Blood Bonds: An Angel's Love

Last chapter, lemon (more lime).

Chapter 14

That night with the full moon rising, both angels flew up into the night sky above, glittering like a blanket of diamonds. It was the most perfect, beautiful night sky you could imagine, looking up so close you felt as if you could really reach up and grab some diamonds in the palm of your hands. The high elevation of the Triet desert and mountains nearby is what made the heavens seem near, brilliant and alive to both Kratos and Lloyd basking beneath its splendor. At one point in their flight, they paused high up, floating in midair, silhouetted against the full silvery moon. The night breeze licked Lloyd’s face, feeling colder high up, crawling beneath his clothes, and sending shivers down his spine. Locked in Kratos’s grasp made the breeze feel alive, sensual as something more than just air, becoming Kratos’s very touch.

Lloyd gasped, finding it hard to stay still, remain in his senses, looking Kratos calmly in the eye. Lloyd saw in his reflection inside Kratos’s eyes just how he quivered, his breath rose and feel, how giddy he became loosing his rational mind. Love does that when suddenly you’re with the person who means so much, you simply want to melt into them, pretend nothing but them exists. When they leave your side, if even for a moment, the world no longer seems so fantastic, as if the magic animating it left because that special person is gone. Lloyd was in that state, feeling every limb, finger, hair on the back of his neck agitated in a delightful way. But it terrified him at the same time it thrilled him. This was after all his first real relationship, with its joys as well as sorrows; the hardest being the fact Kratos and Lloyd were related.

“Listen, Lloyd, if you have hesitations, I understand,” Kratos whispered, running his finger along his son’s jaw as they hovered together, with the golden sands of Triet desert, the vast ocean beyond, and the Renegade base far below.

“I don’t.” Lloyd swallowed, holding the ring with its jewel born from his tears out for Kratos to see. His expression grew grave and resolve firm in his voice. He hurt Kratos before when Kratos saw him and Yuan together inside the Renegade base. Lloyd wouldn’t hurt him again. If he did, he couldn’t forgive himself. He banished all hesitations and doubts like sunlight dissolving the morning dew when the day’s first rays shine through. “You promised you’d show me tonight how you feel, Kratos.”

Memories of their embrace earlier in the evening back in the Renegade base surged through Kratos’s mind. Lloyd had melted in his kiss. His tongue had darted out to meet Kratos’s. He had wanted more but Kratos chided him saying, “Not now, Lloyd, tonight I promise.” Would Kratos go back on his word and risk breaking his son’s heart, after betraying him at the Tower of Salvation and loosing him in Welgaia after Mithos kidnapped him? Anna exchanged places with Martel, fusing herself inside the Great Seed, allowing Martel to live in Lloyd’s Ex-sphere. Mithos thought that Kratos took Lloyd down to Yuan’s Desian base in order to remove Lloyd’s conscious, so the transformation might be fully completed as Martel’s vessel. All the plans Anna and Martel made by switching places would go to waste, if Kratos went back on his word and broke Lloyd’s heart. After all, Anna and Martel did that so father and son could be together.

Kratos wouldn’t allow their sacrifices to go to waste. Martel had suffered an eternity fused to the Great Seed. Now Anna was in her place. What if Mithos discovered those plans, caught Yuan for cooperating, then killed him? Too much was at stake. The uncertainty of it all frightened Kratos but he swallowed it deep down inside. He didn’t want Lloyd, his beloved son and love to see his pain. He had to keep his promise to Lloyd by showing him a night of sweet love.

Lloyd closed his eyes, allowed his body to relax, letting the delightful sensations overtake him as Kratos glided lower back down to the earth embracing Lloyd. If the heavens opened in a stream of silver light and two celestial beings descended down, one with fairy like wings, and the other having feathered wings, those two lovely beings manifested themselves in Kratos and Lloyd. Flying just above the Renegade base, huddled close to the mountain range overlooking the desert, Kratos scanned the terrain for a suitable place not too far, but one where they still had some privacy alone in this lovely night.

He eyed the edge of a cliff a few hundred feet above the base. There they would be close to civilization yet alone. Kratos landed there laying his son gently on the rocky ground, rousing him from his rest. Lloyd’s eyes fluttered open, seeing his father’s face come into focus: eternally young, untouched by time destined never to age as he was an angel. Soon Lloyd too would stop aging as the last traces of his humanity disappeared from his Ex-sphere transformed into a Cruxis crystal and the two would be together forever, once the worlds were reunited and saved from Mithos.
If either of them might loose their lives in the battle against Mithos to reunite the worlds, this night together would be their last.

