Blood Bonds: An Angel's Love

Hi Artemis sensei and 123, thank you so much for reading. I know it's a really long fic. To Artemis sensei, if you thought Mithos was a spoiled brat in last chappie, he's an idiot in this one, hehe. To 123, sorry I haven't continued the LloydKvar challenge. I sort of lost interest as it was turning into a pwp. But if you like, I can finish it. Sorry to keep you waiting. And thank you for your story ideas^_^

Chapter 11

Kratos’s first instinct was to unsheathe his sword fight Mithos to protect Lloyd. Mithos in his angelic form as Yddrasill with the Eternal Sword could easily best Kratos, much less take his life. Kratos stopped, feeling an airy breeze on the back of his shoulder. /Strange/, he thought since no natural winds circulated in Welgaia.

/Kratos/, a gentle feminine voice filled with love lilted over his neck. Martel projected out her astral body from her Cruxis Crystal fused with the Great Seed dormant beneath the Tower of Salvation to communicate. Her astral body functioned much like a ghostly body, a representation of her mind since she still remained conscious inside her Cruxis Crystal without a physical body. /I have a plan when my brother wants to use Lloyd’s body as my new vessel. Pretend you agree with him and the things he does/.

“Lloyd, follow my lead and play along,” Kratos whispered under his breath.

Lloyd nodded, swallowing. “No, I won’t become Martel’s vessel and have my heart die like Colette’s!” Lloyd cried out, struggling against his father, pretending.

“Silence, human,” hissed Kratos, letting Lloyd fall to the floor.

He crossed one arm over his chest, bowing humbly before Mithos. “My lord, I am honored you hold me in high esteem to make me Origin’s seal.” Eying Lloyd, “Yes, his angelic blood makes him a suitable Vessel. Soon, your sister shall return in him, and a new age will dawn, glory to the new Age of Half-Elves.”

“Hmm? To think you’d offer your offspring so easily?” Mithos raised a brow, pacing in front, azure eyes narrowing down at Kratos in suspicion.

Staring at Mithos’s feet, Kratos continued, “It was my folly for doubting you, my lord. I learned from my journey accompanying the Chosen that foolishness of the human heart never changes. He is one of those foolish humans.”

“I thought you were my friend, Kratos? How could you betray us?” Lloyd crawled on the cold floor, hugging Kratos’s leg. He smiled to himself, thinking he’d be a good actor.

Kratos yanked his body away, rising up, spinning around to stand at Mithos’s side.

Mithos threw his head back laughing at Lloyd. “So Kratos, you recognize the error of your ways and wish to create a New Age with me. I’m glad your heart’s still loyal.” A sinister green shade from his adult angel form flashed in his blue boyish eyes. “Together, we’ll create a world where discrimination ends!”
I thought Genis said I was immature; you need to grow up, idiot, Lloyd thought, grinning inwardly.

Mithos instructed Kratos to take Lloyd to the dungeon below the Tower of Salvation, where Martel lay buried fused with the Great Seed in one hour to begin to transfer Martel’s soul into Lloyd’s body. Mithos first had to make preparations. He disappeared teleporting to the Great Seed. Martel’s astral body floated around to Lloyd, its aura a sparkling hazy green. The outline of Martel’s hand formed brushing over Lloyd’s Ex-sphere, now evolving into a Cruxis Crystal. It’s glassy surface glowed, Anna’s spirit coming alive.

“Mom’s talking to Martel,” exclaimed Lloyd, surprised.

Kratos nodded soberly, his face a mask of sadness. It broke his heart when Lloyd discovered he was Lloyd’s father, and he feared the future of their relationship.

Sighing heavily, Lloyd’s visage dropped. “Kratos, I know I said before it’s okay for a father to love his son in other ways he shouldn’t, but I never imagined you were my…” He went silent, lowering his voice on that last word, “father,” syllables slow and labored.

“No, I should be sorry, Lloyd. I love you in ways I shouldn’t. That too, has become my sin.” Regret tinged his deep musical voice.

Lloyd sniffed, shaking his head, emotion swimming in his eyes. “Look Kratos, you’re going to fight by my side, right? That’s all I ever wanted. Besides…” Lloyd reached up, cupping Kratos’s cheeks. “I still don’t think of you as my father. It hasn’t sunk in, so it’ll take time for things to change.”

