Lost angel

[fatherlineface]

Who: Kratos Aurion and Vatheon!
When: RIGHT NOW
Where: Nostalgia Nook
Style: I'll follow
Status: Open

[Kratos considers himself to be a fairly level-headed person. Showing up in a strange city and being denounced by his son only phased him for a few days at best - outwardly, at least. He does his best to avoid the boy for his sake, and he's kept to himself since his arrival until today.

Today, he's decided to see what the Nostalgia Nook has to offer. It's not as if he needs anything in particular, but looking at items from other worlds could be a nice distraction. He feels lost here in Vatheon, lacking any real purpose other than living day to day. It's a nightmare.]

Comments

[strength_of_tomorrow]

Myself and Yuan. Martel's consciousness may yet survive, but it is difficult to say.

[Bringing up Mithos directly would cause a confrontation, so he avoids it. There's no need for him to give a comprehensive list of the heroes of the Kharlan war, after all. Still, if Lloyd asks, he can tell him of Martel at least.]

[redcladidealist]

Yuan, huh?

[Lloyd frowns at the reminder of the irritating man. He grumbles, scowling off to the side.]

I guess I'm not surprised. He sure acts like he's four thousand years old. And Martel...

[Something clicks. Martel, the Kharlan War, four thousand years ago.]

You mean the Goddess Martel? You knew her?

[Safely distracted from the topic of other still-living heroes.]

[strength_of_tomorrow]

[He looks over Lloyd carefully. Just how far back was he from that he doesn't recall who Martel really is? Hadn't Yuan told him? When exactly had Yuan told him?]

What is the last thing you remember from our world, Lloyd?

[redcladidealist]

[Lloyd eyes Kratos, trying to figure out where that question came from, or if there's a reason he shouldn't answer it. In the end, he can't think of any reason not to.]

The last thing I remember was going through the Otherworldly Gate with everyone else to get away from the Papal Knights. But you weren't there for that.

[A little bit of bitterness is still in his voice. If Kratos hadn't betrayed them, hadn't been working for the enemy all along, he would have been there with them. In fact, maybe Rodyle wouldn't have taken Colette at all.]

The last time I saw you was after Rodyle took Colette.

[strength_of_tomorrow]

[Rather than say in turn what he last saw in Aselia, Kratos starts talking about Martel.]

Martel is not a goddess. She is a half-elven woman, one who lived her life trying to make a world without discrimination. Unfortunately, she did not survive the attempt. Her consciousness was preserved within the seed of the Great Tree by the leader of Cruxis, her brother.

[He doesn't mention the fact that the Chosen is basically just meant to be a new body for Martel so that she can live again. Lloyd can work that out on his own - a "vessel for the goddess Martel".]

[redcladidealist]

[The teen's hands clench as Kratos talks, an unconscious gesture reflecting his darkening thoughts.]

So all this time it really was all a lie. What was it all for? The Desians, the Church, the sacrifices... [Anger leaks into his voice.] Was it really all just to bring Martel back? Is her brother even still alive?

[strength_of_tomorrow]

It is a bit more complicated than that. The magitechnology was killing the Great Tree, so the world was split to stop the war. Initially, we were simply trying to suppress the use of magitechnology to a more manageable level. The world would have died long ago if the war had been allowed to continue.

[Even so, Kratos is ashamed at just how far he let Mithos go...]

[redcladidealist]

[The explanation doesn't cut it with Lloyd. He slashes his hand through the air, angrily challenging the seraph's words.]

So that made it okay to try to take Colette's soul away?! That made it okay to make half-elves and humans hate each other even more? If you were trying to stop a war, why would you do things that make even more people suffer and die?!

[strength_of_tomorrow]

[Kratos doesn't flinch at the attack. He knows how out of control everything became, he'd seen it clearly when he was with Anna - but he'd ceased to care once he thought he lost them both. He could try to justify it to Lloyd, try to explain how it was a gradual descent into the cruel regime that it's become, how they'd become desensitized to the things they were doing one bit at a time. How righteous it seemed when the people of the world were trying so desperately to destroy each other. He doesn't feel that it can be truly justified, though, and he doesn't even try.]

