Title: Interference

Author: Metamorcy

Rating: T (for cursing and violence, may raise to M later on)

Disclaimer: I wish I did but I don't

Summary: Weakened and sealed, Death is forced to travel with the chosen's group in order to regain his powers but the influence he's having on the world causes it to shift...and why does he look exactly like Lloyd but older?

N/A: I suddenly got the idea while driving

6/04/09 this had been edited for spelling

Chapter 1

A figure growled in the darkness, surrounding him beneath was a circle, glowing bright red. Numerous lines were inscribed inside, all written in a strange language. The man, who had brown hair, narrowed his red eyes, his face and figure covered in the darkest part of the center. Another person was standing outside of the area, smirking, the light making parts of his face visible, a grey eye appearing from beneath the purple hair.

"What do you think you're doing?" The captured figure sneered, shooting a sphere of black light towards the man but the moment it was about to pass the circle, it dissolved into little sparkles. He huffed. "You did a good job in making this but how long do you think it'll hold out against me?"

The outside one shook his head, shrugging as if not caring. "Not sure, hopefully long enough for me to do some damage. I've spent twenty years researching to find a spell powerful enough to trap your kind and another ten to strengthen it just for you only. You're quite the trophy if you're captured, but the only problem is your abilities and magic. I can't have you killing me while you're still inside." He reached to the corner of the room, somewhere in the abyss, and grabbed something. Beside the man, the trapped figure could spot a statue, it looked like a white angel but there was blood dripping from the eyes like it was crying and some of that blood that had fallen into the folded hands was crawling down the arms. It appeared to be praying, eyes closed, arms at its chest with two large wings sprouting out from its back. It was a nice statue, one that someone must have spent years carving that out, however the red was never meant to be there. The brunet man turned his gaze towards the other, glaring and watching as the hand rise suspiciously, but before he knew what had happened, a sharp pain shot up his spine. His eyes glanced down at the spear that had slashed across his chest, grinding his teeth together in frustration. The item was held up with ease and the purple-haired man chuckled in amusement.

"Bastard!" The captured man held his wound, the blood dripping from it and along down his clothes. The bleeding didn't stop, slipping from in-between the cracks of his fingers, falling to the floor in little droplets.

The purple-haired person snickered, retracting the weapon. "Did that hurt?"

The other snorted. "A little, but do you think I'll allow it to happen again?" He smirked, the circle shaking, the light flickering on and off. The spear-wielding man's eyes widened and stepped forward, a little shocked that his life's work was easily being destroyed. The once-trapped figure disappeared, vanishing in a black light and the circle doing the same.

The shadowed man huffed in disappointment. "Damn, he got away. No matter. Thank goodness I actually placed a special seal on it as well as a spell to send his teleportation off course. Now, I just have to find him again before he recovers."

The darkness spread, engulfing the room and the angel within it.

Lloyd sighed to himself, glancing around the field with his brown eyes, checking the area out for monsters. He took another moment longer to observe, making sure that none of them were hiding in the darkness. Nothing, it was clear, no sign of them or any bandits either. He exhaled in relief and lifted his pack higher up his back, closing his eyes for a second to take a breather. His mind simply couldn't get over the fact of what had happened just yesterday, the memory still fresh and burning. It tortured him because it was his fault, the flames, the blood, the bodies and screaming. His heart couldn't help but feel unleveled rage and sorrow all at once.

It was the destruction of Iselia, his and Genis' home.

His brown pools gazed to the side where his friend was trotting next to him, shoulders slumped. The white hair was slanted forward, covering his face, but Lloyd could tell that the elf was upset. It was admitting from him in waves, though who wouldn't be? His home had been razed down right before his very eyes and then got banished out of the one place he had ever belonged to. Anyone had the right of being disconcerted and it only made things worse when Marble's fate had been found out. As much as Lloyd wanted to place a comforting hand on Genis, he knew now wasn't the time.

The large beast, Noishe, beside him whimpered, nudging his head into his master's side. The large eyes peered up into the chocolate ones as if trying to tell Lloyd something, a message perhaps. But sadly, he didn't get it and continued on, Noishe whining again. The green and white fur shined dimly in the clouded sky even when covered in small bags. It appeared that a powerful storm was coming and fast but Lloyd could hear no thunder booming and could see no lighting either. Still, the monsters that lived in these parts hadn't emerged much; it was like they were all hiding, all except Noishe. The beast seemed calm, wagging his tail happily, contrasting to the depressed mood the other two were divulging.