Lloyd would soon have to rejoin his friends on their quest. Kratos would leave him to gather the necessary materials to forge the Eternal Sword. When would they meet again? What if Mithos discovered Kratos’s plans and tried to kill him? No, Mithos couldn’t do that because Kratos was Origin’s seal, but surely he would lock Kratos away somewhere in Derris-Kharlan, and Lloyd might never see him again, much less obtain the Eternal Sword.

“I already lost Mom to the Great Seed, I won’t loose you to Mithos,” Lloyd sniffed, hugging Kratos with all his heart and soul.

“My son…I mean Lloyd, don’t say that,” Kratos said soothingly, embracing him back. The mention of Anna reminded Kratos that he was Lloyd’s father, a painful fact destined never to go away as long as the two of them lived.

Gazing up at the star studded sky from Kratos’s embrace, Lloyd spied a shooting star grow bright in its final moment of glory, dying in the final moment it was extinguished, vanishing against the backdrop of the heavens. /Human life is much like that star/, it dawned on Lloyd. /It’s temporary, fleeting, like Granny Marble’s friendship with Genis before she was turned into a monster. I’ve escaped the fate of death by becoming an angel, but can I escape it forever? Kratos is over 4000 years old. As an angel, will I be with him for a couple of thousand years, even forever?/

“Experiences might not last, but their memories do,” Kratos uttered softly, noticing Lloyd’s observation of the shooting star. What Kratos meant was that he wanted Lloyd to hold onto the memories of this special night together in case if anything happened to either of them. Kratos was a man of few words, but by this point Lloyd understood the deeper nuances of what Kratos said and nodded.

Lloyd had grown so much like a caterpillar growing inside a cocoon, maturing to a butterfly, now climbing free and taking flight since he and Kratos first met and began this journey to reunite the worlds. Lloyd’s angel wings were like the grown caterpillar’s butterfly wings: a symbol of newfound maturity and freedom soaring above and beyond. Except he wasn’t alone, he flew with Kratos and the time came they’d fly even higher together.

It started with a simple kiss, innocent enough on the forehead. Lloyd blushed as if the sensations he experienced before returned anew in tingles throughout his body. Lost in those feelings, he fixed his gaze on the ring now on his finger. Its brilliant, opalescent surface catching his reflection and Kratos’s was a symbol and testament to their love. It meant, “Everything will be okay. Any hurt I’ve caused is forgiven. Don’t worry about the future. Live in the moment and savor it forever.”

Lloyd allowed Kratos’s kisses, the feeling of his shirt unbuttoned, his body exposed to the cool night air, tingles rushing throughout every limb and jarring every nerve to be etched in memory forever. Time might take away night, day, friends, family, others in the mortal world who aren’t angels, but it would never take Kratos, the seraph Lloyd truly loved away from his memory and soul. He allowed the rest of it to melt into memory: the dance and ritual of undressing his love, seeing his perfect muscular body outlined in the moonlight, unbarred perfection as the last of his clothes were removed, set aside in a neat pile on the ground.

The moment seemed odd to Lloyd, unromantic for a moment that Kratos should be concerned with tidying his clothes and he couldn’t help but laugh. Kratos seized the moment and Lloyd saw a rare, but barely visible smile cross his father’s lips. Any other person who saw it would say they didn’t see anything, but Lloyd knew him so well to that to him it was a smile bright as the rising sun.

Moonlight trapped in the facets of Kratos’s eyes shined like living rubies. His pale skin had a luminescent quality carved in delicate silver tones from the moonlight playing off, especially his lips seeming to glisten with a beauty all their own. Lloyd let them move in, kiss him down his neck in a tenuous dance, gentle at first, pressure slowly building in each sweet inch of skin Kratos’s lip’s mapped, nibbling and kissing.

Lloyd couldn’t help but moan under the barrage of sensations: grazing of Kratos’s teeth on his nubs as they stiffened, growing sensitive and firm along with the rest of him. His arousal was by now aching, as he was still partly dressed with his pants on, which Kratos also wore. Kratos lifted his body from atop Lloyd’s, and in a moment loosing its clarity, he whispered, “I…I’m sorry. Are you…hurt?” with hesitation in askance.

