Dirge of Symphonia

Written by Rena Chan
9127 words


Chapter 3 - The Elf Outcast

Luin was known as the City of Hope. The city itself had been destroyed a few times in the past, but the people always managed to rebuild it and made it better than ever. The last time it was destroyed was during the time of the final Journey of World Regeneration which the Chosen Colette Brunel had taken. Kvar, the Desian Grand Cardinal of the Asgard Human Ranch, the Human Ranch that was closest to Luin, had attacked the city because it was said to be harboring a few escaped ranch captives. However, the Chosen and her Guardians had stormed the ranch and freed the captives with the help of one of the escapees, destroyed the Asgard Human Ranch and killed Kvar. It was also this very same escapee that had helped gather funds to rebuild the destroyed City of Luin.

It was currently evening time in Luin. The sun was about to set, signifying the end of the day. People were scuttling around as they rushed home back to their families for dinner after another day of hard work. The smell of cooking floated out from the houses as dinner were still being prepared. A few kids were seen, saying their goodbyes before rushing back to where they lived for dinner.

"So, tell me why did we have to walk to Luin as soon as we reached Sylvarant? We could have just flew all the way on the Rheairds."

"If we had flew all the way, I might miss the aura of a summon spirit," Kratos replied, sighing. "We're going to be walking as much as possible and using the Rheairds only when absolutely necessary, mainly to cross the sea and also to conserve power. Add to the fact that you had forgotten to eat anything and we had to stay at the Holy Ground of Kharlan to take lunch, so I decided to skip the part of just going to stop by Luin to stock up on supplies, have lunch, then go to Lake Umacy, and changed it to taking a leisurely walk to Luin, stock up on supplies, have dinner, stay the night, then go to Lake Umacy the next day."

"What if Undine decides to move?" Yuan argued.

"Undine is not going to move, at least not that soon," Kratos replied, slightly annoyed.

"All right, fine," Yuan grumbled as he swept his hair out of his face. "Where to first?"

"Supplies first since the shops are closing soon, then we get a room at an inn."

With that said, both seraphim hurried towards the southern part of Luin where the grocery and tool shops were. On the way, they passed by a few people that were rushing back home, the statue of Sheena Fujibayashi which Yuan had stopped briefly to marvel at its resemblance to the real person, and the statue of Raine Sage which Yuan had noticed in the distance.

Once inside, both of them quickly set to take whatever they needed to buy. The stuff they took ranged from various gels, standard items and medicine, commonly found herbs, to raw food for cooking while on the road. Just as they finished paying for their purchases and were packing the things into their packs, someone barged in hurriedly and rushed to the counter, as if in a panic.

"Is the doctor in?"

"Unfortunately, he's gone somewhere and won't be back until a few days later," the shopkeeper replied. "Did something happen?"

"Someone found a heavily injured elf at Lake Umacy and brought him back here. He's in need of immediate medical attention!"

"Well, the doctor's out so I really can't do anything much about it. The best thing I can manage is to treat the injuries as best as I can and hope that he holds out until the doctor gets back and heals him..."

"I highly doubt he's going to survive that long..." The man that rushed in replied, sounding a bit depressed. "I've looked at his injuries, and they're pretty bad."

"What's an elf doing at Lake Umacy? They never wander too far off from Heimdall," Yuan whispered as he looked over at Kratos while they packed the last of their purchases away.

"Well, let's find out, shall we?" Kratos whispered back. He then promptly called out to the man. "Excuse me, sir."

"What do you want?" The man replied as both he and the shopkeeper turned to look over at Kratos.

"Would you mind taking us to where this injured elf is?" Kratos asked.

"Can you help him?" The man replied, scrutinizing Kratos as if he was someone suspicious.

"I'm a healer, I'm sure I can help him," Kratos replied calmly, unfazed by the look that was aimed at him.

"I certainly hope you can help him. His injuries are really bad," The man muttered solemnly as he took his eyes away from Kratos. "Follow me."

