Chapter 36: The End of Doubts
The flight back to Heimdall did not last very long due to the village's close proximity to the Tower of Salvation, and the trip through the Ymir Forest after they landed was just as quick thanks to the recent familiarity with the area. Once the group made it to the entrance of the village, the elder was surprisingly there to greet them all.
"Lloyd, welcome." Despite their last meeting, the elf elder politely greeted Lloyd the moment he was close enough to hear him. He was upfront with the next bit of information as he commented "Your visitor has already entered Torent Forest, where Origin sleeps." As he spoke this one, however, one could tell that he didn't want to prolong the conversation with minor details.
"…Thank you." Lloyd comments in a tired but appreciative tone of voice. Raine and Genis hang back as the rest of the group begins to enter the village, with Raine commenting in an understanding tone of voice "We shall see you when you get back…I wish you luck, Lloyd." Lloyd glances back at his two half-elf friends and after a momentary pause he turns to face the elder and says to him "Wait a minute Elder. Please, can't you let the Professor and Genis into the village? It's only for now. They're my close friends, and I want them to be there when I face off against Kratos!"
The elder momentarily looked at Lloyd in disbelief at what he was asking, but before he could say anything one of the guards bluntly commented "Unthinkable! No half-elf may enter our village!" Lloyd was understandably not in the mood to deal with such racism after everything that happened in the Tower of Salvation, and bluntly responded with "That kind of attitude gave rise to Cruxis!"
The second elf guard raises his spear at Lloyd and angrily states "What did you say?!" But before his aggression could be met the elder holds his right hand out and glares at the two guards while stating "Stop, both of you!" Once the elder was certain that the two guards wouldn't attack, he continued on to say while looking directly at Lloyd "The chasm that separates us from half-elves is deep and dark. Nevertheless, there is reason in what you say. Thus, from now until Origin is released, I will grant these two entrance to the village."
Raine and Genis look visibly surprised by this, with Lloyd cracking a smile as he nods his head and says "Thank you!" The elder then comments "However, they may not use any of our facilities. Is that clear?" Raine nods her head and says "…That's fair." While Genis sarcastically states "Gee…Thanks…"
The elder and his two guards then head-off to take care of other business, and the collective group gathers past the entrance a few seconds later. Lloyd let's out a relieved sigh after he and Genis share a quick smile at each other, and then Lloyd looks towards the forest and says confidently "Alright, it's time to go face Kratos…" His voice was tired sounding, something Colette picks up on as she runs in front of him and exclaims "Lloyd, wait!"
Before he could take a step forward, Lloyd stops and lets Colette calmly say "Please, relax a little bit first. You've done a lot today already…And now you're about to fight your father…" Lloyd snaps and says "I know that!" But he wasn't angry Colette so much as he felt he didn't need a reminder of what the stakes were.
"Colette's right. Don't be hasty, Lloyd." Regal adds his voice into the conversation, and in turn Raine nods her head and says "The fate of the world rests on your battle with Kratos. Let's rest here tonight and you can sort out your feelings. …This will be the end of our journey…I assume." At the end of her sentence Raine slightly turns her head to glance at Riku, with a somewhat concerned look on her face.
Lloyd reluctantly says "…All right." Which brings a relieved look to most of the group's faces. "Then I guess we'll just split up for the time being." Sheena comments afterwards, and everyone was in agreement of that plan…Except for Riku, who for good reason had something he wanted to say to everyone before they departed. After all, this would likely be the last time he'd get a chance to bring this up.
As some of the group began to walk off, Riku exclaimed urgently "Wait! Everyone…There's something I want to talk about real quick!" Zelos is the first to turn around and acknowledge the teenage Overlord's remark as he smirks and comments "Oh, I know what this is all about. Well, I'm partially responsible for getting you into this mess, so I'm willing to hear you out."