Inclining his head up, Lloyd kissed Kratos’s mouth. “ If you stop loving me the way you do, I’ll be sad. I knew the way you looked at Mom’s grave who you were. That’s why I said it was okay for a father to love his son any way he wanted.”

“You knew?” Kratos’s insides tightened, every muscle in his body taut with nervousness.

“Well, suspected. Even still, I agreed to marry you, so stop saying it’s your fault. Kratos, you shouldn’t share this burden alone. Maybe it’s wrong for me to say this, cause I know now you’re my dad but…” Lloyd claimed Kratos’s lips again, his arms winding around the older man’s broad shoulders. He whispered, finishing, “…I love you,” doing his best to hide his inner pain.

Kratos saw in the depths of Lloyd’s being two selves that struggled for control. The child in Lloyd, that little three year old that used to say, Daddy, I love you, when they gazed up at the stars protested violently against the adult, who said, You are an adult who has the right to love him how you want. The two selves battled viciously, each declaring war for control of Lloyd’s conscious split asunder.

Inside, Lloyd’s mind was still shattered like a mirror broken in a thousand pieces, reflecting his broken battered image. He hardly had time to mask the busted shards together; rectifying the fact he married and loved his own father incestuously, when Mithos suddenly appeared forcing him to swallow his shock. In that shattered mirror of self, the child and adult in Lloyd faught how it’d be repaired in his continuing relation with Kratos: would he keep loving Kratos romantically or look to him purely as a platonic father?

/How could you love Daddy like this? You’re sick/, whined the child, tugging at the adult in the mirror of Lloyd’s mind.

/Stupid kid, don’t you know love is an emotion, and emotions have no reason, so live with it/, the adult spat back, frowning at the child in the broken mirror. /I’ll do what the hell I want cause Dirk is my dad, and Kratos is Kratos, my one true love. He made me an angel so we’d be together for all eternity/.

/No, Daddy can’t be loved like this/, cried the child, helpless.

/Yes, he can because I said so. Now, grow up/, the adult demanded, smothering the child to silence his searing protests.

For now, the adult in Lloyd won in picking up the pieces of Lloyd’s shattered mirror. This would be the beginning of a tempestuous conflict in Lloyd’s heart, the pain of which Kratos tasted before their wedding, torn between his role as Lloyd’s father and lover.

“Kratos, remember that special time we shared?” Lloyd referred to their lovemaking before their wedding. He felt Kratos’s heart beat against his face, his warm radiating out, enveloping Lloyd in deep unconditional love. “I want to share it…again. And this time, let me be the one to do it, when this stuff with Mithos is done.”

“Lloyd, we’ll see, give yourself time,” Kratos chided gently, controlled by reason, pressing a tender kiss to Lloyd’s forehead, more fatherly than passionate, stroking Lloyd’s hair. Kratos smiled sadly, running a finger across Lloyd’s rosy cheek.

Lloyd nodded meekly, knowing Kratos was right. It was time they see Mithos at the Great Seed with Martel. Kratos hugged Lloyd closer, raising his energy to teleport them to the dungeon below the Tower of Salvation. For a second between the time father and son appeared in their new location, still moving in between in subspace before rematerializing, Lloyd caught a glimpse of Martel’s astral body in full form.

The half-elven maid with kind emerald eyes, jade green hair, leaves woven in to symbolize her bond with nature, said telepathically to Lloyd, /I understand your pain, young hero. My brother Mithos loved me in the way you love your father. I denied him that love, so he went insane more from desire, than grief after my death. I will make sure your heart stays pure, dear one, so don’t worry and trust the Goddess really exists in our hearts/.

/Maybe everything will be okay. Kratos said before to trust in the Goddess dwelling in my heart/, recalled Lloyd, soothed by Martel’s compassionate words. /If we don’t believe in a Goddess, we don’t believe in a Creator and all hope is lost/.

/Please, Martel, guide us, even if the Goddess doesn’t really exist, and she’s just a concept/, prayed Kratos right before he materialized with Lloyd at the Great Seed by Mithos. /So that Lloyd and I can somehow continue to love one another from the bottom of our hearts/.

