a thing; w/ ruinsprofessor & conductingresistance

[simulsimul]

universe list
canon
breached
confessed
dadly
future
grigori
mercenary
MEover
origin
reversal
titans


scenario list
canon: Kratos needs to stop running off
confessed: wing reflex
confessed: actual wingpull
confessed: turning Renegade
confessed: son meets father
dadliness: confrontation
dadliness: awakening
dadliness: illness
dadliness: a fundamental lack of understanding on the word 'abducted'
dadliness: updating parameters
dadliness: assassination assignation
mercenary: hiding in the library
mercenary: aftermath of librarian saviour
reversal: oracle destroyed
titans: storming the tower
titans: safety in the canyon
titans: night horrors


canon
- combo of Kratos and Zelos ending
- Zelos does the stupid thing, but not so far as his death, and is still the eighth member of the party to Derris-Kharlan.

scenarios
scenario one: Yuan tracks Kratos down at Dirk's.


breached
- canon right up until after Botta’s death
- no one uses Yuan’s name around Mithos so Mithos walks right into the Triet base with them
- cue an epic OH SHIT in which Yuan gets a lil bit beat up while covering the evacuation of the rest of the base
- until Kratos appears to intervene and have the Chosen group get Yuan out of there
- Mithos gets Kratos tho and he’s a bit mad cos, yanno, traitor and all
- time to be locked up and punished and need to be rescued
- kind of puts a crimp in the creation of the Eternal Ring plans
- mostly cos Mithos turns Kratos lifeless, with some armour to regulate his mana so he remains a seraph. can't have the seal becoming less powerful, yo
- it does mean he can only obey orders tho
- the first rescue fails miserably but at least no one dies and they know they need to reforge his key-crest
- the second rescue attempt (circumstances of canon-point under percolation) goes a little better, though Yuan almost gets killed by Kratos trying to attach the key-crest
- luckily that and the first telepathy in a while gets through and Kratos manages to break out a la Colette, and heal Yuan enough for Raine to get there
- after which, angreh father-son beatdown on Mithos.

scenarios
None yet.


confessed
- almost successful assassination lands Kratos as an injured stranger in Iselia (1-2 years pre-canon)
- recuperation leads to accidental-on-purpose 'holiday' in Iselia
- doubts result in a request for Dirk to make a key-crest like Kratos' own
- oracle room undergoes some stealth sabotage
- regeneration journey is slightly delayed, prompted by Genis and Lloyd being discovered at the ranch
- Triet is awkward. so very awkward. for the Renegades -- whose side is Kratos even on these days and why was he vanished for two years?
- initial overall journey similar to canon, save that Kratos is a bit less circumspect about advising Colette on how to cope with angel transformations
- there are more overt Dun Wanna Feelings
- then Luin, wherein things happen and the group is in town during the Desian attack. the others naturally want to fight but tis a mite difficult against an army and building-destroying magitech. luckily, angel on their side. unluckily, wingpulls in order to muster the power to cover the townspeoples' retreat
- questions and confessions ensue
- Colette rejects the key crest (for the moment) so there's still hopefully maybe ambiguity about Kratos's position re the last seal
- it wouldn't fit anyway, it's modelled for the hand like Kratos's is because he was a derp and did not specify otherwise, so Lloyd needs to make a thing to make it fit
- slow protective retreat toward Asgard.

scenarios
scenario one: Kratos confesses before Salvation; Raine wants to follow up.
scenario two: Raine's examination of an angel; and also Kratos realises how far he's put his foot in it.
scenario three: Kratos goes to taunt Yuan a little, and also ask for his help.
scenario four: in which Raine makes Kratos tell the children all the things, and Yuan takes too much amusement from it.


