[Milliways - OOM; Time: A week pre-game] The Long Roads Ahead
Warning: spoilers
With a sigh, Kratos fastens his cloak and pushes the door open. Finally, a chance to leave, he thought grimly, almost pleased despite the nature of the journey. Still... any chance to get away from Derris-Kharlan was welcome now. Not too long ago, it had been almost a haven, despite his hatred of it and all it represented. But... it was the home of the angels. Not of warmth and light and song, but of silence, solitude, and forgetting to think, to feel--sometimes it felt like one could even forget to breathe. Once, he'd needed it--and now he wished again to see sunlight and breathe fresh air.
Well, I'll get to. I'll even get to exercise a little, he thinks with a sigh. Sylvarant had been mana-depleted so long that the monsters were likely to be relatively weak--good for them, but... tedious, to say the least, for Kratos himself. He slides the plain sword into its sheath, looking a little wistfully at Flamberge hanging up on the wall. Ah well. It's good for me to not get so used to one blade I can't function as well with another. Especially not one with such a unique balance...
Still, the door slides shut again, once more closing off the bare, cold chambers set aside for his stays on the mana comet. As he turns, he feels the surge of mana that goes with a warp, and is unsurprised to find Yggdrasill. What was surprising was the child form he had taken...
"I came to say goodbye," the form of Kratos' former student says.
"..." Kratos merely inclines his head in acknowledgement. Even now... after four thousand years of life--far too many, the seraph thinks bitterly--fourteen years is barely a blink of an eye, and it was still far too soon to fully forgive the boy for Anna's death.
Yggdrasill--somehow, despite the form, Kratos couldn't think of him as "Mithos"--fidgets uneasily. "Well, this'll be the last time, I think--you'll see, Kratos, you'll know her when you see, her mana's almost exactly like Martel's!" The boy beams. "Anyway, you'll be back soon, and then it'll be the four of us again. Then we'll be able to do things right."
I hope so, Kratos thinks grimly. If Martel could not persuade Mithos into... well, sanity, nothing would set things right, ever again. I'm sorry, Anna. There's nothing I can do.
"You'll report in regularly, of course," Yggdrasill continues. He frowns then, voice growing sharper with irritation. "And keep your eyes open for any information on the Renegades. They're getting their information somehow--and make sure my cardinals aren't getting... how shall I say? Creative."
"...Isn't Yuan better for this job? He isn't human, or occupied with the Chosen." Don't you dare make me interact with them. Not the ones responsible for the suffering of my family.
Waving that off, Yggdrasill repeats, "You'll report on them. Especially the Renegades. Yuan's so busy watching Tethe'alla and dabbling in his ridiculous toys he forgets his duty to me. You aren't human either, Kratos--they have to listen to you."
Kratos simply says nothing. There was nothing to say. "Any further orders, my lord?"
"None. Except..." The boy smiles, then, a beautiful, wide smile. "Do try to enjoy yourself, Kratos. You've been far too dull lately, and there's no reason for it. You should lighten up! Martel will be happier if you're smiling when she's back." With that, the boy warps away again.
Far too dull. Better than your reaction to losing your family, Kratos thinks bitterly. Enjoy myself.
Right.
He could have warped, or flown--but the purple-clad swordsman begins walking down the halls. The last thing he wants to feel at the moment is angelic.
Not that he feels much at all.
As he walks down the halls, he feels another presence approaching and sighs. Aren't I popular today. "What is it, Yuan?" he asks when he can hear the other angel close behind him.
"Hey, you're going off for a while. Last time you went down to one of the worlds, you spent years hiding from us and then almost blew everything up in Yggdrasill's face. I thought I'd say goodbye, just in case you end up ending the worlds or breaking Origin's seal or something."
Kratos turns to glare at the blue-haired half-elf. "If you have nothing constructive to say," he says coldly, "I would prefer not to waste my breath on idle conversation."
Sighing, Yuan plants himself firmly in Kratos' way. "Stop that. Look, if you have the chance, why don't you look me up while you're down there? Or get in touch, at least--I visit Sylvarant from time to time, you know, it is my home, and can even if I'm in Tethe'alla when you give a call. We'll go have a drink. Last time we had a drink together... well, the last time you were better off drunk than left alone, and I still haven't forgiven you for that hangover--" Kratos glares at him for even bringing up that period, "--and the time before that you were fretting so much over the girl you wouldn't even listen to my very sound medicinal suggestion..."
"..." Kratos continues to glare at him, and without a word pushes past. Anna was in labor. I didn't know if she had the strength to make it through, if our child would live... and you were trying to get me drunk. And you have the audacity to bring it up? To bring up that ridiculous time you practically poured enough alcohol to poison even me down my throat because you thought it would be better than to simply leave me to my thoughts and my sword? If you hadn't, Yggdrasill wouldn't have one more pawn... or Origin...
