Iceclaw14: Hey! Wow, I can't believe I'm here. I told myself I would never write the Kranna story because... well because it's just a really hard thing to write. But here I am, I know they're some people that must agree with me, right? It is such a fun thing to read about, isn't it? We know nothing about Anna, except that she was from Luin, taken to the Asgard Human Ranch, the specimen of the Angelus Project, ran off with Kratos for at least three years, was the mother of Lloyd and was finally killed by Kratos when Lloyd was three and Kvar removed her crestless exsphere. That's it. She could have been thirteen for all we know! I hope my interpretations of these vital moments in Tales of Symphonia history are realistic and believable. Remember: keep an open mind. Disclaimer: I do not own... bla bla bla you guys already know it all.

Kratos Aurion walked through the lifeless halls of Welgia. He entered a large circular room with an inactivated portal in the center. An angel with black wings was positioned in front of a large contraption that would activate the portal. Like everything else in this wicked place, he spoke lifelessly, "Lord Yggdrasil will see you now," Kratos nodded in return, and the angel turned to his machine, pushed several buttons and activated the portal. Kratos stepped on the glowing crest, and disappeared.

He found himself in a large hallway. Angels hovered around going from portal to portal, but none even stole a glance at the Seraphim, not like he looked at them. He made his way through several depressing hallways, rooms, and portals before he found himself directly in front of the door to Mithos's chambers. He was only a foot from the door when a blue-haired half-elf blocked him from entering the room.

"Kratos," the half-elf said. "Why are you doing this?"

The hybrid was relatively short, with a black cape draped around his shoulders. No weapon was at his side or in his hand, but instead a huge sword-like weapon was connected to a compartment on his back, shadowed by his robe. A deep frown was scorched into his face, and his blue eyes were piercing pools of anger.

"Because unlike you I don't want to rebel against Mithos for no reason what so ever," he responded dryly.

The half-elf, whose name was Yuan, shook his head, his gaze still connected with Kratos's. "Kratos there is a reason for joining my revolution group, the Renegades. Do you know why Mithos has summoned you?" He didn't even wait for Kratos to respond, and burst into the rest of the conversation furiously. "He wants someone to lead a raid on a town to find another subject for some for some murderous experiment, an innocent human being. Do you know what happened to the previous subject? He died."

"Some sacrifices are necessary; in order for one thing to survive another must not live through it."

Yuan stepped out of the way of the door. "I hope you will have enough sense and back out as I did."

"I hope you have enough sense to end this rebellion group you are forming, Yuan." Kratos responded as he swung open the door and made his way through, the ancient doors slamming behind him.

The entire room was covered in exquisite patterns, carvings of dragons, angels, the Giant Kharlan Tree, the 'goddess' Martel, and Mithos the Hero. Huge pillars rose to the ceiling, but it seemed as though the room could hold itself up, after all; it had been here for over four thousand years and only some parts were chipped off and replaced by floating rocks and the calamity of space. At the end of a room there was a slightly risen platform and atop it was a golden chair with jewels all colors of the rainbow embedded into it, and on that chair sat Mithos.

Mithos the Hero was wearing his traditional white jump-suit with golden trimming. His strikingly blonde hair flew over his green-blue eyes as he stepped forward to greet Kratos.

Kratos kneeled onto the ground and bowed his head. "Lord Yggdrasil."

Mithos laughed, and it echoed through the halls creepily. He stepped forward to Kratos and placed his hand on Kratos's shoulder, who looked up at him.

"Kratos, Kratos," he sighed, shaking his head. "You have no reason to bow, or call me Lord Yggdrasil. We are both one of the four Seraphim of Cruxis, you will call me Mithos." He pulled the purple clad man up to face him. "Now, let's get down to business, Lord Aurion."

Kratos nodded, simply ignoring the joke. "Why did you call me here?"

"I need you to do me the simplest favor," he said diving into his request, which Kratos was positive that it going to be much more than 'simplest.' "I am trying to conduct an experiment with Kvar, one of the five Grand Cardinals and leader of both the Asgard Human Ranch and this project, and he has recently informed me that the previous experiment has passed."

"How did he die?" Kratos asked blandly.

