Kratos Aurion (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
simulsimul) wrote2016-11-02 07:40 pm
simulsimul) wrote2016-11-02 07:40 pm
a thing; w/ ruinsprofessor & conductingresistance
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
- 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.
no subject
He's an angel?
[Kratos doesn't look over. He'd roll his eyes, call Yuan out on his dramatic tendencies, if he had the time and the breath; but he has neither, just a few seconds to gulp down air and rally his tired body. The blur precedes Yuan vanishing, and Kratos can't tell from which direction he'll come without any sense of mana.
[But he's gone after Lloyd, all this time, pushed Lloyd to push Kratos -- so Kratos lunges to cover his son from the attack he's certain is pending.]
no subject
[Yuan almost misses the implicit calling-out. They aren't the same and will never be the same, but the echoes of familiarity ache just enough to sharpen his strikes.]
[As predicted he does go after Lloyd, but he drops to do it, lashing out with a low hook of a kick and using his weapon to counterbalance behind him. It's less lethal an attack, perhaps, than Kratos might expect: but Yuan has his reasons.]
[And then there's Kratos and Yuan is skipping back again, wings lending him the shift in momentum he needs, but he has to cease pursuing Lloyd in order to properly block Kratos. That's fine -- that's what he wanted -- but it keeps leaving him open. This isn't tenable, not really. Yuan flicks hasty lightning at Kratos again and rapidly assesses exit strategies that still get him what he wants.]
no subject
[This time Yuan blocks and it's more jarring than it should have been. Kratos's shield comes up to block that lightning -- too slow. Just the faintest edge too slow on a weary arm. Kratos staggers, his breath catching, and Lloyd lunges with a cry.]
no subject
[But he is.]
[Yuan's already bringing his swallow-blade up on long-ingrained habit, a broad diagonal slice, and it takes real effort to pull the blow back. He isn't going to kill Kratos. Not here: not like this. But this isn't getting him anywhere, either.]
no subject
[Kratos's sword is raised but the first edge of the swallow-blade hooks it and rips it out of Kratos's grip while the rest of the blade cuts across his chest. It's sharp enough that Kratos doesn't feel it at first, but he staggers from the blow, keeping his feet only due to long experience.
[He hears Lloyd screaming his name only distantly through the roar in his ears, but half his body has seemed to go numb. When he takes a breath there's a searing pain in the side where the swallow-blade cut deeper, and something hot comes up inside his chest and makes him cough. He staggers again, his shield-arm drooping under its weight, his knees buckling.
[He knows Lloyd's behind him. He just can't seem to tell him it'll be okay.]
no subject
[They have become too blasé about such wounds in their millennia, he realizes a few seconds later as Kratos buckles. The cruxis crystal that would grant him the resilience is still -- who knows where -- and Yuan is abruptly furious again. With himself; with Kratos, for overreaching; for every damned thing that led to this crossroads in the first place.]
[He steps forward, and catches Kratos against his shoulder, free arm coming up to hold him secure. Blood seeps into his clothes; Yuan really doesn't care. The air is still for a heartbeat.]
[Yuan turns his head, regarding the man crumpled against him sidelong. Quietly:]
Damn you, Kratos.
[Even only human again, even this many years later, Kratos is still making his life at least a hundred percent more difficult.]
[Yuan does not have time to contemplate this. A force field absorbs the first chakram thrown at him, and the water sharp as blades in its wake, but that won't hold, and now all of them -- the healer included -- are also furious. He could get the healer to-- no, Kratos is too gravely injured without any sort of exsphere, and she surely too young. Also, the rest of them would then continue trying to murder Yuan while Kratos bled out, which is unacceptable.]
[He parries Lloyd with some effort, swears, and leaps into the air. Kratos as a weight is nothing; the encumbrance he represents is more so.]
I still have need of Kratos.
[This is not a reassurance.]
no subject
[He can't tell what's up or down, but the ragged breaths bring in familiar scents to match the familiar feeling of an arm around him; though it isn't until Yuan's quiet, angry words in his ear that Kratos realises Yuan's the one holding him up.
[The shield drags itself off his arm and Kratos's trembling hand reaches up just enough to grip Yuan's sleeve, his feet pushing the ground weakly as though they'll hold him. They certainly won't, and the ground is gone a moment later besides. Kratos lets out a cry as Yuan moves, sharp and not precisely easy; but the arm around him is strong. Comforting, even, in its familiarity, with Kratos's thoughts fogged with pain and exhaustion.
[Lloyd's words pierce that fog, though, his voice raw and shaking.]
You can't have him! Dad!
[Lloyd.