...it wasn't right. You may not have experienced it yet, but you showed me that.

[redcladidealist]

[Whatever Lloyd might have been expecting from Kratos, it wasn't an admission of guilt. He wasn't expecting the man to say that he was right, or to say that Lloyd was the one who convinced him to change his mind. It puts the teen off balance. He doesn't know what to say.

It also takes him off the defensive. You can't be defensive when there's nothing to defend against.]

So... then if you admit that what you're doing is wrong, why are you still working for Yggdrasill?

...when did I show you it was wrong?

[strength_of_tomorrow]

You are very much like Yggdrasill once was. He wanted to create a world without discrimination, a world where everyone could live in peace. I'd refused to see just how far we had deviated from our original path until I saw you walking along it once more.

[As for why he still works for Mithos... he doesn't explain. He can't explain that to Lloyd, if it were to be leaked to Mithos that Kratos had already betrayed him the results could be catastrophic.]

[redcladidealist]

I'm... like Yggdrasill?

[Lloyd shakes his head. The idea of the cold, aloof leader of Cruxis being anything like him at all is an image he just can't picture.]

Then what made him change? And what can we do to change him back?

[If Kratos could be reminded... could Yggdrasill be reminded, to?]

[strength_of_tomorrow]

[Could Mithos be "changed back"? At this point, Kratos didn't think so. He loved Martel so intensely, losing her had broken him utterly.]

Losing someone... can be difficult. I believe he lost himself when he lost his sister. As for if he can recover, I do not know.

[redcladidealist]

[Lloyd hesitates. It's never an easy thing to hear things that make your enemy more, well, human, for lack of a better word. It's harder to fight someone you empathize with.

Yggdrasill lost his sister?

He shuffles his feet, adjusting his stance, as though somehow the physical motion can help him regain his mental footing. After a moment, he meets Kratos's eyes.]

We should still try. If there's even a chance that we can fix things without killing anyone, we have to take it. No one should have to sacrifice their lives. Not even him.

[strength_of_tomorrow]

You would say that, knowing all that he has done?

["All that we have done" is left unspoken. Kratos looks more than a little incredulous. How can Lloyd be so forgiving? He'd seen the inside of the human ranches firsthand, one of his closest friends had been forced to complete a journey that was full of unspeakable hardships... and he still didn't seek vengeance. Upon hearing that Mithos just might be someone he could reason with, it was still Lloyd's first instinct to spare him.]

[redcladidealist]

What he's done makes it even more important to say that. Killing people might end that problem, but it doesn't fix things. The people who work under him will still do what they're doing and people will still suffer and die. But if he's willing to change, then maybe he can change the rest of the Desians and Cruxis, too. Once he's dead, though, that's it. He can't do anything else.

[There were very few people where he wouldn't advocate giving a second chance.

The people who showed they didn't want to change at all and didn't regret any of the horrible things they'd done.]

[strength_of_tomorrow]

[It's strange, having his son remind him of something so obvious. "Once you're dead, that's it." He closes his eyes, looking contemplative for a beat. Whatever it is that makes Lloyd be able to speak that way, he wants to make sure it's never wiped away.

It hurts, but that probably means having as little interaction with Lloyd as possible.]

...perhaps you're right.

[Kratos turns to walk away again.]

[redcladidealist]

[When Kratos turns to walk away, Lloyd almost calls out to stop him again. He almost goes after him. But he doesn't. He stands there, feeling awkward and conflicted. He still can't reconcile with what the man tried to claim, and he's still angry and hurt at his betrayal...

...but in the light of saying he'd give even Yggdrasill a second chance, what does that make of Kratos? He'd openly admitted that what he and Cruxis were doing now was wrong. Didn't that mean he deserved a second chance, too?

Dammit... What do I do?

Before he has any chance to sort out his tangled mess of feelings, though, Kratos is already gone. Lloyd stands there for another few moments, staring after where the man had gone. Then he lets out a harsh breath and turns away, too.

Dammit, why is nothing ever easy when Kratos is involved?]