Mithos sighed. "Age; and he has to have certain biological properties. I hardly understand it either." He replied. "Now, just recently, Kvar has collected all of the data he needs to discover the necessities of the experiment. Though, sadly, none of the people at any of the ranches match, some are very close, but all are too old and weak."

"So you want me to search through all of Sylvarant and Tethe'alla to find someone who matches your data?"

Mithos cackled lightly. "No that would take years, even for you. Instead those at other ranches through the declining world have kept records of their 'employees,' and my spies positioned at the towns have also contributed to this. They did all the work." He snapped his fingers, and an angel entered the room, carrying a huge book. It hovered over to Mithos and handed it to him before scurrying out of the door. Mithos opened the book midway through, licked his fingers and started flipping through pages until he found the one he was looking for, and then he showed the page to Kratos. They were profiles of two people taken to a ranch about one hundred years ago. It had everything about them from their weight and height to their marriages and children.

"These," Mithos began. "Are two people who were captured by a ranch.

They also later escaped together. They hardly had any of the necessities. But, they were married and had one child." He flipped the page to another profile.

"Their son was also captured. Luckily, he met his wife at the ranch. She escaped, but he was killed during the attempt. But she had his child, who had even more of the necessary vitals to the experiment. That adds on to our luck."

"I don't understand," Kratos said. "Why are you showing me this? What does this have to do with anything if they are dead or old or don't have the right necessities?"

"I thought you would be able to point it out, especially after the amount keeps getting higher and higher."

"So eventually throughout the generations they had a child with the perfect amount of everything," Kratos realized aloud.

Mithos nodded. "Precisely, a daughter, to be exact; a cute little thing, my sources say. She is living in a small little house with her parents in Luin. You and a group of two-hundred soldiers will go in and get her." Suddenly, his voice hardened. "Anyone who stands in your way will die."

"What is her name?"

"Anna Irving."

Anna Irving.

Anna giggled as Rebecca splashed water in her face. They were playing in the fountain at the center of Luin. Anna splashed her back, and Rebecca fell on her butt in the water.

"Play nice," Luciretta said from her bench. She was in her early twenties and was dressed nicely in a white, satin dress with dark purple thread weaving and out in patterns of flowers and vines. She had spiky, dark red hair that extended to the small of her back. Her vivid green eyes were accented perfectly by her thin triangular glasses. Not only was she beautiful, but she was the most trusted person in all of Sylvarant. But if you crossed her she would chew you up and spit you back out.

"I want to get my full pay for baby-sitting you little imps, and I won't get it unless I return you in one piece."

A woman approached Lucrietta; Rebecca stumbled out of the fountain and hugged the woman around the waist. The woman picked her up and placed her on her hip, she handed Lucrietta a fair amount of gald before walking off, the little girl bouncing on her.

Anna clambered out of the fountain and teetered over to Lucrietta. She picked her up easily and her on her lap. "Lucri, why did Rebecca go?" She asked; her brown eyes huge.

"Her parents are taking her to Asgard for the rest of the week," she responded. "Don't worry; she'll be back before you know it."

"Lucri, what do you think about the elf?"

Only a month ago, a group of men found an elf lying on the road a mile west of Luin, unconscious. They brought him back to the village and cared for him until he was ready to speak. They had questioned him on why they found him in such a state; He said he had came from a place called Heimdall, and had never heard of Luin. He said he was swimming when he came to an island; he got up onto the island to rest when suddenly the ground underneath him fell apart and he woke up here. Some people in Luin wanted to kill him, but others didn't. Instead he was put into house arrest in a little abandoned shed close to the entrance of town. He was brought three meals a day by Lucrietta. And after she would fill her duty she was always giddy and light-footed.

Lucrietta's cheeks turned red. "Don't call him the elf, he has a name, it's Tafete. And what do you mean by, 'what about do I think about him?' He is stubborn, but sweet when you get to know him."

A wide grin opened up on the little girl's face. "Lucri loves Tafete! Youlove him!" Lucrietta turned tomato-red and she placed her hand over Anna's mouth.

"Anna," she whispered softly, but with an edge to her voice. "Anna please you can't be doing this. You don't know how people feel about half-elves. I don't want all of Sylvarant to get thoughts in their head."

She removed her hand from Anna's mouth, who gasped. "Are you going to have a baby?"

"No!" Lucrietta said loudly. "I'm not pregnant, it's just that people wouldn't like seeing humans and elves together. So this has to be our little secret, okay?"