Kratos and Yuan both grabbed their packs as they quickly followed the man. They retraced their steps to the inn located at the northern part of Luin. By this time, the sun had almost set and there were a lot less people on the streets.

Once inside the inn, the bar was the first thing the two seraphim noticed. Travellers that were passing by the town, some of them also staying at the inn overnight, were seen at the bar on the first floor taking their food. Those that sat at the same table were seen chatting with each other about things that concerned them.

The inn had another four floors on top of the first floor, with about ten rooms on each floor. They were currently on the second floor and the man quickly lead them to one of the rooms there.

"He's in here," the man said as he proceeded to open the door. "Judging by your looks, I'm guessing you two are travellers. You can have this room for the night since there are enough beds."

"You're the innkeeper?" Kratos asked as he realised the meaning of what the man just said.

"Yes," the innkeeper nodded in reply. "It was a traveller that brought the elf here."

"We can pay for the room," Yuan said as he crossed his arms. "It's fine with us."

The innkeeper shook his head. "It's okay. As long as you can save that elf, it's enough."

"We'll accept your kind offer," Kratos replied as he gave Yuan a look that told the half-elf to shut up, stopping him from saying anything else unnecessarily.

The innkeeper nodded once more. "If you need anything, please come down and look for me." Then he handed the key to the room over to Kratos. "Here's the key to the room."

"Thank you," Kratos replied as he accepted it. Without saying another word, the innkeeper left them alone.

Kratos quickly turned to enter the room with Yuan close behind. Once inside, Yuan closed the door behind them. Just as the innkeeper had mentioned, the room had four beds, with two beds on each side of the wall, the ends of the beds facing each other with a set of drawers in-between the two beds that laid side by side with a lamp sitting on top. The windows themselves were situated at one of the sides where two of the beds were located, though not directly looking over the heads of both the beds. Two cupboards were placed at the two corners of the room furthest away from the door. At the area that was nearest to the door laid a square table with four chairs sitting by it. The shower room itself was located a bit further away from where the table was.

"Wow, not bad," Yuan commented after looking around the room. "I guess being the only inn in town means they can afford to have pretty decent amenities for the rooms without having to charge too much either. I'm kind of impressed with the recently rebuilt Luin."

"Not to mention Luin has gotten itself a really good mayor too," Kratos added as he started walking over to the bed where the elf laid after noticing where he was. Yuan saw where Kratos was headed and followed suit.

Once there, Kratos removed the blanket that was used to cover the injured blue-haired elf. Reaching over, Kratos undid the zip of the vest which the elf wore all the way. Once that was done, he noticed that the elf's body was filled with cuts, gashes and bruises all over. There were also visible wounds that were caused by magic. Moving over to the arms, Kratos tugged on the brown-colored glove which the elf wore, noticing that the glove reached halfway up his arm and was specially designed for archers, completely removing it. After removing the glove, Kratos saw that the elf wore an Exsphere on his wrist, with the Key Crest made in the shape of a bangle. Yuan, who was at the other side of the bed, removed the glove that was on the other arm. Similar wounds that were on the elf's body were also present on his arms.

"Is he okay?" Yuan asked as he took the glove that Kratos had handed over to him.

"The innkeeper wasn't joking about him being seriously injured," Kratos replied as he reached over to touch the elf's forehead, then moved his hand over to feel the elf's chest. "He's unconscious, and running a really high fever due to the pain. I'll need to do this fast," Kratos added as he stood back upright. "Yuan, I need cold water and a piece of cloth for the fever. I'm going to start healing him."

"Okay," Yuan replied as he put the gloves he was holding beside the lamp and quickly turned away.

Kratos took a deep breath just as Yuan set about doing what he was asked. Stretching both his arms out with his hands hovering above the elf, Kratos concentrated on casting his healing spell by calling upon both healing and earth mana at the same time and combining them both together.

"Healing Stream..."

OoOoOoO

"Looks like he's going to be fine," Yuan commented as he sat down on the bed with a towel draped over his wet hair. The half-elf had just taken a shower and was wearing a plain blue-colored shirt and long black pants. Then he proceeded to start drying his untied, near waist-long blue-colored hair.