"Hey, Genis." Lloyd suddenly spoke, breaking the silence between them. He was hoping that they could reach a House of Salvation before the weather came down on them. "I think we should rest soon and seek shelter. It looks like a big storm is coming."

Genis took this moment to follow his best friend's vision and look at the sky. It was darkening rapidly but still no noise yet. "Yeah, we should, if we're lucky we might be able to find a big tree or something to hide under since we're too far to be close to a House of Salvation." The mage then glanced to Lloyd, who nodded in agreement, and they dashed off together, praying to find something to shield them.

Suddenly, lighting blazed across the air, sending fear down their spines. It had flashed so brightly that everything turned a blinding white and the two had to cover their eyes from it. The thunder made the earth rumble and the red-clad teen had noticed that some of the small rocks on the ground jumped at the force, even Noishe was starting to panic. It took almost all of Lloyd and Genis' strength to keep the beast from running off with all their supplies and held onto his tightly. More light sparked, some far too close for comfort.

Little droplets started to descend and slowly but gradually it picked up speed. The small group of three started dashing across the field, the shoes/boots quashing into wet mud and splashing into puddles of water. The rain was getting harder, pounding down on their backs and made their vision difficult to see, it was like a thick fog had floated in, blocking their way. The wind was blowing against them, forcing them to pause for a moment to hold their weight down. It was strong enough to lift up some dead trees out of their roots, tossing them around like mere feathers. The two teenagers accidentally released Noishe just trying to cover their eyes from the dust and dirt.

Bad mistake.

The 'dog' started dashing ahead, panicking from the wild storm, ignoring the calls behind. Lloyd let out a frustrated growl; this defiantly wasn't the way to start out an adventure. His chocolate eyes watched his pet from a far and noticed that the beast had abruptly stopped in the middle of the road. The twin swordsmen blinked curiously, observing as Noishe leaned over, planting a paw over something. The two young boys came behind him and peered down at the bundle before them.

It was a person.

Lloyd could see the drenched scarf, colored black, lying on the ground in mud. A coal-hued jacket, that was covering the body, had a bright red shirt or something underneath. His eyes drifted downward to the dark blue pants and noted the twin swords that were on the waist along with two large straps behind carrying something that appeared to be made out of metal. He was able to get a better look at the person when Noishe shifted him to the side though the visage was still facing away. The person had blood trickling down the lips and chin in long thin lines and coughed for a moment, more coming out. The chest had a gash across it but it was hard to see just how bad it was. Lloyd glanced down at his gloved hand; it was dark from the color and let out a startled short breath when he touched the neck for a pulse. "He's still alive…"

"W-What happened to him?" Genis asked out loud, ignoring the cold rain that was beating down on their backs. The puddle of water that surrounded them was colored crimson but it was fading away. He quickly remembered what his sister, Raine, had done to him long ago when he had gotten hurt and took out a long piece of cloth from his pack, tying it around the man's waist to halt the bleeding momentarily.

"I'm…I'm not sure, its probably best if we ask him. He might have gotten into a fight or something." Lloyd lifted the guy up and flipped him over.

Time seemed to halt in that single moment. All eyes broadened at the sight, mouths dropping wide-open.

"W-What the!?"

"Holy…"

Lloyd almost plunged the unconscious blooded man to the ground in shock. Though there was a little bit of mud and red on the cheeks (getting washed away by the rain), it was obvious as to who it was. The thick brown hair that defied gravity, shaped in curves, the youthful look, the eyebrows and lips even the structure of the face and the two points of hair on the back of his head, right at the neck. Lloyd was staring at himself, at a mirror. They didn't even notice that the rain that was pouring down was getting heavier, the clothes becoming weighty.

What snapped the two out of their shock was when Noishe unexpectedly howled with the thunder. Lloyd shaked his head, making a double take at his look-alike before standing up, raising the person to his feet. He noticed that the man was incredibly light, really buoyant, much more than him.