"Okay!"

"Good girl," she said. She pressed three gald into the palm of Anna's hand. "Go down to the inn and buy yourself some candy, but don't let your parents see you and come straight back afterwards, alright?"

Anna nodded quickly, and hopped off Lucrietta's lap. She bounded over the bridge and pushed open the door to the inn. Her mother was seated at a table with a gray-haired man. Her mother's shoulder length brown hair shone in the light. Fortuitously, her mother had her back to the door and Anna swiftly glided over to the counter, bought some candy, and scurried out of the door.

She dropped her candy when she looked outside.

Lord Aurion," A Desian soldier said, he kneeled on the ground, "permission to speak, sir?"

"Granted," Kratos responded.

The soldier rose off the ground. "Sir, several soldiers have spotted a man and a woman traveling with a little girl. Less than a mile outside of Luin, heading in the direction of Asgard; they are in a hurry."

Kratos nodded, he extended his wings. The soldier gasped, he obviously had never seen wings on humans before. "I'll go see, continue to Luin." The half-elf nodded dumbly, and then ran off. Kratos pushed off the ground and flapped his wings.

He rose one-hundred feet in the air; he examined the ground, searching for this traveling family. There they were three moving dots in the direction of Asgard. He focused on them, using his amazing vision. A man armored with a bow and arrow (but he obviously wasn't very skilled with it), a woman, and a little girl.

He gracefully flew until he was within spell casting distance. Kratos focused his mana and murmured a few words, and then he cast Wind Blade on the man. He was lifted into the air and the wind cut his clothing and skin as he screamed. His two other companions turned to face him as the wind blew off and he fell to the ground. They ran to him as Kratos cast Indignation, the two others got small shocks, while the man slumped to the ground.

Lifelessly, his jaw unclosed.

Kratos landed in the forest around his remaining targets and drew his wings back. He moved with amazing agility towards them, winding through the trees. When he reached them, the woman and girl were by the man's body, shaking it, praying that he would wake up. Useless, when they're gone, they're gone, no use dwelling on it. He raced over towards them, lifted the woman from the ground, covered her mouth with his hand and positioned the point of his sword at her temple, before she could make a single sound.

The little girl rose soon enough. She wiped her eyes with her small knuckles, drying away the tears. She looked at the woman, then turned to Kratos and began staring at him pathetically.

"Don't do anything, or else she will die."

"Mommy!" she screamed.

Kratos drove his sword through the woman's head. Blood gushed out, spraying Kratos; he could feel the drops of her blood fling onto his face. Her body slid off the sword, it had gone straight through her head, and a trail of blood ran down his sword, the tip of the blade dripping.

The child was awe-struck. Her eyes were wide as tears streamed down from them. He stepped close to her and positioned his sword at her neck. One swing was all it would take.

"What is your name?" He asked.

The child mumbled softly. "Mommy...Daddy...An...Luc..."

He was losing his patience. "What is your name?" He bellowed.

"Re...Re..Rebecca."

Kratos swung his sword.

Outside of the inn, buildings were ablaze. Desian soldiers chased down the people of Luin and their bodies added to the numerous ones on the ground. Anna wanted to scream, but she remembered what her father told her.

If the Desians ever invade, you are to go to whoever is in charge of you for the moment. Whether it be me, your mother, Lucrietta, or Hilda; both of you must march back into the house and go into the basement. Remain calm, and don't scream or run, or they might notice you. You are not to come out no matter what. Don't take anything down with you that you don't need, we have food and blankets down there to last us several days. Don't every come out and don't ever be alone.

She had to get to Lucrietta and run to her house. She bolted through the crowd of terrified people. Buildings fell to the ground and screams of horror and pain filled the air. She ran faster and just as she leaped over the bridge, it was blown into smithereens by a soldier's spell.

Several Desian soldiers were perched by the fountain. This area was emptier, only some soldiers were there, and there were even fewer people from Luin. Anna hid behind a tree, her heart pounding. Her eyes skimmed the area, looking for where Lucrietta might be. She could hear the soldiers talking, and she couldn't help but eavesdrop.

"He said kill only those who rebel," the first soldier said. "Either everyone is rebelling or no one is following orders."