dadliness
- Kratos retires in Iselia under the name Irving to raise Lloyd after the death of his wife
- no exsphere. ageing occurs! so does a beard and a braid
- teaches Lloyd swordplay, but on the sly, to avoid the other villagers noticing. his daytime job is weaving
- Lloyd finds the box of their exspheres and wants details. after some prodding by Dirk, Kratos explains how exspheres are made and that one is Anna's life. Lloyd is too young yet, but when Lloyd comes of age (~15) Kratos lets him make his own decision re wearing it
- Lloyd chooses not to wear the exsphere
- Genis befriends Marble and Lloyd meets her, as in canon; this happens before the journey begins, with the fallout
- difference being that Colette is still in the village so they can't be too horrible, so they just demand Lloyd be turned over for a flogging
- Kratos stands in his stead because natch. luckily, they're only mooks and don't recognise the bearded weaver as anyone important
- gives Lloyd his guilt complex early tho
- the oracle happens much the same way except Botta doesn't quite recognise the weirdly familiar bearded swordsman
- he does when he's reporting to Yuan tho
      'there was an exceptionally skilled human'
      /brief physical description/
      /did x other faintly recognizable thing/
      and both he and Yuan are aware that Kratos has been awol for a while, so there's a moment of pure silence and dawning 'no, it couldn't be'
- but then obviously one of them has to go make sure
- cue an interruption just out of Triet.

scenarios
scenario one: Yuan feels the need to investigate; this results in Kratos injured and abducted.
scenario two: Yuan realises he can't kill Kratos with his own two hands; Kratos gets mothered.
scenario three: Kratos gets sick on the heels of his recovery. Yuan mothers him some more. Botta disapproves.
scenario four: Kratos recovers and makes an escape attempt. Sort-of.
scenario five: Kratos recovers more and talks to Botta, when not needling Yuan about his lack of preparedness.
scenario six: Sheena's contract takes a slight shift into undercover instead of assassination work.


future
- Aselia is Earth ~10,000 years in the past
- all is peachy-keen except the tree is now underground and the elvens/half-elves/some humans are in hiding in the centre of the planet, hidden thanks to the summon spirits
- Colette is working with humanitarian aid in various impoverished nations
- Zelos is a diplomat in West Asia / Middle East trying to keep the peace
- Yuan is a crotchety lecturer at Cambridge who's also HUGE into environmentalism
- Lloyd and Kratos are having family time in space
- occasionally the trio on Earth meet reincarnations of people they used to know
- but rarely at the same time and almost never in a position where they meet
- but then they start meeting them
- lots of them
- all in the same span of years
- they're starting to think something's hinky
- until the space-elves attack
- and then they know something is hinky.


scenarios
None yet.


grigori
- at some point significantly before canon, Kratos actually calls it quits
- the Church's institution calls him a fallen angel of vengeance
- really he's just going around trying to help people and avoiding being taken back to Cruxis
- assigns himself to the Chosen parties whenever he can, up to Colette
- ????? idk some kind of profit somewhere

scenarios
None yet.


mercenary
- when Yuan visits Kratos at the beach when Lloyd is 3 months old, he does not manage to escape before Anna and Lloyd return
- accidental attachment to this kidlet who likes pulling his hair
- three years later, Yuan can't stand to hold back while Kratos fights Kvar, so he throws caution to the wind to help
- Anna is still killed but they rescue Lloyd and Noishe and both are branded as traitors
- Lloyd is raised as a Renegade with Dad, Uncle Yuan and the extremely reticent Uncle Botta (how dare)
- meanwhile in Tethe'alla Yuan infiltrates the castle as the library archivist
- stays out of sight, mostly, but has a good ear around the politics thanks to recruiting Princess Hilda
- also happens to stumble on Zelos hiding in the library right after his mother's death
- look he's got a 'nephew' he can't just do nothing (even if all he meant was to recommend a book)
- unwittingly accidentally 'adopts' the Tethe'allan Chosen by virtue of being the only one who doesn't treat him like the Chosen
- sometimes Kratos brings Lloyd to visit and basically they're all separate pairs of exasperated bros
- by canon Lloyd and Kratos are wandering mercenaries, helping people on the sly while gathering intel to send back to the Renegades
- Yuan and Zelos are actively building resistance to the Church using inside knowledge
- the ninja are all Renegades
- Colette is escorted by Raine and by the priests
- yes the 'chain up the Chosen and drag her to every seal if necessary' priests
- she meets Lloyd randomly in Triet but Lloyd doesn't know her as the Chosen. they're a bit out of touch on the Journey of Regen timeline
- stuff happens and they keep missing each other up until Palmacosta, which is a warzone between the Desians (and Dorr as their figurehead) and the Renegades (with Neil as their leader)
- Colette wants to help; priests say no
- out come the chains
- Raine objects, but she has no exsphere so what can she do
- btw Genis got caught in the Iselian ranch and tossed in as a traitor to be made a host
- he gets sent to the Palmacosta ranch
- right after Neil manages to take the city, after Colette and Raine leave it, Botta takes the Palmacosta ranch and rescues Genis, among others
- Genis becomes his little shadow and is much preferable to Lloyd, in Botta's opinion
- Lloyd and Kratos are still trying to catch up to Colette to rescue her when they drop by
- Genis hears what they're trying to do and insists on coming along.