Everyone besides Raine turns around to pay attention to what Riku had to say, and her hesitation leads to Genis commenting "Raine, are you ok?" He noticed the unease on her sister's face for a moment, but that vanished as she turned around and looked at the teenage Overlord. Riku stood himself upright and tries to compose himself as he said "…I'm just going to get straight to the point. Zelos was right when he said that I knew about the events that were happening in this world before they occurred. And I'm not just talking about the present day, but everything that happened with Mithos' journey 4,000 years ago as well."
"…I suspected you knew more about Kratos, Yuan and Mithos than you were letting on, especially when Kratos confronted us at the Tethe'alla Renegade Base." Regal points out, but then he goes on to say "But I didn't say anything because it was only that…A suspicion. However, this begs the question of HOW you knew all this from the start."
"And why you didn't tell any of us about this sooner." Presea coldly states, putting a little more pressure on Riku than the stares had already. The teenage Overlord looks around at the group before saying nervously "I-I was getting to that…Boy, I hope this doesn't go over too badly…" He whispers that last part to himself, making it the last preparation he had on his plate before he went into full detail on what he knew.
"Ok, you know how I said I came from another planet? Well on Earth…We have these things called video games, which are born from regular technology instead of magic. One of the games we have is called 'Tales of Symphonia', which chronicles all of your guy's journey through Sylvarant and Tethe'alla. It starts from the moment where Colette becomes the Chosen, but it shows everything that we have done up until this point…Save for a couple deviations."
"…A…video game? So wait, if I'm understanding this right, on your world, we're fictional characters?" Zelos asks in an only slightly perturbed tone of voice, and Riku says "Yes, that's right. But the people on our world aren't reality benders…They didn't create all of you in the physical world by making that video game."
"So we exist twice in the same reality…Here as physical beings, and on another world as data. I-I have to admit, that is rather surreal." Regal admits. "I got to be quite honest with you all, it kind of goes a little deeper than that. You see, I've never actually touched any of this 'video games' myself. My brother did, and I just happened to absorb all of that knowledge into myself over time. Everything I know about this world and you guys was not learned via my own experiences…I just piggybacked off of someone else's efforts…" Riku hangs his head slightly after admitting that, but the group just went silent for a few seconds in response.
"…That's why, once we're done reuniting the worlds, I'm going to leave it forever." Riku reveals his plans for the end of this journey, which causes Lloyd to flinch in shock before he looks at the boy with a confused expression before saying "Huh? Why do you want to do that?"
The teenage Overlord swiftly lifts his head up and says "Why would you ever want someone who so greatly deceived you to stick around? I mean sure, you forgave Zelos, but you had more time to get to know him and understand him…There's no excuse for my actions. I knew so many things about this world that could've helped us out, but I chose to hide them from you because of my own damn selfish fear that things would go wrong just like on the first world I went to."
"Now wait just a moment there. Are you seriously that worried about something bad happening just because you let some bits of info slip here and there?" Zelos asks, and Riku turns to him with fearful eyes as he exclaims "One misstep and the whole future can change Zelos! My presence on one world caused it to be destroyed, and I didn't want to risk that happening again! I had to keep things in line with what I knew, even though it meant deceiving all of you! The only time I could change the future is when I was absolutely certain that it wouldn't ruin everything!"
"…You're referring to the time you saved Botta from Rodyle's trap, aren't you?" Raine chimes in to the conversation in a surprisingly precise manner, which causes Riku to glance at her in surprise while the rest of the group blinks quietly at the Professor's deduction. Raine folds her arms against her chest and explains "Your attitude is nowhere near consistent, Riku, but when you saved Botta you had a certain air of confidence that has only shown up a couple other times since then…And now that you have mentioned this, I can pinpoint just why you were only confident those times."