"Why do we even have to have an attack?" The second soldier questioned. "We're just looking for a little girl. Why couldn't he just sneak in her house at night and grab her?"

Another soldier ran up to them. "We have located the house!" The two other soldiers nodded, then they followed him, other soldiers followed too, and the whole entire area was empty, except for Anna. She jumped out from behind the tree and raced to the fountain.

Lucrietta wasn't on the bench waiting for her. She began to panic, had the Desians taken her away? Footsteps sounded from behind her; she turned around to find Lucrietta running towards her, glasses askew.

"Anna!" She gasped. She extended her hand. It was bleeding, a huge cut extended from her palm to just below her pointer finger. Anna grabbed the hand; "I'm so glad you're alright!" The two raced towards Anna's house.

Anna gritted her teeth as Lucrietta's blood oozed between her fingers. "What happened?" She managed to gasp. "Why are you hurt?"

"Well," Lucrietta began. "Shortly after you left, Desians came and they started attacking people and burning down buildings. I thought you would have met up with your parents, and I was going to go to your house and wait for you to come when I thought of Tafete. He was locked up in that shed, handcuffed to the wall!" Her voice rose, but she calmed down. "I had to help him, so I went back to the shed and it was on fire. I unlocked the door and freed him, then some wood fell down and scratched me, it got in really deep, I think I'll have it forever."

"Where is he?"

Lucrietta swung her other arm in front of her. And there was Tefete, holding tightly onto her hand. He was obviously an elf, his pointed ears sticking out of his hair and a reef of never-wilting flowers and leaves around his neck. Sky-blue hair stretched down to his shoulders, parts of it were burnt. And his eyes were a vivid green. He was wearing gray pants and a pine-green shirt with a brown vest over it. Nothing like anything people in Luin would wear.

"Lucri," Anna said, "are you allowed to free him? Won't the mayor get mad at you?"

The beautiful woman turned to the elf, her eyes burning madly with love. "It doesn't matter, as long as he is safe."

Anna didn't have enough time to respond when they reached her house.

It was torn down limb by limb. It had once been the biggest house in Luin, with a huge oak tree and a garden, and it was now reduced to a pile of burning rubble and a smoking tree trunk. Desian soldiers searched through the debris, grunting heavily. Lucrietta pulled Tafete and Anna behind a small unharmed building, praying to remain unseen.

"Where are my parents?" Anna whispered.

"I don't know," Lucrietta whispered back. "But I'm sure they're fine."

Tafete pointed in the direction they had just come from. He said in a thickly accented voice that was foreign to Anna: "Look."

Anna turned to see her mother and father running towards her, their clothing torn and sticking to their bodies with sweat. They weren't injured, and they were oblivious to the Desians; who were too occupied with searching through the burning rubble. They ducked behind the building and held their daughter close, almost choking her.

"Are you alright?" Her mother asked, tears streaming down her face. "What happened? Were you chased? Did the Desians see you?"

Anna shook her head, her mother and father looked very worried, and her mother's voice had tensed at the last question, and Lucrietta's eyes dilated. "I'm fine," she said. "But the bad guys burnt down home... Where's Hildy?"

"Hilda is with some other family, hiding." Her father said. "But right now we need to be worrying about you. Kayla," he turned to her mother, "Take Anna away, you know where. Make sure the Desians don't find you and don't ever return to Luin, ever."

"But what about you, Daddy?" the girl asked, her eyes widening.

"I'm going to stay here and make sure Lucrietta doesn't get hurt. You and your mother need to get as far away from here as you can, do you understand me?" His voice strained, and he took a slight pause. "But one day, I'll find you, we'll be together again; just wait." His voice was quivering, as he was holding back tears.

Anna turned to her parents, who had just ended a particularly long kiss. "I love you, Matthias," her mother wheezed.

"I love you Kayla." her father said then he turned to Anna and kissed her cheek. Don't ever leave your mother alone, ever."

Anna turned to Lucrietta. Tears were welling in her usually glowing eyes, she pulled Anna into a hug. "I'm going to miss you, Anna," she managed to choke. "Stay safe." Lucrietta wanted to say more, but the little girl wouldn't understand; it would be too much for her. She managed to kiss her forehead and whisper "I love you."

"Love you too," Anna said, not understanding the seriousness of this moment. That this could be the final time someone would hug her, hold her tight, and whisper the last three words to her.