scenarios
scenario one: in which Yuan accidentally adopts a Chosen instead of a book from a library.
scenario two: in which Yuan is accidentally-deliberately adopted by the Meltokio Castle Knights.


MEover
- Mass Effect crossover someplace in the realm of 15,000 years after TOS canon
- except started before then, cos elves are really from Feros, planet of the cranky telepathic plant
- got decimated by the protheans trying to assimilate them into their empire
- elves objected, got killed a lot, fled Feros and got stuck in Aselia's orbit
- kinda forgot a few things but planted a seed from the Ferosian mother plant on Aselia
- Origin hasn't forgotten tho, kinda has a grudge against grumblegrumbleprotheansgrumble
- the entirety of TOS happened, and then some
- Kratos, Yuan, Lloyd, Colette and Zelos are the only ones left, but tis okay, they have each other
- somethingsomething natural space disaster, Aselia is destroyed but they manage to move Yggdrasill onto Derris-Kharlan and do a quarian by becoming a roaming ship
- mana is a variant of eezo lbr
- Derris-Kharlan's too big to use the mass relays, but c'mon it generates its own mass effect field so they develop tech to do hops on their own
- they're in no hurry tho, i mean lbr primarily angelic, elf and half-elf population
- so they're just bumming around their local clusters doing thorough investigations on all the things
- so much eezo on their ship
- so much
- suddenly the Normandy running from a reapers comes along to hide behind them
- reapers start shooting
- everyone on Derris-Kharlan objects
- JUDGEMENT IN SPACE
- so much profit and judging of reapers.


scenarios
None yet.


origin
- Kratos tells Lloyd the dad thing in Triet
- dad and son feelings ensue
- they culminate at the Tower of Salvation in Kratos stabbing Yggdrasill in the back
- unfortunately he does not quite die but impales Kratos against a wall and goes berserk on the Chosen party to the point of Yuan stepping in to help
- that is, by threatening to stab Kratos in the back while he's vulnerable (with Kratos's permission)
- Yggdrasill calls his bluff and fails, and Yuan does the thing
- while Yggdrasill is distracted the Chosen's group nail him but good and he retreats
- luckily while heart-stabbing happened, Kratos's cruxis crystal is still intact, and between Raine's healing and Yuan's mana transfusion he survives long enough to be taken to the Triet base and a refresher
- stuff happens in some fashion or other up until opening Origin's seal
- as it turns out, the mana tranfusion has fused the lock, so to speak, and Kratos can't unlock the seal even voluntarily
- only way to get Origin out at this point is to let him fuse with Kratos, so Kratos becomes Origin
- stipulation of this: Kratos refuses to let go of his humanity
- luckily Yuan already has a literal bond with him thanks to the mana transfusion, so with him as his summoner Kratos can keep his humanity, and only use Origin's powers when Yuan summons them
- commitment like woah for a literal eternity
- but hey, they messed up but good and it's the only way they can reunite the worlds.

scenarios
none yet.