"...Sorry, Kratos. I'm just trying to say..." Yuan sighs. "Ah, forget it."
After several moments, Kratos relents a little. Yuan had been a good friend, once--the best. And had done something for him that if Yggdrasill ever knew of might get Yuan killed. "Is there a reason you have reverted to acting like a reckless failure of a Sylvaranti spy?"
"Says the Tethe'allan knight errant," and Yuan stresses the "err", "with more nobility than brains?"
"At least I had something to balance it." Kratos leaves it unsaid that Yuan had not.
"At least I didn't have to."
"No--everything would have leaked out." Kratos smirks a little as Yuan fumbled for an adequate response. The two walk in something approaching companionable down several hallways, though Kratos is surprised Yuan took the time away from, as Yggdrasill had put it, his "toys." There was more to it, Kratos is certain, and suspects that Yggdrasill hopes to use Kratos to find out. He'll crush you if you defy him, Yuan. I would know. You'll get your Martel back soon, and Mithos will return the worlds to their proper form once she's with us. Let it go, whatever you're planning.
Yuan sighs. "It's strange, isn't it, Kratos?" Kratos tilts an eyebrow up in questioning. "Here we are, you and I--almost forgotten except as faded legends, and you will wander through my broken homeland while I watch over your flourishing empire... and the balance changes again..."
"..."
Yuan sighs again. "So you're leaving for the Oracle, then? It's already happening?"
"...In a week." Kratos shifts his light pack a little. "I thought to... get readjusted to the world by traveling to the Temple on foot."
"On foot?" To his surprise, Yuan seemed to consider the idea seriously. "...Yes. It will be good for you. You do need to get readjusted to the world." He laid a hand on his old friend's shoulder. "I'll stay in touch."
With that, Yuan turns to let Kratos go, as they were approaching the teleporter room. I'm sure you will. What Yuan is planning is still a mystery to the red-haired seraph, but... Hmm. I wonder... What does Yggdrasill suspect? Not only was his assignment guarding the Chosen, then--he will be spying on the other Seraph. Yuan wouldn't act so... like a normal person unless there was something he wanted. He hadn't done this in years. Millenia.
Kratos idly punches in the pass-code, at last, and pushes open the door to approach the warp pad...
With a sigh, Kratos fastens his cloak and pushes the door open. Finally, a chance to leave, he thought grimly, almost pleased despite the nature of the journey. Still... any chance to get away from Derris-Kharlan was welcome now. Not too long ago, it had been almost a haven, despite his hatred of it and all it represented. But... it was the home of the angels. Not of warmth and light and song, but of silence, solitude, and forgetting to think, to feel--sometimes it felt like one could even forget to breathe. Once, he'd needed it--and now he wished again to see sunlight and breathe fresh air.
Well, I'll get to. I'll even get to exercise a little, he thinks with a sigh. Sylvarant had been mana-depleted so long that the monsters were likely to be relatively weak--good for them, but... tedious, to say the least, for Kratos himself. He slides the plain sword into its sheath, looking a little wistfully at Flamberge hanging up on the wall. Ah well. It's good for me to not get so used to one blade I can't function as well with another. Especially not one with such a unique balance...
Still, the door slides shut again, once more closing off the bare, cold chambers set aside for his stays on the mana comet. As he turns, he feels the surge of mana that goes with a warp, and is unsurprised to find Yggdrasill. What was surprising was the child form he had taken...
"I came to say goodbye," the form of Kratos' former student says.
"..." Kratos merely inclines his head in acknowledgement. Even now... after four thousand years of life--far too many, the seraph thinks bitterly--fourteen years is barely a blink of an eye, and it was still far too soon to fully forgive the boy for Anna's death.
Yggdrasill--somehow, despite the form, Kratos couldn't think of him as "Mithos"--fidgets uneasily. "Well, this'll be the last time, I think--you'll see, Kratos, you'll know her when you see, her mana's almost exactly like Martel's!" The boy beams. "Anyway, you'll be back soon, and then it'll be the four of us again. Then we'll be able to do things right."
I hope so, Kratos thinks grimly. If Martel could not persuade Mithos into... well, sanity, nothing would set things right, ever again. I'm sorry, Anna. There's nothing I can do.
"You'll report in regularly, of course," Yggdrasill continues. He frowns then, voice growing sharper with irritation. "And keep your eyes open for any information on the Renegades. They're getting their information somehow--and make sure my cardinals aren't getting... how shall I say? Creative."