"Right…When Botta and Yuan went to kill Mithos outside Altessa's house, Riku wasn't at all worried until Genis suddenly saved Mithos' life. Also, in the Tower of Salvation, he wasn't at all concerned that he was being captured by Mithos…" Regal says, letting out a curious murmur to himself as he rubbed the bottom of his chin. Presea then spoke up afterwards with a question that had been bothering her for a while now "Speaking of the Tower of Salvation…Riku, if you knew all about this world…And you had the ability to bring back the dead…Then why…Why didn't you bring back Alicia or my father?!"
Unlike everyone else, Presea didn't take Riku's bit of news kindly as her bitter words showed. Riku was taken aback for a moment, but proceeded to respond with "…I couldn't do anything about Alicia since her body had been absorbed into the Exsphere…And as Lloyd as shown, I can only revive people back to the state they were in before they died. Your father would still retain his illness, and would die from it again before we could get a doctor for him…I'm sorry Presea…"
Presea hangs her head slightly in disappointment, but then Zelos cuts in and says "Hey, lets be honest here Riku…Sure, you knew things about our world and didn't tell us, but if you were so worried about something going wrong then that's fine. Besides, you were on our side the whole time, that much I can tell. So stop pitying yourself already, it's kind of pathetic." He was blunt in his words, but he knew what to say in this situation.
Riku glanced at Zelos and said to him "…You're taking this whole thing rather well." The Chosen grins brightly and comments "Well of course I am! I mean come on, a whole other world gets to hear about the exploits of the great and handsome Zelos! Hehehe…" Zelos' chipper mood about the whole ordeal lightens the guilt from the teenage Overlord's mind a bit.
"Hold on. I think we're ignoring the biggest problem with all of this…" Raine comments in break up the mood, and as everyone focuses on her she says "If Riku knew everything from the start…That means he knew all along that the half-elf boy Mithos was also Mithos the Hero, and Yggdrasill, the leader of Cruxis. All I want to know now is why you didn't say anything about that despite knowing how dangerous he was…"
"…Oh yeah, the Professor brings up a very valid point." Zelos says, and the glares once again focus on Riku. However, teenage Overlord extends his arms out and explained quickly "It's because Mithos was so dangerous that I couldn't afford to oust his true identity. It was only when he was broken by Martel's rejection that you were able to defeat him, after all."
"Wait, even you were worried about Mithos? But you had that one form that allowed you to revive Lloyd…That seemed pretty powerful." Sheena comments, and with a shake of his head Riku then went on to explain "I would only have used that in the utmost of emergencies, LIKE when Lloyd was killed. Because in the end, this is your journey, your 'Tale', as it were…I'm not here to seek glory, or become a 'hero' of this world. My sole purpose is to make sure that this world goes down the correct path."
"…" Everyone was silent for a moment, because at this point it was getting a little hard to comprehend everything Riku had said. Recognizing this, the teenage Overlord looked towards Regal and said to him "Had I killed Vharley myself, I would have been denying you and Presea the right to get revenge on him." He then turned towards Sheena, saying calmly "And if I killed Kuchinawa, you never would have gotten the chance to ease his mind by defeating him in battle, am I right?"
"H-How did you…Actually, yeah, he still banished himself from the village…But I don't think he's focused on revenge anymore…" Sheena says in a befuddled tone of voice. Riku nods his head and then looks at the rest of the group while saying "You guys had to experience many things on your journeys, some of it difficult, some of it uplifting…I couldn't deny you those experiences, even if it pained me to let someone like Vharley or Rodyle get away with some of the stuff they pulled."
"…" Raine, with a guilty look on her face, suddenly turns around and runs off, something Genis notices as he turns around and exclaims "H-Huh? Hey, sis!" Genis chased after her quickly, and Zelos felt right in saying to the group afterwards "Hmm…I think it's time we ended this conversation, wouldn't you say?"