reversal
~ 2000 years in, Kratos and Yuan conspire to kill Mithos and succeed, sorta
- he's stuck inside his exsphere, possessing people
- but he manages to survive and while Kratos and Yuan claim Derris-Kharlan for their base, he takes most of the angels as 'fallen', as well as the Eternal Sword
- most of his bases are hidden behind dimensional slips created by the sword - Iselia included
- Origin refuses to trust either Kratos or Yuan with the job, anyhow, and they don't have a summoner
- instead they're forced to fight Cruxis, embroiling the worlds in an angelic war between Cruxis and the new organisation of Chayim
- the Chosen bloodlines are more important to Cruxis than Chayim, but Mithos seals the seals so only the Chosen bloodline can flip the mana switch. Kratos and Yuan need someone to do that until they can reunite them, so the Journey remains an institution, just without compulsory death at the end
- there is angelification tho, if only so Chayim gets more soldiers and so the Chosen can defend themselves against Cruxis
- Kratos sends Anna and Lloyd to Iselia, because even though enemy territory, it's the safest place there is for them
- Anna get word to Kratos that the Desians are using Iselia as a long-term cruxis crystal cultivation location, and that the sword is held there
- her spy succeeds but is intercepted, and Mithos locks down the dimensional slip to prevent exit and access by angels for ~15 years
- Lloyd grows up in a town with a heavy half-elf population and believing he's training to help the good guys
- he has his own cruxis crystal as a host, but doesn't tell his mother due to the faith-based propaganda encouraging hosts not to bring it up or risk the powers not taking
- he wants to help though, so he steals a key-crest to ensure he can fight
- Yuan and Kratos plan to assault the town and shrine but Mithos uses the sword to interrupt travel between worlds, keeping Yuan in Tethe'alla and forcing Kratos to attack Iselia alone.

scenarios
scenario one: Iselia is attacked by Chayim to claim the sword, with the sword already gone


titans
- Yggdrasill captures Kratos before Kvar finds Anna and Lloyd, but after Kratos makes an Eternal Ring
- Yuan figures hell no and raises the Renegades to try and take Derris-Kharlan, rescue Kratos and solve the split-world problem
- the attack fails. a lot.
- Renegades are wiped out, Kratos is still in Cruxis's hands, but Yuan manages to escape with the Eternal Ring
- Cruxis follows him to Triet base, which gets destroyed and the few remaining Renegades scatter
- Botta is still around tho, helping out how he can
- mostly Yuan just goes searching for Lloyd and Anna
- doesn't manage to find them before Kvar does tho, and Kratos hears from Yggdrasill that they're dead
- this is slightly inaccurate, cos Lloyd still winds up rescued by Dirk in Iselia
- where Yuan eventually finds him, not knowing that he's 'supposed' to be dead
- so Yuan settles in Iselia for a bit to watch Lloyd and the Chosen
- cuts and dyes his hair, the whole shebang
- learns how to carpentry, invents a new use of magic lightning and light can totally become a laserbeam amirite
- winds up being Genis's role model just because scholar and magic-user and half-elf who can pass but also takes no shit from people
- is one of Colette's companions on the Journey when it starts
- he's been challenging their understanding of the Church's institution this whole time lbr
- Sheena is still a thing because the ninja have taken over the Tethe'allan base, which has survived, somewhat
- a grilling ensues
- sometime just after the Asgard Ranch Yuan does have to drop the bombshell
- about how the Journey is just a front, he and his bestie are angels, btw his bestie is Lloyd's dad
- how they're out to topple the institution of religion
- forget sacrificing Colette for the Regeneration, when they get to the seal they can do that without anyone dying
- and then move straight on to rescuing Kratos in Derris-Kharlan
- then they get to the Tower and realise Yggdrasill has Kratos under a Prometheusesque punishment a la 'impaled on the Eternal Sword to suffer the Seed's pain and watch the Chosen get murdered'
- luckily this does not happen, as they manage to rescue him and escape Yggdrasill instead, barely
- retreat to Botta's hiding-place in Asgard so Kratos can recover
- and also find out that Lloyd is actually alive
- the Chosen group goes around to make as many pacts as they can while in Sylvarant
- they get up to Aska when Yggdrasill sends his angels to attack Asgard
- cue Yuan and Kratos being unstoppable battle gods together


scenarios
scenario one: in which Yuan leads the Chosen's party to the Tower of Salvation to dismantle all the traditions ever, and find Kratos waiting for them in serious need of a rescue.
scenario two: in which being in safety reveals that Kratos is not precisely unscathed, but he's doing his best.
scenario three: in which Kratos is emphatically not okay, but with Yuan's help, could be.