She felt her mother take her hand and squeeze it. Her blue eyes watering and reddening, she closed her eyes trying to hold back the tears. "Come on, Anna, let's go."

Her mother pulled her away, the little girl looked back at the people she loved (and Tafete, who she didn't even know but someone she loved loved him), and waved, then she turned back around and never turned back. It was the last time they ever saw the little girl.

Lucrietta was still kneeling on the ground, tears streaming down her face. She knew she wouldn't make it out alive. The Desians were powerful, and they would kill her. She took off her glasses and wiped them on her skirt, then placed them back on, hoping to get a better view of the last time she saw Anna Irving. She mouthed the words, "I'll see you again, one day." Knowing the words were not true; though praying to Martel they were.

Her hands fell onto the ground, her knees not containing enough strength to hold her up. She cried, trying to keep it as silent as possible, but it wasn't worth it. Desians had already come; they pointed their arrows at Anna's father, Tafete and herself. The lead Desian raised his hand, and shouted a single word.

"Fire."

Kratos watched from his perch in a tree as the City of Hope, Luin, was burned to the ground. The surviving townspeople probably won't be so hopeful afterwards, if there are survivors. He sighed; did those soldiers seriously think that the little girl would just climb right into their open arms? It seemed like they were just burning down everything, hoping she would come out and hold their hand. Her parents would obviously try fleeing from the city for fear that they would take them back to the ranch, if they were alive. But the Desians weren't like that, what's the point of chasing after two old ones when you could get a hundred new? He knew they weren't going to actually think of that idea, which was why he stayed behind. Someone had to think statistically.

This was when he heard it.

A voice, oddly high-pitched and loud; belongs to a little girl. "Mommy, I'm tired. Do we have to keep going so fast?"

Another voice came, a woman's. She was speaking softly. "We have to keep going. And don't talk, we don't want to be heard, Anna."

Anna.

Kratos smirked, then drew his wings and jumped off the branch. He soared above the treetops and spotted them. They were traveling through a small meadow, the woman a fair distance ahead, almost running. With the girl walking slowly, her head low. The woman turned back and ran towards Anna, grabbing her hand and pulling her forward, and then she began running. The little girl could hardly keep up, but she couldn't' stop, she was being dragged.

Soon, they would reach the place where Rebecca and her family rested. The bloody scene would definitely get them started.

Kratos could easily kill the mother and take the girl to the ranch right now if he wanted to. But he would wait until they got farther away from town to make his move. Then it would take longer for the body to be found, and robbers or thieves could kill them far from town; the perfect cover. No one would expect their beloved Cruxis was making an extremely powerful exsphere out of this little girl.

A shrill scream cut through the air. They had obviously reached Rebecca. He flapped his wings and flew off in their direction.

From above the trees, he could see the little girl, Anna, close to Rebecca's disembodied head. Her mother was standing by the man, awe-struck. Then she ran towards her daughter and grabbed her by the wrist. "We can't stay!" She screamed as she pulled her daughter away, beginning to run in the direction they had planned. "This could happen to us! We must leave!"

Anna didn't seem to hear her mother. But she ran with her, in a daze. They raced through a small area of trees and countless other vegetation. Then, when they reached another field, the woman tripped over a rock and she fell with a crack. Her leg was twisted in a disgusting fashion, and she screamed in pain. The little girl was ahead, still running when she heard her mother scream.

Kratos descended into the surrounding forest, he quickly focused his mana, mumbled a few words, then cast Grave on the woman.

The rocks protruding from the ground knocked her head, arms, and legs. Then, the final rock, the pointed one, emerged from the ground and drove through her stomach. Blood poured from the wound, and when the rock vanished back into the ground, her body fell to the ground with a repugnant noise.

Anna's head turned to her mother and she ran to her on short legs. She kneeled onto the ground at her side, her back towards Kratos. He stepped out of his cover of the trees, and walked towards them. He was directly behind Anna, his sword drawn, its hilt toward the back of the girl's head, so he could knock her out quickly with little noise. But her mother slowly moved her head to Kratos. Blood poured out of her nose, ears and head, and her eyes were bloodshot, but they were covered in anger.