Reluctantly, Riku nodded his head and said "I said all that I needed to Zelos…It went on longer than I intended, and I'm sorry if that added any further stress onto you Lloyd." When Lloyd heard himself being addressed, he perked his head up slightly and said "Huh? No, not at all Riku. Truth be told…I kind of didn't understand most of that anyways…"
Naturally, this wasn't a surprising response from Lloyd, but Riku was nonetheless surprised that Lloyd seemed to have no problems with him holding back information for everyone's sakes. With Raine's departure ending the conversation there, the group decided to go back to their original plan of splitting up for the rest of the day and night. However, Riku decided to follow Lloyd since Genis was busy dealing with his sister.
"Wait a minute Lloyd!" Riku runs in front of Lloyd as he slows to a stop, and with a concerned look in his eyes the teenage Overlord says "I don't understand…Zelos and Kratos betrayed you once and you were angry at them for that, but I betrayed you and you say nothing against me?"
"…Heh, I think I'm the one who doesn't understand here, Riku. Why should I get upset at you? Zelos and Kratos were selling us out to the enemy when they betrayed us. You didn't betray us at all, you were just holding back information for our own protection…I understood that much, anyways." Lloyd replies with a small smile on his face.
"Lloyd, that's still deception…Regardless of my reasons, if you had a problem with what I've done, then I want you to get that off your chest now…Don't even consider the fact that I brought you back to life when you say what you have to, please." Riku says, and Lloyd just blinks at him a couple times before shaking his head and saying "Riku, you said you didn't want to repeat the same mistake you made on another world, right?"
The teenage Overlord looks at him in a puzzled manner, and Lloyd says in turn "Then I understand why you didn't say anything. You're learning from your mistakes…Just like I have done my hardest to avoid another Iselia or Giant Kharlan Tree…" Riku understood where Lloyd was getting from, but nonetheless mentioned "But I'm still a liar. Are you seriously ok with that?"
"Colette has lied before, so has Genis…But I still consider them my closest friends. I'm not going to judge you for that, Riku, so just get off that topic already and relax." Lloyd ends his sentence with a blunt remark meant to get Riku's mind off the subject, but before he could the teenage Overlord felt he had to ask "…So even after all this, you consider me a friend?"
"Of course stupid! Not one of my closest ones, but you've done nothing to make me think otherwise. Now come on, just lay back and relax…After all, all I have to do now is defeat Kratos and form a pact with Origin to get the Eternal Sword…" Lloyd comments, though his tone was rather bothered as he reached the end. Riku lifts his head up and says "…No, you're right. We don't need everyone stressing out…Putting my issues on the front was pretty selfish, especially then and there. You didn't need that added stress, Lloyd."
"Heh, thanks Riku…Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go lie down and think about tomorrow." Lloyd then walks off, but before he went too far Riku glanced behind his right shoulder and whispered out "No, thank you, Lloyd Irving." With a smile on his face, it didn't take long for the teenage Overlord to recall that he still needed to deal with Raine's sudden departure. But he decided he would do that once the time was right.
But with nothing to do, Riku just sat around and waited for night to fall. All the while, he couldn't get over the tiredness that crept across his body. He was recovering at an incredibly slow pace, which made him recognize the drawbacks of using his revival powers. He laid back on the ground and gazed up towards the stars, thinking to himself "Tomorrow is the last day of this journey…It feels like I've been here forever."
Hearing some footsteps approach him from the right, Riku lifts himself up and sees Raine walking towards him. She had a frown on her face and a nervous look in her eyes, but the teenage Overlord extended his right hand out and asked "Raine, you ok? I haven't seen you since you ran off earlier."
Raine paused for a moment, but then walked forward while saying to Riku "…I'm sorry." The teenage Overlord gets on his feet and says to her in a puzzled manner "What do you mean by that?" Raine looks at the boy and says to him "I'm sorry for snapping at you back at Flanoir. It was immature of me, but I was just so concerned that you were our enemy with all that information you were keeping from us that it clouded my judgment."