Comments

[conductingresistance]

Often, they're bestowed by others.

[Yuan doesn't have his weapon in hand to run a possessive hand along, but the gesture is implied in the faint tilt of his head.]

It's called Swallow.

[Genis absolutely wants a closer look. He doesn't strictly need to touch; but he does anyway, of curiosity and the wonder of it.]

Normally a lot of fire mana would make something at least a little warmer than usual. Is it just that there isn't a lot, or is there something special about the metal?

[...it's from a meteorite. Right.]

I mean, does meteorite metal conduct heat worse or something?

[simulsimul]

Oh! Is that because it makes anyone who looks at it swallow hard?

[Oh, Colette. Kratos shakes his head slightly with a fondly amused smile. That, at least, is something different from Martel; and yet equally as endearing.]

More that the fire-aligned meteorite iron has a far higher temperature threshold. When meteorites enter the sky, it does so at speeds which threaten to break it apart. The fire-aligned iron which remains does so because it doesn't burn or heat as easily.

[Aionis has a higher temperature threshold -- but not by much.]

In a battle, the mana in the metal reacts to the heightened level of energy and causes the blade to heat -- though it's possible to mana-tag the sword to avoid being harmed by it.

[choiced]

Duh. The kitchen's on the way to the library.

[Or it can be, given a little creative maneuvering.]

What do you mean, you don't need pie? I don't need pie either. No one needs pie. But you get hungry after fighting, and if you're gonna eat something, it should be something delicious.

[This is logic, Yuan. Plain and simple. So said, Zelos steers the pair of them back into the castle, leaving a lot of confused guards behind them.]

[simulsimul]

Yuan never seems happy. I'm sure.

[How could Yuan be at all happy, when so much of the conversation revolved around how badly they'd failed the world and Martel? When so much of the conversation revolved around Martel? When Colette was there, a constant reminder?

[Kratos regards Raine for a moment, and then asks gently:]

Are you alright?

[He noticed what Raine never said. He just isn't sure why, or whether she needs the help with it.]

[simulsimul]

[It takes a few minutes longer than it strictly should, but Kratos does eventually emerge in his workout clothes once more, stretching carefully. His mobility is still markedly limited, compared to usual, but at least he's no longer limping and moving like a much older man. There's no way he can braid his own hair, though. With an air of amused resignation, Kratos hands the comb to Yuan.]

It occurs that this might have all been much easier if I'd gone to the medical wing.

[But then they'd have had people questioning what happened. Not that they won't be, with this; but for all they know, it could be an escape attempt gone wrong.]

MERCENARY; young Lloyd and a telling fight

[choiced]

[Yuan's an angel.

That's a fact Zelos discovered when he was twelve, and talked Yuan into taking him along on what he thought would be a short trip to visit Yuan's friend and turned out instead to be a foray into a whole other world called Sylvarant.

Now he's fourteen, and the fact is part of his everyday life. Apart from conversations in the library being a lot more interesting, not much has changed. Yuan still barely leaves the library, and one of the few times he does is for the weekly spar with Nethan and the rest of the Imperial Guard. It was weird at first, watching the matches knowing Yuan's an angel and not being able to say anything; now it's just cool.

And now, Zelos joins in. He's old enough for Nethan to insist on it.]

You can even spar Yuan if the mood takes you.

[Zelos laughs. Shakes his head.] I'll start with you. [A little louder so Yuan can definitely hear:] He needs a break to rest, anyway. He's getting old.