Kratos and Lloyd teleported to the door outside of Mithos’s chambers where the Great Seed slumbered at the deepest part beneath the Tower of Salvation. Raine would have a field day here in her ruin-mode, with crumbling walls centuries old twined up with ivy, old magi-technological devices still active, and the remnants of the Great Tree’s roots breaking through cracks in walls. Moss and lichens clung to rocks and crumbled rubble from half constructed stonewalls, giving the air a musty dank smell. The old iron handle to the arched doors beyond where Mithos and Martel dwelt was oxidized in greens, pinks, and blues already from 4000 years of constant exposure to underground air.

Tears flooded Lloyd’s autumn-dark eyes. He felt this might be the last time he behold the gorgeous seraph before his own impending ‘death.’ “When this is done, Kratos, I want to hold you, show you my love, I don’t care if we’re related,” Lloyd sniffled, grabbing onto his father.

“Lloyd, everything will be okay, I promise,” Kratos cried back, hugging him tight. “Trust in your Mom, trust in Martel, they have a plan.”

Lloyd nodded, stealing Kratos’s lips in a kiss. “I promise, I’ll be strong.” He thought, /cause if I cry, I’ll make you sad and that’s not being a man/.

Winding his arms tighter around Lloyd, Kratos kissed him back on the forehead. Lloyd my son, don’t die before I do, before I find a way for a human to wield the Eternal Sword and defeat Mithos, then the worlds are finally reunited.

“You’ve finally come, Lord Aurion, with Nee-san’s new vessel.” Mithos spun around excitedly, smiling sweetly, sapphire eyes sparkling, the very image of innocence if Kratos didn’t know him any better. “This will be the true test of your loyalty to me, and of our bond as friends. Do your alliances lie with me in my vision for the New Age of Half-elves or with the inferior race of humans you mated with?”

/Mate? How dare he refer to Anna as an animal, I would run my sword through and kill him like Kvar if I was stronger/, Kratos seethed with rage inside beneath his seemingly placid surface, perfectly controlled, harboring any trace of emotion, especially anger.

Kratos cocked his head arrogantly to the side, purely acting. “Unfortunately, at that time, my lord, I had difficulty restraining certain instincts as that test subject, A012 helped satiate, nothing more,” he lied casually, clenching his fist so hard, nails digging into his palm, the surface of his skin broke, blood trickling down his clenched hand in rivulets he hid behind his back when the bleeding started.

/He is so going to kick Mithos’s ass/, Lloyd gasped in shock at Kratos’s cunning act. He knew when the time came Kratos would make Mithos suffer more than Kvar, even if he cried out for mercy because he insulted Anna.

Swallowing without word, shivering frightfully, Lloyd dragged himself over to the table wired with ancient magi-technology. A strange shaft like device with a laser like end pointing out connected the Great Seed supported by roots from the ground, with a helmet at the other end lying on the table. Straps were attached to the table to restrain the subject when transferring consciousness from one host to another.

“The ancients were geniuses in magi-technology, using Cruxis crystals house people’s souls, which could be transferred from one host body to another. It’s thanks to them we angels engineered our crystals to stop aging, and my sister can live forever and ever in new vessels,” Mithos said gleefully, joining his hands together. “Now yours. Only those with traces of angelic blood who have angel ancestors qualify. You’re the first offspring of a human and angel born, making you the best candidate there is. You should be honored, Lloyd, son of Kratos.”

“Honored, huh? Well, I would if it meant I still kept my memories of my friends, of Kratos and my heart,” Lloyd pretended, feigning his grief. “Mithos, I thought you were a Great Hero. I won’t forgive you, you bastard.” Lloyd bit his lip to hide his grin. He really enjoyed this act. He trusted fully in Anna, feeling her warm spirit course through him and Martel embedded in the Great Seed.

“As an angel, Lloyd, I had no heart, therefore no emotions, so how could I have been attached to you, human?” Kratos continued the charade, deceiving Mithos so easily. It wasn’t even funny, rather sad to this most intelligent seraph.

“Haha, I always knew you remained loyal to me, Sensei, even though Yuan appears to doubt me,” Mithos rejoiced, fastening the straps over Lloyd on the table, tying the helmet around his Lloyd’s head.

