Hello, everyone! This is my first ever attempt at a Kranna story, though not my first attempt at a Tales of Symphonia story. I already have Tales of Muses, a parody of the game with character replacements which…aren't very promising to save the world… But, anyway, I hope you enjoy this story, and this chapter is probably shorter than what the others will be, since it's somewhat of a prologue, but not fitting enough to be called one.

Chapter One

The woman stared off into the horizon as the sun began to set; one of the few things that allowed her to retain her hope. Only a mere few months ago, she was at home with her parents, enjoying a hot, scrumptious turkey dinner. It was the last meal she had shared with them before her home was invaded and she was carried off to this place. From what she knew, it was not too far off from her hometown, but freedom was like suddenly being able to grow wings and fly away, dancing upon the wind. But, all of the prisoners knew, that there was no way that would happen anytime soon.

"Get back to work!" Snarled a man who was patrolling the area to make sure no one slacked off. He had noticed that she had suddenly stopped in thought, and had given her a taste of his whip. She glared at the man who had done so to her, but she knew there was nothing she could do about it. Narrowing his eyes beneath his helmet, the man lashed out again. The brown-haired woman let out a cry as she felt the needle-sharp pain flash across her back. Forcing back tears, she went back to the work she was forced into, and all for what? She had no idea.

But, at night, the guards let all of the prisoners finally get rest, as so they would not work themselves to death. At those times, her green eyes were always filled with hope that someday, just someday, she would be able to escape. Thankfully for her and the others in the human ranch, the day was almost over, as was the work.

"All you inferior beings, listen up! Return to your cells! The work starts again at dawn!" Yelled the monitor. Everyone expressed their relief with quiet murmurs to one another as they did as instructed.

"Anna!" a voice familiar to the woman called. She turned around to come face to face with a young girl of maybe fifteen years, host body A033, or, to the other prisoners, Evelyn. "I saw what happened! I'm sorry you got whipped!" Her blue eyes were filled with sympathy for her friend.

"It's not your fault, Evelyn." Anna replied, pushing a lock of her friend's blond hair behind her ear. "I'm the one who set myself up for it."

"But I'm still sorry…" The woman smiled warmly, and placed her hand on the younger girl's shoulder.

"Come on, let's go back to the cells so we can get fed and rested up." Evelyn nodded numbly.

They, along with the other prisoners, were led by the guards through many passageways to their cells. Anna took note of her surroundings, as she did every time she passed that way, so if she ever managed to have a chance to run…

"Anna…I'm scared…" The fair-haired girl whimpered as they were locked in a cell with two other people. "I don't think I'll be able to survive much longer here…I miss my mom and dad!"

Anna nodded, knowing exactly how she felt. "And I know you already lost Jonathan…" She whispered, naming Evelyn's younger brother. The girl sniffled.

"Y-yeah…" A single, crystalline tear rolled down the adolescent's cheek. "He was too young to die! I can never forget the day I saw him being carried off to wherever it was the Desians take their dead…" Her voice was gaining intensity as she spoke. "I will never forgive them for what they've done!"

"Shhh… Neither will I, neither will I." The brown-haired woman agreed quietly. Her heart twisted every time she saw another dead human being carried away. It was horrible what the Desians had done to the world. Every day people in villages and towns near the human ranches lived in fear that they would be taken off to them. Anna was one of the unlucky ones who had that nightmare come true.

'Oh, please, Goddess Martel, send us an escape! Can you not see your children here, suffering? End the despicable existence known as the Desians, I'm begging you!' Tears streamed down her face, not only for herself, but for all the captives in the ranches all over Sylvarant.

Little did she know, that escape would come soon, in the form of a man.

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Kratos grumbled to himself as he thought of what Mithos had just told him. 'I wouldn't be surprised by Kvar if he really had some plan to gain a higher rank.' Apparently, the Desian Grand Cardinal had been doing something that he was not telling the higher members of Cruxis. Their leader, Mithos Yggdrassil, had ordered the seraph to see what was going on, in which the red-haired man thought he already knew.

Ever since he had heard that a human such as Kratos had been in such high favor of the leader of Cruxis, the Asgard human ranch owner had fervently tried to gain even more power. Of course, Kvar was always been power-hungry, but Mithos seemed to be suspicious of his intentions, yet again. As far back as the angel could remember, the feeling of hatred between himself and the Desian was mutual. He knew one day the half-elf would cause him much grief over something or other, as much as they hated one another.

It had made Kratos' day when he received the orders to inspect the human ranch. It was times like this that he considered not following his leader; as of late, his ideals were…not as they had once been. The half-elf-turned-angel had, over time, sunken further and further into madness after his sister's death, thousands of years ago. The Cruxis leader never seemed to have fully recovered from that tragic event.

The man passed by dozens of soulless angels who floated around all day, without any thought to the orders they might be given. Personally, Kratos did not like what Mithos had done to them, but he kept that to himself so he would not get into any more trouble with his leader. If not for being the Origin seal, if he ever he betrayed his superior-though Mithos always claimed that he, Kratos, and Yuan always held the same amount of power-the seraph knew that he would be killed. The red-haired man stepped onto the teleportation pad and was whisked down to Sylvarant, at the location that the Tower of Salvation would be once the new Chosen was accepted by Cruxis.

Kratos gazed up at the nighttime sky. Since it was so dark out, it seemed he would be bale to fly to the human ranch instead of having to walk there. The seraph opened up his ethereal blue wings that were normally hidden and took off for the ranch.

'Kvar, whatever it is you're hiding, you will reveal...or you shall face Cruxis' judgment.'

Well, if you liked it, think I need to do something better, or the like, review! I'm not begging for them, but...I would appreciate them! And, see you next chapter!