[choiced]

You better mean I'll see it when I get my sight back.

[It's sort-of-threatening. Mostly it's just resigned. This transformation is long, arduous, and stupid, and Zelos can't wait for it to be over.

He doesn't dignify the last part with an answer and turns to go find Lloyd again, but his conscience stops him. He wrestles with it for a minute or two before lifting his head and sighing.]

Thanks.

[For whatever that's worth. Zelos might as well try to be someone worthy of Lloyd's blind faith.]

[conductingresistance]

Only when you make a detour.

[He sees what you're about, Zelos. Yuan offers some token resistance, digging his heels in temporarily, but eventually he lets Zelos shove him back into the castle.]

[He could be more good-natured about it.]

And if I told you I'm not hungry?

[conductingresistance]

[Yuan fails to stifle a short laugh.]

I believe it was named for the bird. You may ask, however.

[This comes with a short gesture, turning his hand up in Kratos's general direction.]

Wait, tag the sword?

[Genis takes his hand back and gives Kratos an intently confused stare.]

Isn't that the opposite of how it usually works?

[He should know. He makes sure he can't hurt any of his friends by accident, especially not when they're in battle.]

I mean, the rest of that makes sense, but...

[conductingresistance]

How else would you see it?

[This asked with poor concealment of how thin Yuan's patience is growing.]

[The thanks, though, catch Yuan almost off-guard, his saving grace the fact that Zelos can't see him. He expected none. Frankly, since he's fixing a problem he and his companions created, he likely shouldn't get any.]

...Don't mention it.

[No, really. Don't.]

[conductingresistance]

[Yuan does know how to smile, though. Sometimes. Here and there.]

[Raine had been hoping he wouldn't. She eyes the door, wondering half-heartedly if she can get past Kratos and through it without being stopped; then she glances away with a quiet sigh.]

I don't know.

I'm...

[Frightened, of an unknowable future.]

...it's nothing. It simply didn't seem like I should add one more thing to such a number of uncomfortable revelations.

[That is also an excuse, even if it's true enough.]

[conductingresistance]

[Yuan takes the comb and simply holds it for a moment or two, considering. Finally he directs Kratos to sit down where braiding won't be a great trial for either of them. Physically, anyway.]

You can still go to the medical wing, if you really feel the need.

[And explain. And deal with more people clucking at him. If Kratos really wants to...]

[Yuan has the same careful briskness to his braiding this time as ever, and he opts for a pattern he's used before, something simple but indicative. The time passes quickly enough.]

There. Are you ready to go?

[choiced]

After fighting? [Zelos tips his head back to give Yuan a weird look.] Everyone gets hungry after sparring. Even the guards get hungry after sparring. Is it different for half-elves?

[Zelos hasn't known any half-elves well enough or near enough to compare them to the human soldiers, but he knows they have long lifespans. Maybe they also only get hungry once a week or something. That would explain why Yuan never leaves the library.]

[conductingresistance]

[So Yuan's gotten used to the regular sparring. It's odd, having this level of acceptance; but it's an odd he's gotten used to, after a while.]

[He still prefers Zelos to Nethan, and Nethan to most of the other guards, but no one seems to begrudge him that. And anyone with things to say about him being a half-elf has often been on the receiving end of meaningful stares, or teenaged Chosen scathing rebuke.]

[There are worse places and ways to live.]

[Today, however, Yuan is scowling at Zelos. He's old, but he's hardly aged.]

You're welcome to try telling me that while we're sparring.

[Said with a very carefully obvious tone of jest: as much as he has grown more assured of his place here, it is still not something a half-elf can entirely afford to joke with.]

[choiced]

Fine.

[It's tempting to stay and needle Yuan more, just because he can. But that would undermine saying thank you, and since the whole point of saying thank you was to make a missing Lloyd happy, Zelos chooses to ignore the temptation.

He does turn for a second, like he wants to say something more, like facing Yuan would somehow make words spoken telepathically understood better. But a confronter of feelings Zelos is not, and this time he actually does leave, one arm out in front of him to avoid crashing into anything and otherwise much steadier on his feet than he was just this morning.]

