Stuck with each other

[strength_of_tomorrow]

Who: Kratos Aurion, Zelos Wilder
When: Backdated to Nov. 26th
Where: Ordo 3
Status: Closed

[Preparations were finally coming together for the Rune Crest, they just needed a proper healer. Since Kratos isn't entirely sure that Zelos won't be attempting to hide people from him, he's shown up for a surprise visit early morning on the first day of the curse to talk about it in person.

Good morning, Zelos. Have an angel knocking at your window.]

Comments

[strength_of_tomorrow]

That is not what happened. I attempted to take Colette to the Tower alone. If she became the Chosen, Sylvarant would have prospered and Lloyd would have been safe. He behaved rather unpredictably, as you know. I am not the only one Lloyd would not kill.

[Was what Zelos did any different? He wanted to make his sister the Chosen to ensure her safety, even if he didn't agree with the system. He didn't plan to be in her life after that. He wanted to die. He played both sides to achieve the outcome he wanted, just like Kratos did. They were the same in so many ways, so why did Zelos...

Ah.

The anger fades from his face as quickly as it showed up. Had this been about his father the whole time?]

[chosen_gigolo]

I only did that to get the Aionis! Which you told me to get, by the way! I didn't make him fight me.

[It's odd to defend himself when he knows Kratos is right. He was going to. If it hadn't been for his talk with Lloyd at Flanoir, he probably would have, but Kratos doesn't know how he agonized over it, who to throw his lot in with. He'd made the right choice, but it had just been a roll of the dice. It could have easily turned out differently...

In some timeline it did. He thinks back to that weird dreaming castle, where another Lloyd had hit him and embraced him and cried about the fact that he'd died.

But he didn't do it. He couldn't do it, and that made him better than Kratos. He hangs onto that fact like a lifeline and opens his mouth to defend himself again when he catches sight of Kratos' even face. He'd been snapping just a moment ago. What had changed?]

What?

[strength_of_tomorrow]

[Now that he understands (or thinks he understands) where Zelos' anger comes from, it's difficult to remain angry with him. He's nothing more than a crying child, insisting he hates his father and everything having to do with fathers in general simply because his rejected him.

That was when Zelos started behaving towards him in a particularly hostile fashion, wasn't it? When he found out that Kratos was a father.]

It doesn't matter anymore. Do as you please.

[chosen_gigolo]

[Whatnow? Zelos' tone is acid.]

A second ago it mattered a hell of a lot. What is your deal!?

[strength_of_tomorrow]

[It doesn't matter because if that is the case, there's absolutely no way they'll be able to come to terms in a week. Talking about it is likely to make Zelos even more riled up, and he doesn't want that.

Still, he should at least confirm it.]

I may be a father and a coward, but do you think every father is that way?

[Is that all they're good for in his mind? Is that really what this is about?]

[chosen_gigolo]

I guess Dirk's pretty okay, but he chose to take care of Lloyd. The rest are pretty much rubbish. You, mine, Colette's sent her to die, even the Pope sent his daughter to be exiled to a basement and the king couldn't tell his had been kidnapped!

[He stops for a moment and scowls thunderously at Kratos, wishing with every fiber that he could pull his hand away and end this conversation.]

Why the hell am I talking to you about this.

[strength_of_tomorrow]

Because it is related, is it not? Part of your hatred for me is because I am a father. It does not matter how hard I work to be a proper father at this point, the word "father" alone is enough to raise your ire.

[It's really all very simple.]

We will not be able to reconcile if that is how you look at it, so this conversation no longer matters.

[chosen_gigolo]

I don't care about you reconciling with me. I'd just as soon never see you again.

[There's less bite in his quip; it comes out more as a statement of fact, something they both knew already. He licks his lips, an old nervous habit he hasn't displayed since he was small.]

I just don't want Lloyd turning out like you. Or me for that matter, because of you.

[A small grit of his teeth.]

But for whatever crazy reason, he wants you in his life somehow and as far as I'm concerned that should be the only thing concerning you.

[It's difficult to say this. Somehow, it's like speaking to his own father when he's finally too tired to shout.]

I can't stand parents who don't show they care about their kids. Lloyd especially deserves better.

[Maybe I deserved better...

...what a joke.

He drops both hands to his sides, not realizing in his introspection that he's gotten free.]

Just do me- do Lloyd a favor and if we get out of here with our memories intact, you better stick around as long as he wants you to.

[strength_of_tomorrow]

Who will look after the angels? Yuan at least should be able to stay with Martel. It is a task that only I can complete.

[Oh, Anna. Why couldn't Anna show up here? She would tell him what to do, she would set everything straight and Lloyd would have a proper parent.]

I do not want to leave Lloyd. Especially not now, when we are becoming... friends. But there is no choice. Most half-elves that became Angels did not even know what was happening to them. They would be helpless. Lost, without any cause, ripe and ready to be slaughtered.... or to do the slaughtering.

[chosen_gigolo]

I'll do it.

[The words are out of his mouth before he knows he's thought them, bypassing his brain entirely.]

You've got something to stay for, so I'll do it. I know what's like to be an angel, and I'm no slouch with the fighting.

[His brain catches up with his mouth and gives him a withering feeling. Had he just said that...? He doesn't want that at all, much less for Kratos' sake, but it's out there now. He can't take it back.]

[strength_of_tomorrow]

...you have things to stay for as well, Zelos. Your sister, your friends... you are still within your natural lifetime. Aselia needs you still. If Colette is the only Chosen left behind, she will be overwhelmed.

[He closes his eyes.]

Lloyd has become a fine man without me. He has you, and Dirk, and everyone else. It is time for me to stop running. The existence of those angels is on my shoulders. Though the way Dhaos acts suggests a tragic ending, if we do leave here with our memories, I plan on preventing that. I won't allow them to go to war.

[Then he opens them, looking at Zelos.]

You must do the same for Aselia. If we leave with what we know now, Lloyd will be an angel as well. He will live long enough to prevent what may happen. Help him. And...

[He glances off again.]

Perhaps, in a thousand years or so, when the world has forgotten Cruxis, if they have learned to feel... I will bring the angels back.

[chosen_gigolo]

[He has a point. He always has a point. Why does he have to be right all the time?! That jerk!

...Though... honestly, if he thinks about it logically, it's better that way. He can't let Colette take on all the politics surrounding the Chosen position alone, nor does he really want to leave when he finally was starting to feel like he's worth something other than a pretty face.

Zelos looks at his hands for a moment, the shoves them in his pockets. Perhaps they'll each protect the world in their own ways. Not that he's about to turn this into a feelings jam of any sort.]

Guess it wasn't for the whole week. I'll talk to Zelda about the crest, you go do... whatever it is you do these days.

[There's not much bite left; his tone still holds venom, but it's impotent, more out of habit than actual fury and bluster.]

[strength_of_tomorrow]

[He doesn't have to be told twice. Once they've separated, Kratos heads for the window almost immediately after Zelos tells him to do as he pleases. As usual, he doesn't say another world.

But for once, he looks back before he leaves. It lasts only a brief moment, and then he's gone.]