"He's not completely healed yet," Kratos replied as he set about finishing up the bandages which he were tying around the elf's body and arms. "I couldn't risk pouring anymore healing mana onto his body, so the rest of the wounds will just have to heal themselves. Shouldn't take very long since he has an Exsphere and doesn't over-exert himself during this time."

"Why does he have an Exsphere anyway?" Yuan mused as he continued to run the towel through his hair. "Elves don't use Exspheres."

"Your guess is as good as mine," Kratos replied as he walked over to the bed which he's going to be using for the night, which also happens to be beside the bed Yuan's going to be using. "Although I'm actually more curious about the reason why he was suffering from those injuries in the first place."

"Hm? What do you mean?"

"All those injuries on his body, they were all caused by water-elemental attacks and magic," Kratos continued as he removed his red-colored scarf that was wrapped around his neck and took off his blue-colored trench coat. After dumping them on the bed, the summoner proceeded to start removing his gloves.

"They were all water-elemental injuries?" Yuan exclaimed as he briefly stopped what he was doing. "How come?"

"Think about it," Kratos replied just as he sat on the bed and started rummaging through his pack. "He was found at Lake Umacy. That place has no monsters roaming near it. Sekundes told us that Undine is at Lake Umacy."

"Wait..." Yuan muttered as his mind registered what Kratos had just said. "You mean he was fighting Undine?"

"It's the only possible reason," Kratos replied just as he pulled out his towel and a spare change of casual wear. "As for why, I have no idea. However, he's definitely not there to form a pact with Undine."

"How do you know?" Yuan asked as he started brushing his hair.

"Remember, I told you before, summon spirits do not form pacts with pure-blooded elves. Only those with summoner blood in them possess the right of the pact."

"But that still doesn't explain the reason why the elf was fighting Undine."

"If I had to guess, that elf was probably trying to ask Undine for help with something. What, I don't know. But that somehow ended up in a fight, a fight to test his strength."

"Why?" Yuan asked, surprised. He had never heard of such a thing before. "He's just asking Undine for help, not to form a pact with her. It's only temporary, why test him?"

"It's actually completely up to the summon spirit to decide what to do with such requests," Kratos replied, turning to glance at the elf at the bed across his to make sure that he was fine, and it looked like he was sleeping peacefully. "It's the same with their summoner trials. They're the ones that decide what to do to test the pact-maker."

"Huh..."

"Well, I'm going to take a shower," Kratos announced as he stood up, carrying the necessary things in his arms.

"I'll go down and get us some food then," Yuan nodded just as he put away his brush.

Kratos nodded in response. "Hopefully the elf wakes up soon and then perhaps we can get some answers."

OoOoOoO

"Tch, aren't you forever the useless one. You can't even defeat Undine and return to help us."

"Isn't that Exsphere supposed to make you stronger? Seems a bit pointless since it doesn't seem to help you. Wearing it only serves to mock us elves."

"The only reason you're still allowed to live in Heimdall is because the Elf Elder allowed it. Anyone else would have kicked you out a long time ago. After all, you're useless and an outcast. We don't need someone like you here."

Keele slowly opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was the brown-colored ceiling above him. Of course, the last thing he remembered was that he was battling Undine at Lake Umacy and losing to the summon spirit. Remembering that fact made the elf realise that he was somehow still alive and no longer at Lake Umacy. Wondering where he was, Keele tried to sit up. Almost immediately, pain shot through his entire body, making him yelp in pain and lying back down on the bed. It was then the elf realised that he was wrapped up with bandages.

"You shouldn't move so suddenly. It will only cause unnecessary pain and stress on your body."

Keele tried to sit up again, but did it slowly this time, and the pain was less intense. Just before he managed to sit up completely, the person that had spoken just now had walked over and was now beside him. Reaching behind Keele, he moved the pillow higher and motioned for the elf to lean back against it.

"Given your current condition, it will be better for you to lie back."