"…Are you saying this because of what I mentioned about experiences?" Riku asks in a curious tone of voice, and Raine nods her head while closing her eyelids and explaining "Yes…When I took the effort to figure out my connection to the Otherworldly Gate and remembered my past, I was left with a lot of question, naturally, but at the same time I felt an incredible feeling of satisfaction for figuring it out. If you had told me all that, then it wouldn't feel right at all…"
"Raine, I'm still sorry for deceiving you like that. Especially after you seemed to put more trust towards me than anyone else." Riku apologizes to the half-elf, and Raine shakes her head while mentioning "You don't need to do that…I actually want to thank you for telling me something."
"Huh?" Riku stared blankly at Raine as the half-elf looked towards the starry sky and commented "Once this is over with…When the worlds have been put together…I'm going to find the floating city Exire and see my mother again. That is what I have decided on." Raine's plans both shocked and worried Riku, but he didn't say anything as the half-elf turned around to face him.
"That is all I have to say on this whole ordeal. Tomorrow, Lloyd faces Kratos, and puts an end to this divided world with the Eternal Sword…I imagine Kratos has something in mind to help Lloyd wield the blade, but we will only find that out once we confront him in the forest." Raine states, and Riku nods his head while holding one hand and commenting "Even without my knowledge of this world, it'd be obvious that Kratos has something planned. You'll just have to wait and see what that is."
"And I wouldn't have it any other way, Riku. Good night now, get some rest like everyone else." Raine gives some concerns towards the teenage Overlord's health before she turns around and heads off for her own well-deserved sleep. Riku lies back down on the ground and closes his eyes to rest for a good eight hours, making not another comment until the sun lifted on the planet.
Now that it was a new day, the teenage Overlord got on his feet and rushed to join up with the rest of the group, who had gathered in front of the entrance to the Torent Forest, where the elf elder had finished wishing them all good luck. Upon arriving, Zelos greeted Riku by turning his head around and saying "Hehe, for a moment I thought you'd just be lying down on the ground all day. You could have missed out, Riku."
"I wouldn't miss out on this at all. I can fly, remember? I'd just catch up with the rest of you with my flight. But I did get a good night's sleep for once, even if it was on the ground." Riku comments in a joking tone of voice, and then he looks towards Lloyd and says to him "Are you ready?" Lloyd nodded his head confidently in response, and that was all that needed to be said from anyone in the group.
Afterwards, they began to head into the Torent Forest, which held a very magical vibe within it's trees likely due to Origin's seal being somewhere inside. Despite not being in this forest before, Lloyd and the others felt guided by some mysterious force coming from afar, whose energy became more prominent as they got closer to their destination.
It took only a few minutes for the group to find Kratos, who stood before a large stone tablet that had been covered on the bottom by some ancient looking moss. As Lloyd took the forefront, Kratos said in an unsurprised tone of voice "So, you've come." Lloyd had no intention of mincing words and asked straight up "Is there no other way?"
Kratos disappointingly raises his eyebrows and says "…Are you still thinking like that? You'll die if you fight me with any doubt left in your heart. If you want the pact with Origin, then you must defeat me." The man's natural bluntness didn't faze Lloyd, and he turned his head back to face his friends and said to them "Everyone. Leave this to me." No one had any objections.
Kratos was surprised by this, and asked "…You're going to fight alone?" Colette stands up for Lloyd and exclaims bravely "Lloyd won't lose! Lloyd bears the weight of all the lives that you and Cruxis sacrificed." Genis then joins in and says "Don't underestimate Lloyd. He didn't run. He didn't give up. By that alone, he's already beat you. I believe in him."
Next up was Raine, who said "You're about to witness something remarkable…The sight of your own son surpassing you. Lloyd is…our hope." "You'd better prepare yourself! Lloyd possesses more strength than you imagine! He's not the same Lloyd you knew back when you were with us. But you already know that, don't you? You see his potential." Sheena said with the utmost confidence in Lloyd's abilities.