[Kratos's grip on Yuan's sleeve tightens, and he even manages to bring up his other hand to Yuan's other shoulder, as though he has anywhere near the strength to push away -- as if they aren't in midair still. His sternum grinds and his breath snags, and he coughs explosively over Yuan's shoulder, tasting blood in his mouth and on his lips.]
no subject
[This is a measured abduction, not a retreat.]
[At Kratos:]
Don't be an idiot, I'm not going to drop you. If you bleed out before we get there I'll kill you myself.
[He looks down his nose at the Chosen's group for a moment or two, considering words; but there's too much risk of it coming off as divine writ, and Yuan doesn't need that headache too. In the end Yuan flicks the blood off his blade and takes off, cheating speed and air with how he knows the paths of mana in this world and specifically those between here and the Renegades' base.]
[This may have been an exceptionally stupid plan. Yuan can admit that to himself, at least.]
[He lands at the base and startles several other Renegades with a, Kratos and b, how much blood is everywhere. Yuan says nothing to them, only keeps moving, heading for medical. There are the multipurpose refreshers scattered throughout, but the ones in the actual medical wing are more robust and enable a person to actually be in them. Hardly comfortable magitechnology -- Yuan can vouch -- but if Kratos survives he may then complain about it all he likes. Yuan will roll his eyes.]
[Not if. When.]
[It's only when he has Kratos settled and the machine to work on repairing him that Yuan processes how much blood has sunk into the cloth beneath his armor. Hm. If he leaves to change Kratos will -- somehow -- be gone before Yuan gets back. He beckons the understandably confused attending medic over, and sends him for a change of clothes and a pair of handcuffs.]
[Not for the same person.]
[That handled, Yuan settles down to wait, one eye on his old friend.]
no subject
Bleed out!? Dad!
[Kratos is vaguely aware that Lloyd has lunged their way, but it's getting harder to keep his eyes open. Yuan moving sends throbs of pain through him; that helps keep him somewhat cognizant. By the time Kratos manages to open his eyes again, their surroundings have changed to stone and clear, cool air. The glittering lavender of Yuan's wings are very nearly fascinating, especially with how Yuan strides through the base and leaves a trail behind him.
[How long until Mithos knows I'm here?
[Can't possibly be long, but it's all Kratos can do to keep himself conscious, his hands still gripping Yuan's shirt weakly, his cheek resting on Yuan's shoulder. He has no sense of time; it's both seconds and forever before Yuan shifts him off his shoulder to lay him out, and the most Kratos can manage is a tiny groan. Then he's laying flat, and everything still hurts, and he can't breathe, and the lavender tint Yuan's wings have left over his vision is replaced by healing blue.
[The first few inhales make him cough and choke, but the refresher tilts him upward just enough to ease the difficulty. From there on, Kratos slides in and out of consciousness, half expecting Mithos to be standing over him every time his eyes open; half forgetting that he isn't with the others any longer, and feeling confused when Lloyd isn't immediately nearby.
[Eventually, his bouts of consciousness get stronger, until he can feel the hardness of the bed under his back, and breathing is no longer such a trial. It's about then that the refresher shuts off and retracts, leaving Kratos blinking up at the brightly-lit ceiling. He stirs and hisses through his teeth at the dull throb of pain in his chest. Still wounded, but at least it isn't killing him anymore, and if he's not mistaken the perfume means that Yuan is still nearby -- though Kratos can't see him over the edge.
[A touch mumbled, his words come wafting up from inside the refresher.]
You need to work on your accuracy.
no subject
[The flatly skeptical expression he gets in return is probably warranted, but Botta doesn't argue. Yet.]
[Yuan waits; eventually, Kratos wakes.]
[And criticizes his fighting skills, which is how Yuan knows Kratos is completely intact. He raps an irritated tattoo with his knuckles on the side of the refresher.]
You need to work on your speed.
[This would never have been an issue if Kratos hadn't put away his cruxis crystal.]
[There's a marked quiet before Yuan adds:]
He doesn't know you're here.
no subject
I'm not even a soldier anymore. I'm a weaver. I think I did well, under the circumstances.
[He takes a breath to say more, but abandons the attempt at Yuan's last words, and exhales slowly. Mithos doesn't know. If it were anyone else, Kratos would wonder if he was lying -- but Yuan doesn't lie. Even early on, he hadn't lied; twisted the truth, but not lied. It was one of the things which had, in the end, sparked a bond between them: the frustration of honest men in a war blind with hatred.
[When Kratos speaks, it's quiet.]
Why?
no subject
[...maybe that's why.]
He doesn't need to know.
[About any of this, if possible. Kratos has changed, truly. Hence Yuan bringing him here in the first place.]