“Indeed,” Kratos merely replied, lowering his head in a gesture of humility he didn’t really mean.

His head inclined and visage cast down, he noticed Martel’s astral body appeared beside Lloyd on the table, completely invisible to Mithos. As Mithos switched on the machine thinking he’d transfer Martel’s soul from the Seed into Lloyd’s body, extracting out Lloyd’s own soul, Anna’s spirit glowed inside Lloyd’s Ex-sphere. Kratos realized that since Lloyd’s Ex-sphere evolved into a Cruxis crystal when he turned Lloyd into an angel, the Ex-sphere could carry Anna’s soul in it or have it transferred like Martel’s from the Seed. Cruxis crystals possessed that special attribute normal Ex-sphere’s lacked.

/What an ingenious idea/! It finally dawned on Kratos. Anna’s soul and Martel’s soul would trade places, with Anna now fused to the Great Seed and Martel inside Lloyd’s Cruxis crystal, with Mithos believing Martel took over Lloyd’s body fully, when in actuality Lloyd remained unharmed.

Lloyd realized that too and smiled to himself. When Mithos would finally be defeated, he could free Anna’s soul from the Great Seed and Martel’s from his crystal.

/Lloyd, my dear son, I love you. I know you don’t think I do because of the way you love dad/, Anna appeared in her soul, a light blue glowing form outside of Lloyd’s Cruxis-crystal mounted on the back of his left hand, bending over, kissing her beloved son.

/Mom/, Lloyd cried.

/It’s okay. Don’t worry about me, my boy. I thought Kratos would truly betray you, but he hasn’t. Like Martel, I want a world where all life is respected, and people heal the weakness of their hearts on their own. That is truly the only way to end discrimination, where elves, half-elves and humans live in peace. Fight for this world with Kratos/, Anna’s loving voice echoed through Lloyd’s racing mind.

“I will, Mom, I promise, I’ll fight for that world with Dad,” Lloyd whispered under his breath, eyes shut, body relaxed, feeling Martel’s spirit now enter his Cruxis-crystal.

Lloyd found Martel’s energy very similar to Anna’s, both filled with unconditional love for other living beings and the world. Unlike Anna’s life energy, Martel’s glowed a soft jade green enveloping Lloyd in warmth.

/Bye Mom/, Lloyd felt sad his mother sacrificed leaving her son’s side by becoming fused to the Great Seed. Without a soul to be fused to the Great Seed, Derris-Kharlan’s mana couldn’t be absorbed and the worlds would drift so far apart and collapse resulting in death.

“At last, you’ve returned, Nee-san!” cried out Mithos ecstatically, ripping the straps off tying Lloyd.

Lloyd’s eyes fluttered open, a glint of emerald in the depths of his irises because Martel’s spirit inhabited his crystal. Martel’s voice, gentle and feminine spoke through, “My dear brother, it’s been so long. I’ve missed you, but I’m afraid the process isn’t complete. This host’s thoughts still interfere with mine. A procedure needs to be done in one of the human ranches to fully draw his soul out.”

Martel continued the charade by lying to Mithos. Of course, it was really to help Lloyd escape back to Sylvarant so he could help his friends find a way to beat Mithos.

/You are a clever lady/, Kratos grinned to himself. /Something your brother never had/.

Kratos bowed before Martel in Lloyd’s body. “My lady, I have long awaited your return. May I have the honor of escorting you to a ranch on the surface to complete your procedure?” he played along.

“Well, you’ve proven your loyalty to me, Sensei. It’s only right the honor should be yours,” Mithos gave in, completely fooled.

“No words can express my gratitude,” Kratos pretended, bowing even lower before Mithos. “Shall I escort your sister presently?”

“Yes!” Mithos pranced about. “Then we’ll hold a welcoming ceremony in Welgaia to herald the New Age of Half-Elves.”

“I look forward to it, great lord. Why, with your brilliance, I’m sure it’ll be magnificent,” Kratos pushed the act as far as he could for the sake of enjoying this game.

/Way to go, Dad!/ Lloyd laughed inside.

Finally, Lloyd and Kratos would be free escaping to Sylvarant from Mithos’s watchful eye.

TBC