"...Isn't Yuan better for this job? He isn't human, or occupied with the Chosen." Don't you dare make me interact with them. Not the ones responsible for the suffering of my family.
Waving that off, Yggdrasill repeats, "You'll report on them. Especially the Renegades. Yuan's so busy watching Tethe'alla and dabbling in his ridiculous toys he forgets his duty to me. You aren't human either, Kratos--they have to listen to you."
Kratos simply says nothing. There was nothing to say. "Any further orders, my lord?"
"None. Except..." The boy smiles, then, a beautiful, wide smile. "Do try to enjoy yourself, Kratos. You've been far too dull lately, and there's no reason for it. You should lighten up! Martel will be happier if you're smiling when she's back." With that, the boy warps away again.
Far too dull. Better than your reaction to losing your family, Kratos thinks bitterly. Enjoy myself.
Right.
He could have warped, or flown--but the purple-clad swordsman begins walking down the halls. The last thing he wants to feel at the moment is angelic.
Not that he feels much at all.
As he walks down the halls, he feels another presence approaching and sighs. Aren't I popular today. "What is it, Yuan?" he asks when he can hear the other angel close behind him.
"Hey, you're going off for a while. Last time you went down to one of the worlds, you spent years hiding from us and then almost blew everything up in Yggdrasill's face. I thought I'd say goodbye, just in case you end up ending the worlds or breaking Origin's seal or something."
Kratos turns to glare at the blue-haired half-elf. "If you have nothing constructive to say," he says coldly, "I would prefer not to waste my breath on idle conversation."
Sighing, Yuan plants himself firmly in Kratos' way. "Stop that. Look, if you have the chance, why don't you look me up while you're down there? Or get in touch, at least--I visit Sylvarant from time to time, you know, it is my home, and can even if I'm in Tethe'alla when you give a call. We'll go have a drink. Last time we had a drink together... well, the last time you were better off drunk than left alone, and I still haven't forgiven you for that hangover--" Kratos glares at him for even bringing up that period, "--and the time before that you were fretting so much over the girl you wouldn't even listen to my very sound medicinal suggestion..."
"..." Kratos continues to glare at him, and without a word pushes past. Anna was in labor. I didn't know if she had the strength to make it through, if our child would live... and you were trying to get me drunk. And you have the audacity to bring it up? To bring up that ridiculous time you practically poured enough alcohol to poison even me down my throat because you thought it would be better than to simply leave me to my thoughts and my sword? If you hadn't, Yggdrasill wouldn't have one more pawn... or Origin...
"...Sorry, Kratos. I'm just trying to say..." Yuan sighs. "Ah, forget it."
After several moments, Kratos relents a little. Yuan had been a good friend, once--the best. And had done something for him that if Yggdrasill ever knew of might get Yuan killed. "Is there a reason you have reverted to acting like a reckless failure of a Sylvaranti spy?"
"Says the Tethe'allan knight errant," and Yuan stresses the "err", "with more nobility than brains?"
"At least I had something to balance it." Kratos leaves it unsaid that Yuan had not.
"At least I didn't have to."
"No--everything would have leaked out." Kratos smirks a little as Yuan fumbled for an adequate response. The two walk in something approaching companionable down several hallways, though Kratos is surprised Yuan took the time away from, as Yggdrasill had put it, his "toys." There was more to it, Kratos is certain, and suspects that Yggdrasill hopes to use Kratos to find out. He'll crush you if you defy him, Yuan. I would know. You'll get your Martel back soon, and Mithos will return the worlds to their proper form once she's with us. Let it go, whatever you're planning.
Yuan sighs. "It's strange, isn't it, Kratos?" Kratos tilts an eyebrow up in questioning. "Here we are, you and I--almost forgotten except as faded legends, and you will wander through my broken homeland while I watch over your flourishing empire... and the balance changes again..."
"..."
Yuan sighs again. "So you're leaving for the Oracle, then? It's already happening?"
"...In a week." Kratos shifts his light pack a little. "I thought to... get readjusted to the world by traveling to the Temple on foot."
"On foot?" To his surprise, Yuan seemed to consider the idea seriously. "...Yes. It will be good for you. You do need to get readjusted to the world." He laid a hand on his old friend's shoulder. "I'll stay in touch."
With that, Yuan turns to let Kratos go, as they were approaching the teleporter room. I'm sure you will. What Yuan is planning is still a mystery to the red-haired seraph, but... Hmm. I wonder... What does Yggdrasill suspect? Not only was his assignment guarding the Chosen, then--he will be spying on the other Seraph. Yuan wouldn't act so... like a normal person unless there was something he wanted. He hadn't done this in years. Millenia.
Kratos idly punches in the pass-code, at last, and pushes open the door to approach the warp pad...