Zelos gestures forward and comments "This guy's really stubborn, simple-minded, and tough as nails. So he's more than a match for you all by himself. But anyway…try your best." Presea mentions "Lloyd is not alone. We are always with him. Even if we do not take up our weapons." Regal then says "You and Lloyd most certainly should duel one-on-one…Is that not the closure you desired? You are…even less capable than I am at expressing your feelings."
After all that, Riku only had to glance at Lloyd while saying to Kratos "Kratos…I told you from the start. I put faith in Lloyd and his friends for a reason. And now, he's going to show you just why we've all had so much faith in him!" Kratos smiles subtly and draws both his sword and shield, and Lloyd draws both of his weapons while exclaiming "Get ready!"
As the rest of the group steps back to the give the two warriors enough room, Kratos adjusts his shield into place and says "I'm not going to hold back this time!" Lloyd nodded his head and pointed one sword at the man, saying in a calm manner "I know…I won't either." The confidence that exuded from his voice left Kratos feeling proud for just a moment, as he had to discard said emotion in order to give his son the battle he deserves.
Lloyd makes the first move and runs forward, swinging one sword upward towards Kratos' chin. The man lowers his shield to block the attack and then leaps back, letting Lloyd carry out the full extent of his attack so he's posed in such a way that Kratos is able to hold his right hand out and immediately cast a spell. "Grave!" He exclaimed, and Lloyd knew just what was going to happen next.
Getting upright swiftly, Lloyd leaps back before the first rocky spike punctures up through the ground, followed by four others striking against the original. Seeing a chance available to him, Lloyd slices forward with one sword to cut off the top of the largest spike, sending it towards Kratos as the rest of the stones retract into the ground.
Kratos is forced to lift his shield up to block the stone fragment, and as it shatters and spreads rocky dust before his line of sight he suspects what Lloyd is up to and immediately swings his sword against the ground to send out a fanged projectile in order to counteract Lloyd's own. Lloyd wasn't at all surprised that Kratos predicted his moves, but that is exactly why he leaped into the air after throwing out a Demon Fang, so he could take both of his swords and swing them down upon Kratos' shield now that the man had left his other defense out of the equation.
When Lloyd struck Kratos' shield, the man's knees gave way a moment from the force of the blow, catching Kratos' off-guard long enough for Lloyd to press down past the shield and land on the ground, where his swords' impact sends forth a shockwave of debris against Kratos' legs. Kratos could tell that Lloyd had intended to throw him off-balance by damaging his legs, so in order to prevent any further blows there the man leapt back onto the top of Origin's seal as Lloyd swung both swords out a little too late.
Once atop Origin's seal, Kratos immediately kicked off and flipped himself over Lloyd's body, swinging his sword down the moment he was upright in order to send a single flame straight at Lloyd. Lloyd turns around just in time to be hit by the flame, which explodes upon him and pushes himself back a few feet while dealing decent damage to his body. Kratos lands on the ground and throws out two Demon Fangs in rapid succession, using them both as a means of distracting Lloyd while he positions his arms in front of his body to cast another spell.
As Lloyd takes the Demon Fangs to his legs and visibly grimaces, he notices a purple rune circle appearing around Kratos' feet and is thus able to determine which spell the man would perform next. Instead of wasting time trying to go in for the attack, Lloyd braced himself on the ground and crossed his swords as Kratos proclaimed "Thunder Blade!" The sky opened up, dropping forth exactly what the man wanted towards Lloyd, who activated his Guardian to cushion the blow of the thunder blade, both the initial impact and the ensuing blast of electricity.
He still took some damage, and his body looked visibly weakened as he drops the Guardian. But Lloyd didn't take pause in this battle as he ran forward and stood in front of Kratos, swinging both of his swords out in rapid thrusts as Kratos holds his shield forward to guard most of the blows. A couple of the sword strikes went towards his leg and shoulders, scratching them and causing a little blood to leak out.