Of course not, idiot, just turned on, might be the usual response, but Lloyd just smiled, replying tenderly, “No, are you?” He knew Kratos wasn’t but showed tact at the obvious erections both were uncomfortably experiencing. It was one of those things, Genis might lecture, its not what you say but how you say it.

Kratos took a vial of oil for the purpose of their lovemaking from the pile where his shirt and cape were folded, along with his sword and shield laid. He did it as subtly and discreetly as possible exercising the same tact as Lloyd making it seem he rolled over to the side when in reality it was to fetch the vial.

How long has been he planning this? Lloyd thought, suddenly feeling scared. To make out was one thing, to go past it to first base, perhaps second or third, or all the way, especially with a guy was another. He knew how those things worked with heterosexual couples, but two men? It was never talked about, even shunned. Genis might know exactly but Lloyd knew he himself wasn’t the brightest of pupils. Hell, Lloyd considered basic multiplication and division a challenge at his age, how was he to know the mechanics of male-to-male lovemaking?

He was about to scold himself feeling stupid. Kratos didn’t want the fear, the shame some experience in intimate moments as this to become part of Lloyd’s memory, etched in his mind forever, beyond life and into death should Lloyd cease to exist as an angel. He had to distract Lloyd, put him at ease. That way their dance could be enjoyed, blissful, at its deepest, searing. Kratos gently turned Lloyd on his stomach, laying him on a smooth spot of earth, silky and smooth. Lloyd inhaled deeply, relaxing, abandoning his fears feeling Kratos’s strong hands dig into the tight muscles on his back, coating his skin with the oil he recently applied. Yes, anxiety made a young man’s first time with another man painful as the mind ends up controlling the body’s response, instead of the body acting on its own.

Hundreds, thousands of years old having observed all forms of life, from their stages in birth, death, mating, Kratos knew exactly how the mind worked in all different situations. He knew a person’s first time was the most important, left a lasting impression, that the rest of one’s intimate experiences would be based on their first. When Kratos thought how deeply going all the way in their lovemaking would affect Lloyd, he couldn’t forgive himself if he did something wrong, something that hurt his beloved Lloyd, his heart, his soul and other half.

/Martel, please guide me/, the seraph prayed inwardly. Yuan was old, experienced in lovemaking, like some battle hardened warrior compared to Lloyd’s first time. Lovemaking wasn’t just a bodily experience, but affected the very heart, emotions and mind. Each would be giving a piece of themselves, their soul to the other at their most vulnerable and dear. If Kratos hurt him in this, he would be wounding Lloyd at his very core and being.

With every fiber of Lloyd’s body free from tension, laying there sprawled out on his stomach, tingles and fire freely overtaking him, he was there in his body, experiencing the moment, free from his mind without interference. Kratos tugged so slowly at Lloyd’s remaining pants, slipping them off inch by arduous inch in such a manner it escaped Lloyd completely. That’s how it should be. He shouldn’t feel anything until Kratos was in, and if he was still relaxed, pure pleasure after his body adjusted.

Kratos’s own arousal demanded attention, still constricted by his clothes. He removed the last of them quickly, gasping at the night air hitting his fully bare body. No, he had to control himself for Lloyd’s sake. He would go so slowly, as if time ceased to exist, so their experience could be special, sacred and remembered. He couldn’t help though but let his gaze burn a path down Lloyd’s back, between his deltoid muscles, down in the curve of the spine, over glistening oiled skin mixed with sweat and pulsing. Yes, Lloyd was still but something in him knew, was ready, waiting. A rivulet of oil made its way down, gathering more oil on the way, moving at a slow viscous speed, it seemed like forever winding its way to the entrance.

Positioning himself over, Kratos closed his eyes, took a deep breath, let himself sink within to his own thoughts and self. /I never thought I would truly do this. If God even exists, will God judge me, or do I judge myself? Or does the Goddess in Martel give me her blessings? My heart is beating so hard./

/If you love him, show him how you feel/, Martel’s voice from inside Lloyd’s Ex-sphere (on the back of his hand), echoed through Kratos’s mind. /Anna and I did what we did so you two could be together. You’ll hurt him more if you deny him the love he seeks/.