"May Martel curse you," she said with all her strength. "May she look upon you in shame, may she curse you and kill you. May you be cursed, you angel of death. May the goddess curse you, you angel of death."

Then, her eyes lolled back and the raspy fall of her chest ceased. She had revealed his mistake.

He still had his wings exposed.

He quickly hit the girl's head and she fell on top of her mother's body.

And that was the end of it.

Mithos clapped when I entered the room, a giddy smile plastered on his face. "Well done, well done," he said. "If I hadn't picked you to do this that girl would be as far away from Luin as possible. Maybe in Palmacosta, catching a boat to Izoold, believed to have been killed along with the rest of that pitiful city."

I shook the compliments off. "I believe her parents knew she was wanted by the Desians, possibly others, what happened to them?"

His face turned grim. "Yes, somehow they must have suspected it, but my spies in Luin have informed me that they were all killed. Including the old woman and that beautiful young girl, two people she had close contact to. A shame, really." He replied. "All of my spies ran off to some other cities, along with most of Luin, they don't want to live in that damn place. But, someone who I think would be interested in being recruited has decided to stay, so he can keep an eye on things there."

"If you don't mind me asking, Mithos," I said. "What is going to happen to Anna?"

"Well, they're going to just keep monitoring her for several years, completing the tests and preparing her for the exsphere, then I don't even know. They're going to stick it on her without a Key Crest and see what happens." Mithos turned to me and narrowed his eyes. "You don't mean that, do you? If you must know, the Angelus Project's goal is to create an extremely powerful Exsphere that can turn a human being, or elf or what-ever, into an angel. Like you and me."

"Will she end up the same way as a normal person at the ranch would?"

"Yes, of course she will, after all, this is the most extremely powerful exsphere to ever exist. It will kill her eventually, but we will have another angel to help to us bring back my sister. And as your reward for going down there and retrieving her, you can choose who it will be."

I didn't exactly understand how this would be a reward. Like Mithos and Yuan, I knew no one down at Sylvarant and Tethe'alla, but Mithos probably wanted me to pick one of the Desian Grand Cardinals, no, Pronyma.

Mithos's voice cut through my thoughts. "Please leave now Kratos, I need time to think."

I nodded and made my way to the door, on my way out, I saw Yuan staring at me, shaking his head.

I can't remember what happened. I just woke up in a cell; they had taken my clothes and replaced them with a torn dress way too big for me. Probably two feet taller than how I was then, and the chest area was huge. They gave me one meal a day, usually molding chicken or a bowl of what they called soup, which was water and rotting vegetables. They kept my cell away from everyone else, so I was always alone. Two guards were posted always at each of its sides, they never spoke, and they only fed me and let me go into a small room every couple of hours to relieve myself.

Everyday a short half-elf with white hair and wearing a dark blue outfit would come to my cell. Soon I found out his name was Kvar, and I was at the Asgard Human Ranch, and Kvar was its leader. He would unlock the cell and two guards would drag me out and place me in this cold room. Two half-elves dressed in white would draw blood, take swabs of my spit, take my temperature, give me shots and all these countless other things. But other times he would take me to this small room overlooking a huge place with conveyer belts, people would go in this small room at the top, and they wouldn't come back out.

Kvar explained how exspheres were made, and what he did here at the ranch, but he would never tell me why I was here. Sometimes when he stopped by he would give me other meals, and I was always healthier than the other people here. They would be pale and skinny, while I was completely rested, and my stomach full. Whenever I coughed or sneezed the guards would immediately sound a horn and two Desians would come rolling into my cell and taking me into the cold room where the half-elves in white would give me dose after dose of this gooey formula. Whenever I was hungry food was brought to me, it was like I was being waited on, but my servers weren't showing me any hospitality.

I don't know how much time had passed. But I grew, and my dress was only six inches bigger than I was, and it fit me much better. One day, while I was at the cold room, one of the half-elves nodded at the other one, who nodded back and exited the room. He came back with Kvar, who was snickering. The white-clad hybrids filled up a needle with this strange yellow liquid that they had never used before, they grabbed my arm and stabbed it into me. I screamed, it was more painful than anything they had ever given me before. It made me feel hollow, and the eerie feeling spread through my body, until i couldn't move. The 'doctors' grabbed a stretcher, placed me on it, then zoomed me out of the room. I couldn't think, my head was buzzing, I wanted to scream, let it all be over with.