Once Lloyd was done with his sword thrusts, he took both blades and swung them upwards while leaping into the air. Kratos swung his sword upward as Lloyd brought his blades back down, the clash of steel sending a brief spread of sparks out while Lloyd was pushed back through the air. He skids on the ground as he lands, and while he's there Kratos leaps over Lloyd's body to end up in front of Origin's seal once more.
As he lands, he immediately swings his sword for Lloyd's back, but the boy is able to flip his body around and swing one sword out to deflect the blow while leaping back. Kratos then throws out a Demon Fang, but Lloyd leaps over it and spins around multiple times while holding his swords out. Kratos' shield is grinded against by the rotation of blades, but this attack manages to apply enough pressure that cracks start to form along the shield. Kratos was forced to throw his shield arm back before the defense itself breaks, and a small leap back allows Lloyd to land feet first onto the ground while swinging his sword out on the ground.
Kratos was impressed by Lloyd's tactics in this battle. Between applying pressure to his legs and wearing down his shield to lower his defensive options, Lloyd was making sure that Kratos would eventually be forced to rely on his artes instead of his sword. Kratos thrusts his sword forward, and Lloyd raises both of his up to block the attack dead center. However, Kratos uses his magic to summon forth a lightning bolt immediately after the sword thrust to strike down onto Lloyd.
A swift blow from the lightning bolt stuns Lloyd for a moment, allowing Kratos to pull back and then swing his sword out, cutting Lloyd across the chest. Lloyd leaps far back afterwards, and Kratos cautiously waits for the next move. Lloyd had a plan in mind, and with a short moment of confidence he decides to charge right at Kratos with both swords swung out.
Kratos thought the move was rather rash of Lloyd, and in a moment of disappointment he decides to swing his sword towards the boy's neck. With Lloyd fighting a life-or-death battle, Kratos suspected that Lloyd would dodge the sword swing and leave himself vulnerable to another attack, but then the boy did something Kratos could never have predicted.
Dropping both of his swords, Lloyd swung his right fist forward while lowering his head fast enough to avoid Kratos' attack. Surprised by the maneuver, Kratos wasn't able to get his shield up in time as Lloyd punched him square in the face. In a second, Kratos was launched backwards, his back colliding with the hardened stone that composed Origin's seal and causing a sharp pain to echo through his spine.
The recoil from the impact drops Kratos onto his knees in front of the seal, but the pain going through his spine now prevented him from rising back onto his feet. There was also a little blood leaking from his nose due to the punch. Lloyd then stood in front of him, one sword drawn towards the neck while the other was held back, and his expression was rather stoic. Kratos smiled, knowing that his time was at an end, and said to his son "…You've grown strong." His voice filled with pride.
Humble to a fault, Lloyd admitted "…Thanks to you." He then proceeded to take both of his swords and sheath them in the hilts, surprising Kratos immensely. "Aren't you…going to finish me?" Kratos asked in a weak tone of voice.
Lloyd held his arms out and admitted "I defeated Kratos, the angel, the one who betrayed us. And I forgive Kratos, the hero of the Ancient War, who helped us. That's all…" Kratos, despite being taken aback by Lloyd's maturity, nonetheless sharply said "Humph…and I thought I'd finally earned the right to die…But you're as softhearted as ever…"
In spite of the pain in his spine, Kratos forced himself onto his feet and turned around to face Origin's seal. He spread his angel wings and focused his energy onto it, and Lloyd widened his eyes while saying "H…Hold on! You can't be…are you going to break the seal?" Kratos calmly replies with "…That is what you desire, is it not?"