"We'll think about this later! First we should find shelter!" He tried to keep his mind off the person in his arms and placed him carefully on Noishe's back, who whined disapprovingly. Genis helped by taking a glance around (he's not strong enough to carry the man), trying and hoping that there was something nearby. When he was about to twist back in failure, his eyes caught something dark in the distance, not too far away. A smile slipped onto his lips and pointed out to the object.

"Lloyd, look! It's a shed!"

As the elf said that, the twin swordsmen followed the finger and dashed towards it, Noishe once more ahead. Genis struggled to keep up, being the shorter of the two, and as they made a touch down at the place, the three tumbled in through the door, soaked to the bone. Lloyd quavered his head and ran a hand through his bangs, slicking it from his visage before shutting off the rain. Taking off the straps that held up his suspenders and unbuttoning the jacket, he glanced over the place, checking for the safety. Nothing seemed wrong, just a small room with some logs in the corner and a large pile of hay in the other. He did perceive that there was a small hole beside the door but it didn't look big enough for it to be threatening. There was only one window in the back but it was too high up to see, though it brought some light into the room. Genis wasted no moment in gathering the wood together and casting magic to start a fire. The heat of the blaze had an instant effect on the temperature, warming everyone up. The light from the flames brightened the room considerately.

Noishe whined, leaning down to carefully toss the man they had picked up on the floor. The flat 'thump' brought their attention back to the hitchhiker and took that chance to examine the person better. They cast a shadow over the body, staring down in confusion.

"What do you think, Genis?" Lloyd asked, pushing the dark brown bangs aside to view the features. He slowly undid the scarf and neatly laid it to the side to dry. He even took the swords and other twin weapons that were on his back, settling them beside the scarf for safety. After all, he wasn't sure if the man would suddenly decide to spring up, attacking in madness. They didn't even think about the wound at hand, they had more important things to figure out.

"I don't have a clue." The mage leaned over, taking a closer study at the Lloyd look-alike. He was attempting to think through all the possibilities while eliminating the ones that seemed unfeasible. "It's impossible for him to be your twin; he looks much older than you. Maybe you have a big brother?"

"I don't think that can be true true. If I had one, Dad would have told me." The swordsmen reached over, detecting something along the neck and pulled down the black jacket collar. There was a long dark line circling the skin; apparently it appeared to have been burned by something. As Lloyd fingered the area, a hand snapped over his own, halting his movements. A startled yelp came from his mouth. "Ah!"

By instinct, Lloyd tried to retract his hand but the grip was stronger. The man's wine-colored eyes opened slowly and glanced to the side towards the group. They blinked a few times then the grasp lightened, drawing back. The twin swordsmen placed his limb beside him, unable to budge away, staring at the mirror in shock.

The Lloyd look-alike sat up, the red pools staring at the two people. He suddenly tilted his head to the side and spoke in a calm matter.

"Who are you?"

Lloyd blinked, a little shocked at the sudden awakening and fell back on his ass. He opened and closed his mouth like a gaping fish and managed to say the first thing that went through his mind. "Hi." The twin swordsmen felt like smacking himself for his stupidity.

The Lloyd look-like glanced around, not bothering with the two, it appeared he was safe, at least for now. The light of the fire caught his features, giving his face a weak glow. He had a much mature expression and his eyes were cold and hard with a red tint mixed in (Lloyd's are brown, his ones are red) but not like Kratos' dark ones from what Lloyd remembered. The complexion was paler than his own, hair darker but even with all the differences, it was still wasn't easy to tell them apart.

"Where am I?" A worried look crossed the insipid face momentarily, glancing to the window.

Genis was the one to answer, drawing the older man's attention away from the rain. "You're outside of Iselia, we found you unconscious and bleeding on the road so we took you with us. Noishe was the one who carried you." Genis suddenly dawned upon something as he spoke. "Oh yeah, I forgot, we didn't properly take care of your wound. Neither of us may be good in this sort of thing but we can apply medication and apple gels."

'Apple gels…?' The man thought for a second before shaking his head softly, reaching down to the gash. "Don't worry, it's no longer there. See." His pushed his jacket to the side and lifted up the shirt to reveal his clean chest skin, unmarked. It was as if nothing had happened in the first place and the blood and ripped clothes were fixed too. The trio stared in curiosity and amazement. "Just think of it as special ability of mine, it's not easy to explain."