[conductingresistance]

[Fine. That suits them both, then.]

[Yuan doesn't hear any thoughts to go with that last turn, so as much as he does try to analyze, he can't get any additional meaning out of it. He shrugs, and watches Zelos go.]

[The steadiness is an improvement. Yuan will work on it.]

[conductingresistance]

[It's true that Yuan should be seen to eat, but... it seems both foolish and a waste to do so just for this.]

[Yuan gives Zelos a flat look, because all unknowing Zelos has backed him into a corner. He remembers that hunger well enough, and now that the issue has ben raised it must be dealt with, and there is no good way to say that he doesn't need to eat.]

[Damn. In the end Yuan glances away.]

...I said 'if.'

[Grudgingly, he re-enables his ability to eat, sensing that he's about to be shoved at pie.]

[choiced]

[Zelos pretends to consider it, then shakes his head.] Nah. I want to have at least a small chance of beating you before I try anything stupid.

[Nethan raises a sceptical brow.] That's going to take years and years of dedicated training.

Good thing I'm getting a head start then, right?

You're not a half-elf, Master Zelos. You won't live long enough to get that chance.

You're just saying that because you're jealous. [And more accurate than he knows, but Zelos leaves that part unspoken, and swings his sword experimentally through the air.] It's lighter than I'm used to.

It's a smaller blade. Easier to conceal, and good for practice.

[conductingresistance]

[Yuan very pointedly isn't laughing, but there's some faint lifting up at the corners of his mouth as he stands aside to watch the interplay.]

[It's nice, to hear 'half-elf' said without any kind of animus on it.]

The flip side of weight is that a heavier weapon will tire you more quickly. While it's important to keep building your strength, for this sort of thing you won't get much experience if you're exhausted too fast.

In any case, the lighter suits you better at the moment.

[Based mostly on Zelos's style, which Yuan has seen a fair bit of.]

[simulsimul]

[Kratos is amused by her brisk order, half a healer's battlefield assertion and half trying to avoid falling into her own fear. But he also turns to Lloyd, who nods at them both.]

We're good. The guys will help escort Aden and the others back to the evacuation point. Right?

[He looks at his peers, his gaze open and earnest; and though some expressions are a bit reluctant, everyone nods. Kratos nods back and turns to issue orders to the angels. The healer and two knights will guide the young men through the village. The rest are on the team to take the factory. Within moments, the evacuation group has moved out, leaving Kratos, Lloyd and Raine with the squad of angels. Kratos nods to the angels.]

Move out slowly. We'll go ahead of you. When you reach the ranch, remain in hiding and wait for my signal.

[Then he turns to Raine and Lloyd. They know these woods better than he does, even with Anna's hurried telepathic map. He still rests his hand on his sword, intending to stick close to defend them both if needed.]

We'll need to move quietly. Lead on.

[simulsimul]

[Kratos answers with some faint amusement, even if it doesn't show much beyond his warm tone and something in his eyes.]

It is, but the sword can't tag you, after all -- so you have to tag the sword. For humans, it isn't so easy; but there is a way for a mana-infused weapon to recognise bearers. This sword hasn't been able to harm someone of Aurion blood for a very long time. Not with its fire, at any rate.

[Lloyd is looking very speculatively at Flamberge, running his fingers along the flat of it.]

I wonder if Dad knows how to forge mana-infused items. I wonder if he can teach me. Then I can make you a shield to match.

[The mention of Lloyd's other father serves to cool some of Kratos's internal affectionate warmth, but Lloyd's final statement makes it surge again.]

Just don't name it; it's important that a weapon or shield is named by someone who had no hand in its creation or its use. Yes, I named Yuan's blade.

[This is toward Colette with a smile, who had turned to Kratos at Yuan's indication and is now waiting, bouncing slightly on her toes.]

Oh! Was it for the bird?

[Kratos nods.]