They sped me through countless hallways, until they came to a huge door, they stopped; Kvar walked calmly to the door, and punched some numbers onto the number pad. The door opened, and instead of running again, they walked calmly through. They lifted me out of the stretcher and onto this coffin like thing. It was a coffin straight up, but instead of a door, it had orange belts. They strapped me down until I could hardly breathe. I got a good look at the room.

There were huge tubes filed with blue liquid that bubbled constantly. They were filled with Exspheres, piled high, Anna was repulsed. How many lives did it take to make all those Exspheres? There was another tube, in the center of all the other ones. It was filled with a green liquid, instead of blue, and it didn't house hundreds of Exspheres, but instead there was only one.

Kvar walked to the other side of the room, and stopped in front of a large, bulky machine. He fiddled with the controls, then the green tube emptied out with a flushing noise, he pressed other buttons, then a small door opened on the tube. He stepped towards it, reached in and pulled out the Exsphere. He laughed like a maniac. He started walking towards me, holding out the Exsphere towards me. I could feel its pull, it was calling me.

Come to me Anna. Come to me.

I wanted to fight, but I couldn't move. I wanted to scream, but I couldn't. I wanted to run away. Run back into the past. But I couldn't; I was stuck here, whether I liked it or not.

Now, Kvar was right in front of me. I felt tears escape my eyes, and he finnaly told me why I was here.

"Like everyone else here, you will be a host for your exsphere, and eventurally I will remove it and it will kill you. Then, your exsphere will be used to make a human into a super being, and that human will destroy Sylvarant."

Then, he pressed the exsphere onto my chest.

I wanted to scream. It felt like my skin was tearing away, like it was eating itself. It felt like it was trying to conquer me, to control my body and my mind, make me bow down to its every will.

Suddenly, so many thoughts came to me. Thoughts of my old home in Luin, my friends, my parents, Lucrietta, Hilda, everything that I once knew. I used to never be able to remember it, ever. The vivid memories of my last day there, the blood, the horror. I remembered my mother's last words:

May Martel curse you, you angel of death.

Then, just as quickly as the memories had entered my mind, they vanished, and I felt hollow again.

Years went by, but still I couldn't remember all that I could on that dreadful day. My Exsphere was still on me, and black spidery lines had emerged from it, making all of my surrounding skin pale. I had forgotten the names of my parents, and of the pretty red-haired woman who would care for me. I would dig deep into my mind to find them, but they wouldn't come, I knew I remembered them, but they had disappeared.

I also began noticing everything that happened with my Exsphere.

For one thing, sometimes, when I focused hard enough, I could remember some things from my childhood, usually only something that was said, or a picture, but then it would fade, and I wouldn't be able to remember what I had just seen.

I remembered how Exspheres would give you strength, so did mine, but just at the peak of its strength it would fade, and I could hardly move, speak, or breathe sometimes. I would use my energy so quick, I would sometimes just fall to the ground, after only walking around my cage for a while. Things were so hard, I was weak, I couldn't think straight. I knew my Exsphere was taking all my energy away and absorbed it for itself. I had become a host for a very dangerous thing.

I suddenly became Kvar's least favorite prisoner, some days I wouldn't get any food at all. The guards would spit at my cage as they walked by, and it was often a punishment to be one of my guards.

I had slowly gotten used to my random black-outs and my small blotches of amnesia. I wanted to get out of here so bad, get someone to remove my Exsphere without killing me, and get as far away from here as I could.

It wasn't until I was twenty years old when I had my attempt at escape.

IC: I am so sorry it took me forever to get this story up. My computer went totally poopy and deleted this whole entire chapter so I had to go back and fix it all up. I am going to do the first person PoV thing every chapter, just to tell ya. I''m only going to do Yuan, Kratos and Anna for PoVs. I know Kratos's was really short and crappy, but it got my message across. I did enjoy Anna's, though. Also, I hate the name of this story, so if anyone has any better ones I could use that would be great. I know I put in a little hint for one of the characters for Tales of Symphonia 2, I was thinking about putting him in the story so I asked my friend Piggachew if she liked it, and she did so there both of them are, fresh out of my head for you. Note to Piggy: You'll see him in the later chappies, I promise. I won't be able to update until September so, be nice to me! R&R!