Genis narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "Then can you at least explain us why you look like Lloyd."

"Huh?" The look-alike snapped his gaze over to the said person and tilted his head, leaning forward. He let out a deep sigh and shifted back, why does these kinds of things always have to happen to him? Either way, he had no choice in this matter or anyway out and began explaining the best he could. "How to do this? Let's just say I'm from a futuristic place on a different dimension." Everyone gawked at him strangely so he tried another way. "Listen I'm Lloyd but at the same time I'm a different Lloyd, kinda like we're connected. My world is diverse and I've been raised differently then the one here, that would also explain why I dress so strangely. And you guys too." The man raised an eyebrow at what they were wearing. Who wore suspenders there days? "And yes, I can tell that you're all wondering on that." The Lloyd look-alike glanced between the two, answering some of their internal questions. He could tell that they were trying to figure things out and continued on without care. "Well anyway, I got zapped here by accident from an enemy's trap. Does that explain a few things?" Before anyone could reply to that, a loud bark came from beside him and he gazed to Noishe, who was wagging his tail. The look-alike smirked, reaching over, patting the head carefully. "Ah! Noishe, I remember you, I used to take care of you. It was so long ago, I had almost forgotten."

The big ears flopped down.

The man sighed. "Not purposefully, I just had too many things to do to keep up with."

Noishe seemed to perk up at that, rushing over, licking the cheeks. The man didn't respond the same way, crying out and tried shoving the beast away. His hands were before him, stopping the creature from salving him from head to toe, though that wasn't working well as the weight was pushing him down. It wasn't until a little longer that the look-alike gained enough strength to tug Noishe off.

The kids could only stare at the other as he started rubbing his face with his sleeves, trying to clean the gunk off. "Ugh, so not my type of welcome." He spun to the two. "Now that that's done, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Lloyd…Irving but to make things less confusing, just call me Death." No one noticed the pause from the introduction of the name.

Lloyd nodded understandingly. "You already know that I'm Lloyd and that's Noishe."

"Genis Sage."

Death stared at the mage with an unreadable expression. "Are you two friends?"

"Yeah."

"I see though…" The wine-colored brunet muttered. "I don't really know a 'Genis' in my world. It's possible that you did exist there but on a different country."

Genis blinked. "So does that mean you know absolutely nothing about me?"

"That's correct."

Suddenly with no say, Death glanced up, Noishe too, lifting up his large ears. Lloyd tilted his head to the side curiously with one hand inching towards his swords, not yet trusting this man yet. "What's wrong?" Noishe growled, glaring at the door, bearing his teeth. Death gazed around the room and stopped at the hay, quickly thinking up of something. He rushed across, forgetting about the others, trying to do something.

"Noishe, come over here. There's enough hay to cover your body." He called out quietly and calmly, nudging the beast over. "Lay down and I'll hide you in it. Genis, get rid of the fire, we've got company!"

"A-Alright." The elf did as he was told; figuring out what Death meant and cast aqua edge. The fire instantly died out, small bits of smoke fluttering up and some red sparks flickering. Death quickly finished with his job and tossed all their stuff behind the hay while grabbing the two, covering their mouths, hitting the back corner on the left side of the door. "Shh! They're here."

He narrowed his eyes dangerously, hearing numerous footsteps walking through the mud. There were about five, two heading closer to the shed.

A quiet whisper that was slightly drowned out by the rain was heard. "Do you think some idiot would go into the trap?" It was deep, defiantly a man's. Lloyd almost wanted to yell out an insult back but Death squeezed tighter. The twin swordsmen took the message, understanding while Genis gave an are-you-an-idiot look to his best friend. Lloyd returned it with a glare.

"Who knows, it's possible." The second one was lower than the first.

Death stared at the door. 'Pretty smart these ones are, using this shed as a ambush, knowing full-well that people would seek shelter during the night and rain but still, in the end, they're just plain thieves. Three of them, by the sounds of their heavy footsteps, are swordsmen; the other two is a mage and an archer. At least they've got a nice combination. If I'm going to attack, best to get rid of that mage, it'll make things more troublesome.'