"But then, you'll…" Before Lloyd can finish his sentence, Kratos had finished the process, with his angelic wings shattering as his body grows weak. He falls backwards, but is suddenly caught by Yuan, who appeared out of nowhere to save him. "Kratos!" Lloyd exclaimed in a panicked tone, but Yuan glances at him and says in an assuring tone of voice "…Don't worry, he's alive. I gave him some of my mana…"
Lloyd steps forward and notices Kratos opening his eyelids wearily, leading to him asking "Da…Kratos. Are you really okay?" Kratos stared into his son's eyes, admitting in a somewhat disappointed tone of voice "…Looks like I've failed to die once more…" Lloyd glares fiercely at Kratos and exclaims to him "You stupid jerk! You can die any time! But when you die, that's the end!"
Yuan looks up and asks "You want him to live in eternal damnation?" Lloyd responded bluntly with "Who said anything like that?! What will you accomplish by dying? Nothing! There is no meaning in dying!" Kratos chuckles as he closes his eyelids shut for a moment, admitting afterwards "…You're…right. To think, I had to have my son teach me such an obvious lesson…"
"Kratos!" Lloyd exclaimed in a surprised tone of voice, and Kratos' body limps as he decides to take it easy for the time being. Yuan checks his pulse for confirmation, and then admits to Lloyd "Kratos will be fine. It's time for you to form the pact with Origin…"
As Yuan took Kratos out of sight for the time being, Lloyd approached Origin's seal, which glowed brightly for a few seconds before a pillar of rainbow light comes down upon it, giving it a very luminescent aura as a figure was called forth above it. The person was humanoid in shape, with his very muscular body and four arms being the easily noticeable parts of his form. He was surrounded by a series of 2-D crystals, and his blonde hair spread out into a series of ribbon-like crimson strands that had a sleek appearance. With one set of arms folded in front of his chest, the man bluntly said "I have lost faith in all things. Have you come here to disappoint me as well?" The majesty of his voice echoed across the forest.
"Origin. Are you bound by a pact with Mithos?" Lloyd asked, his body feeling the slightest bit nervous in the Summon Spirit's presence. Origin stated "My pact with Mithos was broken the moment I was freed. Never again shall anyone make use of my power." Sheena steps forward at that point and states "Even if we make a vow? We need the Eternal Sword!"
Lloyd explains to the Summon Spirit "I want to use the Eternal Sword to reunite the two worlds and revive the Giant Kharlan Tree! Unless we do something, the worlds will never stop vying for mana and everyone will suffer!" But as Origin points out "That situation was born from the weakness of creatures who are unable to accept those that are different."
"That may be true, but mistakes can be corrected." Lloyd states, while the pessimistic Origin says in turn "Some things cannot be corrected." Lloyd then replies with "Exactly. I'm not going to give up. From the moment they are born, everyone has the right to live! I want to reclaim that. Humans, elves, half-elves, dwarves, and even Summon Spirits…Everyone has a right to live!"
Upon hearing this, Origin murmurs to himself deeply, as though he saw some reason to believe what this boy was saying to him. But then Kratos opened his eyelids and looked up at the Summon Spirit, saying to him "…For almost an eternity, I thought that the only way to save this world was to cling to Mithos' ideals. Just as you once agreed with Mithos' ideals, I, too, thought his was the only way. But Lloyd is different. He taught me that in order to change something, you must do it yourself. It is not enough to merely rely on someone else and go along with their ideals."
It was at that point that Origin felt his pessimism melt away long enough for him to look down at Sheena, saying to her "You who possess the right of summoning. Make your vow." Lloyd looks up at the Summon Spirit and says "Origin! Then…" "I will try once more to believe in people. I shall do my duty in order to create a world you speak of-a world in which everyone can live equally."
"Then I, Sheena, have but one vow. To reclaim a world in which everyone can live freely…A world in which no life is sacrificed meaninglessly! That is all." Sheena's confidence radiated within Origin's heart, and as he nodded his head the man extended his other two arms and exclaimed "Then we shall create a pact upon that vow!" He then summoned forth two double-edged pikes made out of an unknown crystal and points one of them at the group while saying "Now, fight!"
Next Time: Eternity and Origin