Lloyd
I had said it without even meaning to. The words had just poured for as a part of my own stress, and it had frozen Kratos where he stood his hand still raised it release the whip. I brought my blades up in a defensive position preparing for whatever this would lead to. There was no doubt that I had done wrong by bringing such a statement into the air.
“Lloyd,” Kratos said bringing his whip down not in a threatening motion, but in a simple relaxation of the hand. Was he really going to listen to me? Did he finally get it? I started at him a bit as he stood there with the whip down. Corine and the fire summon were both still looking at us, and I hoped the standstill would bring something worth a damn.
“Lloyd,” Kratos said again.
“Kratos…..Mother wouldn’t want it this way….” I repeated.
“Your mother is the one suffering, Lloyd,” Kratos answered. “You should feel it within you as I do. The goddess Martel, your mother, is in pain. If you do not feel it then you are still a blind child.”
“But she wouldn’t want to watch so many people die to bring her back…And if she returns before the Karlan tree is restored, people will only continue suffering due to the lack of Mana…The Karlan tree must be found first in order to be a viable source of Mana….and then we could eve use that mana to restore Mother….Dad….please….” Lloyd answered.
There was an eerie silence that followed. I stood ready for anything, but at the same time, I had no idea how he was going to react. My muscles ached from the intensity of the fight. If he chose to attack, I wouldn’t be able to hold him off much longer.
“If we did it that way….both could….” Kratos started. His features seemed to be relaxing. I breathed out quickly.
“Yes!” I nodded. “And no one would die!”
Lloyd I am coming….a voice said quickly in my head.
Kratos looked up sharply. He had heard it. My face paled. Yuan had said that at the wrong time. The absolutely wrong time. The intensity in Kratos’s face returned. I started feeling a strange energy running out of him over me.
“You trickster, Lloyd,” Kratos said darkly. “Almost equal to Nefer the summon of pranks and jokes or even Loki the god of pranks. Yuan has trained you so well in this matter hasn’t he? Twisting you around his finger wasn’t enough; he wanted to use me as well I see. Your ‘hero’ charade just made the biggest mistake.”
“NO!” I said quickly. “NO! I didn’t mean for this!”
I watched as Kratos returned to his attacking format. I backed up, and the whip was once again after me. I smashed the whips away with the Acalanatha blade in my left hand and blocked those that I couldn’t beat away with Cor Leonis blade. The two were sister blades one built for attack and the other for defence, and when together, I felt confident, but against Kratos…they were almost nothing but spacers between us.
“Shut up, Lloyd,” Kratos growled.
Lloyd, I’m coming….The words passed through my mind again.
“YUAN!” Kratos roared. “I WILL KILL YOU! Effrete! What are you waiting for! FIGHT!”
Kratos returned to his relentless attacks, and I found my energy quickly defeating. What I didn’t expect were Corine’s screams of pain. They made my skin tremble as I understood that the fire summon had actually harmed him.
“Corine!” I yelled trying to look over, but as soon as my head turned, I came face to face with Kratos. His whip’s tails were everywhere around me at once.
“You’d better watch more for yourself than your pet, Lloyd,” Kratos said darkly.
In an instant I felt all nine tails run through me. My muscles tightened and I couldn’t breathe. My body screamed out in pain as blood splashed the ground. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t breathe.
“Sleep, Lloyd,” Kratos whispered in my ear. I couldn’t take it. I didn’t want it to end this way. I had to keep every safe, but…..everything became black in that instant.
