Knowing it was too late, Kratos settled for a sharp wince as Lloyd began the spell.

"I, who stand in the full light of the Heavens, command thee, who open the Gates of Hell: Come forth divine lightning! This ends now! Indignation!"

Lloyd watched in extreme satisfaction as a huge bolt of electricity crashed down amongst the monsters, scattering them every-which-way and killing dozens. The ones in front began to stampede—straight toward him.

Zooming in, Kratos latched onto Lloyd's arm and yanked him high into the sky, lecturing as he did so.

"And here I honestly thought you could at least use your brain to chose you spells."

"Uh…whoops?"

"Never mind that now. Right now we have to worry about stopping that stampede, there's a town just a few miles from here."

Turning in midair, Lloyd flinched as he began to cast the spell he knew he should have started with.

"Oh countless falling stars come forth! Meteor Storm!"

Kratos watched with satisfaction as his son quickly started to use his head. It was always nice to know that his son could think. He just didn't like to.

Gazing ahead of them, Raine let out a relieved sigh as she spotted the still forms of buildings rising up before them. Finally, Palmacosta was in view.

Retreating to the solitary cabin in the centre of the ship, Raine made her way over to where Colette was dutifully watching over the still-unconscious Lloyd.

"How is he? Any changes?"

The blonde Chosen shook her head slightly.

"He hasn't woken, if that's what you mean. He's been thrashing around and muttering a lot though."

"What's he been saying? Anything coherent?"

"Not really…he said 'dad' a few times, but that's all I could catch."

Reaching out, Raine laid a gentle hand on Lloyd's forehead, recoiling suddenly when she touched his flesh.

"He's burning up!"

Getting up from the chair where he had been reading, Genis joined his two companions by Lloyd.

"He is? How much further to Palmacosta, Sis?"

"Thankfully we're almost there, but for now we need to try to bring his fever down."

"What can we do?" Colette asked worriedly, as she mimicked Raine's action of checking Lloyd's fever. "Ouch! He is burning up."

"I'll go get a glass of water for him. With a fever that high we don't want to risk dehydration," Genis muttered as he sprinted out the door.

Raine nodded her approval of her brother's suggestion.

"That's a good idea, Colette, why don't you go get some cold water so we can try to cool him off?"

Nodding her consent, Colette followed Genis out the door.

Crossing her arms Raine seated herself in the chair that Colette had previously occupied. Leaning over the boy she let out a deep breath.

"I don't get you, you know that? You're surviving with grievous wounds that would kill any of us, and were doing it well, too. Now you come down with a fever that would leave any of us cooking, but you're clinging to life anyway. I guess what I want to know is: how are you still alive? This past day hasn't been easy for you at all."

"Guess I'm just tough."

Glancing down the half-elf felt her eyes grow wide as she realized that Lloyd was awake and looking back at her.

"How are you feeling?" she asked, getting over her initial shock.

"I've been…better," he breathed out, voice slightly raspy and breathing clearly laboured. "It hurts though, and I'm tired. I think I'd like to sleep some more though."

Propping up his pillow Raine nodded her head sharply.

"Yes, that would be best. You need to give your body time to recover."

Her words feel upon deaf ears, however, for Lloyd had already drifted back into a state between sleep and unconsciousness.

Colette returned first, bringing with her a cloth and small pail of cold water. Accepting both from the girl, Raine laid a wet cloth on his forehead.

"Did you get the chance to find out how far we are from Palmacosta?"

Colette shook her head at this.

"No, I think Genis was asking him."

It was at that moment that Genis walked in the door, glass of water in one hand.

"Max says we'll be there within an hour."

"That's good, because he needs real attention," commented Raine, as she accepted the water.

"Yeah, he does."

Lloyd was not awake, yet he was not asleep either. He could feel himself blundering helplessly somewhere between consciousness and unconsciousness. Shifting his body slightly he felt his inner conscious flinch in pain. It was a pain of the like that he had only known once before, during the height of his transformation. Now, although the transformation was not complete, he rarely felt pain. This pain though, it had to be extreme for him to feel it at all, nevertheless here, in his own mind.

He knew it was only the fact that he had angelic blood in him that let him survive at all. Without that advantage he likely would have been dead on impact. Even as he was now it was only his willpower that was holding him together. That and his love for another being.

"Dad…" he felt the soft word escape his lips, as it had many times before. He knew it held his longing for his father to be there, to help him through the pain. Yet he knew it was impossible then, for his father was busy. Yet soon, soon they would be in Palmacosta.

He knew, however, that once he started on the path to recovery that it would be hurried along by his father's blood. Then the pain would end, and he could be with his father once more.

Kratos shuddered slightly as a chill wind blew by him, despite the fact that he could not feel the cold. He had been having a terrible sense of foreboding for nearly a day now, yet he could not explain it. Frowning at the sky, the Seraphim furrowed his brow.

'Be safe, Lloyd.'

It's early, but who's complaining? It would've been even earlier if a particular silly beta (who I am eternally grateful to)didn'tdecide to go out of town. XD It's cool though, because posting on weekends is better for reviews…-fails- Not just that though, you guys should just be happy that the chapter is what, a month early?

The flashbacks are all Lloyd's dreams, incase anyone was wondering, although I am a little iffy on the last part of Lloyd's. It seems to me to be a bit out of place…but you guys can decide that for yourselves. Also, some of you might recognize Lloyd's spell lines. I decided that, since I'm not creative enough on my own, to borrow Jade's, from Tales of the Abyss. So, while Lloyd will never, ever, be as cool as our favourite necromancer, I decided to borrow them anyway. (I don't own Jade or Abyss…but I wish I did.)

As of now I'm working on getting more descriptive. So in the future guys, feel free to mark me up (or down) on it. :P

So that's all for now and please review! I know where you all are! Well, sorta, but I do know who alerts this story or adds it to their favourites. . .oops, it would seem I said that out loud.