Kratos knew Martel’s words rang true. If he stopped now and never showed Lloyd how he truly felt from the bottom of his heart now, he’d never have the chance again. For what reason were they married? Why did they endure so much pain and heartache, defying all odds against Mithos even at the cost of their lives just to be together? Was it even worth living if they could not love each other with all their hearts and souls?

Kratos pondered those questions deeply, deeper than he thought of life, why he existed, and other existential things. This was Lloyd, his beloved son, he reason for living. Kratos decided if he was going to go to hell for choosing to love him the way he did, he was ready to go. For better or worse, Kratos banished all reservations, burying his blade of silken flesh deep inside Lloyd’s body, past the tight ringed muscles of his entrance, slowly, steady, inch by inch to give his body all the time he needed to adjust. Feeling Lloyd relax, his breathing slow after the initial shock, the slight burn of being filled, Kratos let a measured, even rhythm set in feeling the two of them melt, joined by a single bridge of flesh.

“G-goodness!” Lloyd cried, feeling fire shoot up his spine when his pleasurable spot was hit. He arched up on his elbows, breathing harder, gasping.

His weight bearing down, Kratos bent over, straddling Lloyd, fully in, his thighs grabbing Lloyd’s sides. “Lloyd!” he hissed in low shaky tones, finding it hard to maintain control himself. They both barely had time to enjoy the act when they felt sheets up lightning shoot up their backs, sending both of them over into the throes of pure ecstasy and beyond. It was only the second time Kratos thrust in hitting that sweet spot in Lloyd and both of them released their seed, collapsing, panting, mingled in sweat and oil, the notes of their lovemaking and its scent filling the air.

The moon, the stars, the mountains, the desert, the breeze all watched their dance, still as if honoring them, silent as Kratos rolled off Lloyd, curling up on a ball on his side, holding out a hand. Lloyd took, squeezed it, even after their lovemaking, in most sweet childlike grin as if the most innocent thing had happened, whispered, “Thank you, Kratos. I love you.”

Kratos smiled fully for the first time in his existence since the great Kharlan War 4000 years ago, before Martel’s death, before Mithos’s descent into madness, when he was still proud of Mithos as his pupil, when he Martel, Yuan and Mithos all traveled around the world as heroes making pacts with the summon spirits. Those magical moments of long ago before he became an angel, when his pain and suffering started and his heart, those magical moments seem to return in Lloyd’s voice, his words, his radiant joyful expression.

“I love you two, Lloyd, more than I can express,” returned Kratos gently, squeezing his son’s hand back, as the two faced each other on their sides, naked and resting.

When Kratos felt that joy, something deep down in his heart came alive. Anna helped awaken it. Lloyd brought it to life. After the end of their journey when the Eternal Sword was forged, Mithos was defeated and the worlds were reunited, all of Lloyd’s friends separated and went their ways. Yuan returned to Derris-Kharlan to cast the Ex-spheres into space. Since Anna was fused in the Great Seed in place of Martel, Anna returned back in Tabitha’s body returning to the world of the living. Martel returned to the young, sapling of the Great Tree growing out of the ruins of the Tower of Salvation.

I would like to tell you what happened when Lloyd and Kratos were reunited with Anna. Although she resembled Tabitha living in her body, both father and son immediately recognized her presence when she first appeared at the foot of the Great Tree.

“M…Mom? Is that you?” cried Lloyd in amazement.

Anna inside of Tabitha nodded, her sweet smile ever radiant, umber eyes alive and pure. With Anna back the relationship between father and son couldn’t remain as the romantic one it had evolved into. Kratos and Lloyd decided eventually to let their relationship grow back into an ordinary parent and child once again. That’s what Lloyd originally wanted, to be with his mother and father and have a happy loving family. He gave the wedding ring between him and Kratos to Anna, the two of them were remarried and things returned to normal.

Of course things weren’t exactly the same because it was as if part of Anna was a new person living in Tabitha’s robotic body. Lloyd and Kratos had loved each other as more than father and son but they learned from that experience what was necessary and evolved beyond that. Some call that state “friendship.” Others say its love. Whatever it is, it brings pure joy and hope. Kratos and Lloyd found it together. Let the rest of the world, including elves, half-elves and humans discover it too so the weaknesses in our heart may be healed, and the world Martel wished for comes too. It can happen. A better can exist, it does exist because in the end light outshines dark and love heals all pain and anguish back into joy.

The end, owari