...weaving, really?
no subject
[The forceful incredulity in Kratos's voice is enough that it makes the air catch in his lungs, and he coughs again; though at least this time there's no open lung wound getting in the way. It's still a little bloody, just because the refresher can't remove liquid stuck in his lung as it was repaired, but it's not really any worse than the perpetual colds he'd suffered while his body got used to not having the exsphere to account for illness.
[He catches his breath and turns his head back toward Yuan, whom he still can't see.]
He doesn't -- he wouldn't agree with you about that.
[A pause, and then more quietly:]
It reminded me of mana threads. It made me feel as though I could bring ... things ... together.
[Things. Mana. Worlds. Unspoken, at the end -- instead of tear them apart.]
no subject
[If Kratos isn't coughing blood still Yuan's going to be surprised; but it isn't the terrible hack of a dying man. He'll live.]
He and I haven't agreed about much in a long time.
[Since Mithos proposed the idea of human ranches. Since neither of them did anything to stop him, either.]
[Yuan sighs at that last, very softly. How long has it been since any of them were idealists?]
You'd have been more use as an inside man, you know.
no subject
[It's soft, a little hoarse because of the coughing.]
What kind of life would that have been for Anna, if she'd even been able to raise him?
[Talking about Anna with Yuan, of all people, makes grief lance unexpected in Kratos' chest, enough to make his breath catch again. It's not just that clash of worlds, of domestic, unconflicted affection versus driven, volatile brotherhood.
[It's that Yuan knows how he feels.
[Kratos has not missed the tacit endorsement, there. But he isn't sure he has the strength to address it, just yet.]
no subject
[He cuts that thought off before it's fully born, with the ease of long practice.]
...You're still healing.
[Not remorse. Simple statement of fact.]
[Yuan weighs options. Business versus time; but Kratos will be healing a little while yet, and he sounds only half-conscious besides. As a result, Yuan asks something very different than he might have, softly.]
...tell me about her?
no subject
[Kratos' eyes have closed in the quiet, but he smiles in his darkness.]
The first time I saw her, she was huddled in a corner, behind some crates, teaching the ranch's children ... and some of the adults ... how to read and write.
[By rights he should have alerted someone; but Kratos had turned a blind eye to little rebellions for a long time.]
Some of them weren't very good at it, but she never lost her temper, or gave up. No one ever came looking for them. They didn't have those meetings often, but when they did, she made sure they weren't found.
no subject
How did you get from reading in corners to on the run?
[Yuan's voice is dryly amused, but not unkind. He's aware of the weight of this.]
I assume you ran off together, at any rate.
no subject
[Kratos' breath catches again, and his next words come out softly distant, as if trying to keep his emotions at bay.]
There was a rebellion in the ranch. I took her away then, before Kvar could retaliate. She was furious, at first; the first time I'd ever seen her furious. She couldn't understand why I didn't help.
[He hadn't had the words to explain why, even to himself, let alone to her.]
But later ... she seemed to understand better than I did. She had a way of that -- seeing, considering, figuring things out. That's how we got to where we did. She saw me, a human, tolerated if not respected by the half-elves of the ranch, and noticed that I never participated in the cruelty. She decided I was her best chance to help the people of the ranch.
[He laughs quietly and it hurts, in more ways than one; but he manages not to break into a coughing fit.]
She actually came up to me to demand more books for her students. She said it was in our best interests. After all, what causes more suffering than to offer hope and pull it away at a later date ... That was her argument, to convince one of her oppressors to alleviate their pain even a little.
[His words trail off into something raw. He hadn't had a counter-argument at the time. At the time, he hadn't had any hope to see. He couldn't imagine anything more painful than to have it and lose it. He'd been through that already.
[Left unsaid: He'd given her the books.]
no subject
[Yuan's laugh is so quiet it's almost inaudible, but he's amused. He thinks perhaps he would have liked her.]
[Well, she did keep Kratos in line, as it were. Yuan goes quiet, mirth fading into frowning at a Kratos who can't quite see him.]
[He does understand, in his way, why Kratos left. More frustrating that Kratos vanished entirely; that Yuan could do nothing except shrug at Mithos, and try to compensate; that any of his plans that might have made use of Kratos needed to be shelved for some time. Kratos settled down and raised a son and some part of Yuan is bitterly envious that he found the freedom to do that despite everything.]
[The rest of him is just so very tired.]
Kratos...
...rest. We have things to discuss.
no subject
[Kratos's words are more murmured than before, and trail off before he can completely finish the sentence. With his eyes closed his mind finds it easier to wander, and now that he's had a short period of wakefulness the lingering wound is drawing him down into a proper sleep.
[He hears Yuan's final words; really he does. But he's already halfway asleep, and doesn't manage more than a wordless mumble of acknowledgement before going the rest of the way.]
~finis