That's right. Have you ever seen a swallow fly? They're quick and darting -- acrobatic. They can turn on a heart-beat. When I first saw him using it, that's what I thought of; but deadlier.

[eternalapprentice]

[Dad has started taking Lloyd outside of the base for short trips to Triet. Once, he even took him to Flanoir. This time, because Uncle's in a delicate spot with the festival and making friends with Zelos's bodyguards, Uncle can't get away to check in at the base -- or that's what Dad told Botta. Lloyd overheard it.

[Lloyd doesn't even care he got caught eavesdropping because he gets to visit Zelos in Meltokio.

[They come in with a lot of other people preparing for the festival in a couple of weeks, early-goers and labourers. Dad's here as a mercenary helping guard one such caravan, which is easy enough work that there's nothing strange about Lloyd coming with. Not many bandits try for caravans that large. Lloyd spends most of his time with huge eyes and excited exclamations, and training with the wooden swords Dad gave him for his eighth birthday.

[By the time they reach Meltokio, Lloyd can't decide if he wants to take the rest of the day to see the city or go straight to see Zelos and Uncle. In the end they get there late enough that he sees some while escorting the caravan through the city, and that evening they stay at one of the inns low down on the hill.

[The next morning, they head to the castle. Lloyd barely notices how Dad gets them inside the walls; he's too busy jumping from foot to foot until they get moving, skirting the castle proper for the courtyards. Lloyd hears familiar voices long before he sees them. Throwing his bag at Dad with a grin, the nine-year-old in red pelts around the corner and flings himself on Zelos with a delighted yell.]

ZELOS!

[conductingresistance]

It still seems backward, but I guess you'd know.

[And he has a point about the sword not being able to tag people. It's harder for Genis to read Kratos than Yuan-- Kratos is still very new, after all. But he's forgotten, at least for a little while, to be customarily wary of the new person in his life. In their lives, really.]

[His attention goes with Colette and Kratos when the subject fairly obviously changes.]

[Yuan half-wonders if he'll need to mediate between the two fathers, given that neither of them will be going away and they don't know each other at all yet, save for their love for Lloyd.]

[What from Kratos is shining praise makes Yuan glance away. It's been thousands of years and still there's some more than faint pride in it; that he mastered the weapon no one thought he could, that Kratos had known him even then.]

[He tries to hide it, out of habit, but there's still some resemblance to a smile.]

Naming in that way is a very old tradition. I hadn't expected it, but Kratos's name stuck.

There's nothing as fancy about Swallow's forging as Flamberge, but it's been with me for a very long time.

[choiced]

[A heavier weapon will tire you more quickly. Yuan gets a very choice Look from Zelos. He's right, and Zelos knows he's right, and Zelos isn't actually objecting to the lighter sword, but the only reason he doesn't point out that it's weird advice coming from someone who uses a double-ended sword as tall and thick as he is is that Nethan still doesn't know the sword exists. Stupid angels and their super-strength.

... Is that -- ?]

Wait -- wait --

[Too late. Zelos has the presence of mind to toss his sword a few metres away so neither of them get hurt on it, and to make it obvious he doesn't need to defend himself. But Nethan operates on instinct, and they're only on the ground for a second before Lloyd gets pulled roughly up by the back of his collar.]

I'm okay! I'm fine! I know him! [Zelos sits up, spouting off the assurances just in case Nethan or another guard takes it into their head that the seven-year-old -- no, wait, nine-year-old -- is a genuine threat, and he stares for a second before grinning.] Lloyd! Long time no see! What are you doing here?

[simulsimul]

Why's it so important? How'd you get something like the Swallow, anyway?

[Lloyd leaps in before anyone else can, looking thoughtfully down at Flamberge and then up at Yuan in confusion. Kratos answers the first part -- but he'll leave the second to Yuan to decide to explain or not.]

Because legends aren't created by the owner. They're passed down by others, based on the merit of the legend's subject. Any name worth keeping is one that everyone else will speak about with awe -- not a name created by one's own ego.

[Colette beams.]

I get it! It's what everyone else believes that makes it a legend.