Lloyd was fingering both his swords while Genis twisted around to get closer to the older man, feeling safer. He didn't know why but the person had an aura that said he was going to protect them no matter what and he could feel it just like he could sense the mana from Lloyd's pulsing body. But that lead a question to him, how come he couldn't sense Death's mana? It had the essences of a human but at the same time not. Genis didn't have any more time to think about it as the people outside spoke again.

"What if there's someone inside? If we open the door, it'll alert them." The first one said.

"Alright, then use that hole we made."

Death stiffened, his red eyes trailing down to the small crack beside the door. The light that had been coming in from it disappeared.

"Do you see anyone?"

"Nope, it's empty." The second spoke normally, loud enough to be heard over the downpour. "Lets head back, there's nothing here."

The three sighed in relief after making sure that they were walking away from their spot. Death released the two first but soon after, Genis tripped over a loose board and hit the ground with a loud 'thump'. Lloyd flinched at the sound, gazing down at his best friend in pity. The eldest groaned and immediately heard the thieves halt.

"What was that?" The first one asked. "I think it came from the shed!"

"Shit, they're coming back." Death sneered, kneeling down with Lloyd to help Genis up. He gazed to the swords that was at the twin swordsmen's waist and snatched one before anyone could notice it. "I'm going to borrow this. Lloyd, take care of everything here. I'll take care of this."

The door slammed open, the wood rattling at the force. Death could tell it was the two fighters that had been whispering and narrowed his eyes, his black-gloved fingers gripping the sword in his hand. Before the men could say anything, he rushed forward, slicing one of them across the throat with amazing speed before shuffling his feet to stab the other through the stomach. He pushed the blade deeper, sliding it in to the point where the end was out the back, cracking through the ribs and spinal cord. Blood gushed out, falling to the puddles below, coloring the clear liquid red.

Lloyd and Genis stared in amazement at their new ally, eyes wide with astonishment. Noishe crawled out of the pile, shaking his body to get the rest of the prickles off and went to their side, sitting down beside them. Death examined the bodies as they fell back lifelessly, slumping to the ground, unable to move ever again. Blood sprayed across the air, pooling around the two corpses, their eyes permanently widened in shock. The skin was paling at the drainage of scarlet and the downpour was washing the hue away, disappearing into the ground. He didn't give the carcasses another glance before racing to the mage, who was starting to cast a spell and split the woman in half across the middle. He took a deep breath, wiggling his nose at the sheer amount of blood that tumbled out and turned around in time just as an arrow was released. He smirked, bringing down his sword at a horizontal slash, cutting the stick right down the center. The force that was used drove the halves to the side, hitting two trees behind him. Death huffed, ignoring the noises from the cavern. Apparently, the kids had been impressed by the action, especially Lloyd, who wanted to try that trick later on. It was obvious to both that this man wasn't someone to mess with even with a handicap (using one sword instead of two).

Taking a deep breath again, the look-alike closed his eyes, drawing out one of his numerous powers and snapped them open in shock. He stared down at his hands before shaking his head, pushing the surprise aside and rotated his attention to the remaining enemies. Dodging a few more arrows, his blade meet the other thief's knife. He gave a little way seeing as the man was putting a lot of effort into the attack and stepped aside, observing as the idiot slipped from the water and quickly beheaded him. Death swiftly shifted his gaze, surveying the last person with a cruel smile, his left hand fingering the cool blade. As the archer raised his bow, the look-alike flicked his right, slicing an arm clean off without any attempt. It flew into the air, dancing above the trees then fell with a heavy 'thump'.

The rain sluiced the blood off of the blade, slicking down the metal. He stepped closer, watching as the archer collapse to the ground, cradling his aching shoulder, forgetting about the being that was strolling slowly. Death snickered; his voice drowned out by the beating and stopped before the man, glaring down. His shadow hovered over the person before finally stabbing him through the heart, watching with interest as the light in the eyes died out. When everything was completed and done with, he slugged it out, using the corpse's clothes to clean the blade and handed it back to the owner as if nothing had happened. "Thanks for letting me borrow it."

Lloyd snatched it, replacing it into the sheath. "Y-You're welcome." The older version of him kneeled down, lifting two of the bodies up. "Huh? What are you doing?"

"Getting rid of the evidence. After the rain stops, monsters will be attracted to the scent of blood plus if these people have any more buddies, I don't think they'll be pleased if they find them here."

"Well, that's true. Here let me help." Lloyd was about to step outside when Death stopped him.

"No, its okay, I'm already wet. No need to make things worse." He then whispered something to himself, something Lloyd managed to catch. "Plus, it's not the first time I've done the dirty work." Death kicked one of the bodies and headed into the woods, his mind trailing back to the battle. When he thought he had walked far enough, he tossed them aside without care and glanced at his hands, squeezing them tightly. The blood that had collected on it was now gone as the rain pounded into it.

'Damn, that trap did a lot more then just weaken me.' Death cursed to himself, glaring at the corpses. While he had been fighting with the thieves earlier, he had tried to use of his abilities to make things easier when a sudden jolt of pain filled his senses. He had felt his body twisting in horror, the insides burning and felt like throwing up all at once. It was as if a thousand knifes were carving out his flesh from beneath the skin. The man growled angrily, figuring out what had happened. 'That damn bastard placed a seal on me.' A seal would normally be temporally and easy to get rid of but what the man had done was something completely different. Although it held back his powers, he still retained most of his natural ones like speed but the thing was like a lock where the key to it changed every few seconds and there were thousands of them holding him down. And to make matters worse, whenever he wanted to draw his powers out even the ones he could use, the previous thing would happen (the flare of pain). Death groaned, if he was going to get out of this thing he would have to stay in the back of battles, going to the front would mean fighting and that can't happen while he is in this condition. That meant he would have to travel with some people. He cursed again, screaming through his head. 'When I find that fucker, I'm going to cut him up into fifty pieces and burn him alive!!'

Death punched a tree and swore loudly, the chilly rain helping in cooling off his frustration. His eyes glimpsed at the two bodies and smirked, pulling out a hidden weapon, a little short blade swords and he licked his lips. He might as well use the corpses for practice. 'Let's do something that's more like me. I can't keep this 'nice' faze up all the time.'

(If you're thinking of something disturbing, that's not it.)

"What do you think about him?" Genis suddenly asked, staring into the fire he had restarted. The trio was inside, circling the blaze for the warmth to get onto their bones and skin.

"You mean Death?" Lloyd sighed, raking through his head to find an answer. "Hmm, he seems nice and appears to be telling the truth. His eyes say so even with all that weird stuff I don't get and Noishe feels comfortable with him. And he doesn't even like strangers in the first place so I believe what he said are true, though it's more of a…what-was-that-word." The twin swordsmen wiggled his nose and it finally dawned onto him. "Intuition."

"Wow, you actually know that word."

"Shut up!"

Genis just shaked his head with a smile, if there was one thing Lloyd was good with, it was his instincts. Death decided came in that moment, opening the door softly, hair and clothes thoroughly soaked. He slumped down at the side against the wooden boards, pealing off his clothes as if they were glued to his skin, keeping only his pants and long-sleeved undershirt on while placing the rest beside him (he had finished with putting the bodies away).

"Is everything alright?" Lloyd asked, casting a longwinded glance.

The man nodded his head, his expression drained. "Yeah, I'm fine." After a few moments, he leaned forward. "Actually, I have a request…Do you think I could…come with you?"

"W-What?" Everyone in the room looked at him instantly.

"I'm afraid I don't know this world at all, therefore I find it safer to stay with you guys until I figure out a way to get back. That is, if you don't mind?"

Lloyd twisted to Genis before smiling, already mentally agreeing to it. It wouldn't be too bad to have another person to travel with. "Alright, that's fine. We were kinda thinking about that while you were outside anyway. Now the hard part is convincing everyone else. Would they really believe us?"

Genis sighed, thinking of their reactions. "Probably not."

"Everyone?" Death blinked, crawling over to the fire.

"Yeah, we're heading towards the chosen's group. There's this blond-haired girl named Colette, she's the chosen one-"

"Chosen one?"

"Yeah, she's-"

Death listened as Genis and Lloyd spoke.

Hi. I hoped you enjoyed this start off and so let me state some things. This is slightly after the burning of Iselia if you haven't already figured that out. I didn't want to put it during the beginning of the game cause that would made things a little harder to explain with all those people and things.