Keele did as he was told and leaned against the pillow. Turning his head to look over at the person beside him properly for the first time, the first thing Keele noticed was that he was a human. He had auburn-colored hair and was wearing a plain white-colored shirt and black pants.

"Where am I? What happened?"

"You're currently at an inn in Luin. Someone found you at Lake Umacy and brought you here. The doctor of this town wasn't in, but my friend and I happened to be around so we fixed you up."

"I see... Thank you for saving me," Keele replied, turning to stare at the blanket that was covering part of his body and legs. "Although it might have been better if no one found me. After all, to the elves of Heimdall, I'm useless and unable to do anything for them."

"Don't say that. Even the smallest thing has its use. I'm sure there is something that makes you unique."

"I don't know about that," Keele muttered. "I'm nothing but a dead weight to the elves. They don't even like me in the first place."

Kratos sighed. He wasn't sure what made the elf in-front of him think that way, but Kratos knew whatever he said to him now would be pointless. Kratos's words definitely wasn't going to change the elf's mind anytime soon. But one thing was certain, this elf wasn't very well-liked by the residents of Heimdall, even though he's a pure-blood elf.

Deciding to change the subject, Kratos introduced himself. "I'm Kratos, and my friend, who happens to be pretending to be sleeping with a book on his face over there, is Yuan. What's your name?"

Keele turned to look over at the bed that was diagonally across his. Becoming more aware of another person in the room, Keele realised that Kratos's friend was a half-elf. The elf was surprised by this, but said nothing about it as he turned to face Kratos and answered his question. "My name is Keele Silverlance."

"So, Keele, care to tell me why you were at Lake Umacy seeking Undine's help?"

Keele was completely taken aback by Kratos's question. "How did you know about that?"

"Yuan and I are on the trail of the summon spirits, and we know that Undine's current location is at Lake Umacy. When I treated your injuries, I noticed that they were all caused by water-elemental attacks and magic. It's not hard to deduce that from there."

Keele simply stared in surprise at Kratos as he slowly realised that the actual healer was not the half-elf that was also in the room with them but the human before him. Only a skilled and knowledgeable healer would be able to tell what kind of injuries someone was suffering from. Not only that, it wasn't everyday someone encountered a human that was infused with the power of Aionis. As much as Keele wasn't expecting to be alive after losing to Undine, he certainly wasn't expecting to be saved by a human that could use magic and a healer to boot.

"Don't be so surprised. Nothing gets past Kratos easily."

Keele turned to look at the direction of the voice. Yuan had come over and Keele finally got a good look at him. He was wearing a plain blue-colored shirt and long black pants. He had long blue-colored hair with the shorter lock of his fringe falling along the right side of his face and the rest of his hair at his back.

"Oh wait. Or was it you were surprised by the fact that one of Symphonia's best healers is a human?"

"Um..."

"Oh wait. I think it's supposed to be the best healer in Symphonia."

"Yuan!" Kratos grumbled in annoyance as he took the piece of cloth that was beside the lamp and threw it in the half-elf's direction, which Yuan caught easily. "We were having a conversation. Don't say things that have absolutely no relevance to the topic at hand!"

"I'm just stating a fact."

"But it has nothing to do with why Keele was at Lake Umacy seeking Undine!"

"Right. But it's still a fact."

"You really love to point that out, don't you?"

"Cause the whole world needs to know that you're the best healer and not just one of those run-of-the-mill ones that claim that they are a good healer just because they can use healing spells."

In the end, Kratos gave up and blasted Yuan with Wind Blade.

"Hey!"

"It would help if you just kept your mouth shut."

Thus, it ended up with the both of them glaring at each other, seemingly unwilling to back down. Of course, that was until they heard the soft sound of giggling coming from the bed beside them.

"What?" Both Kratos and Yuan turned to look at the giggling elf.

"You two sound like two kids quarrelling over a cookie..."

"What? There's no cookie here!" Yuan exclaimed, clearly shocked.

"It's just a metaphor, you stupid half-elf," Kratos grumbled, crossing his arms.

"What? I am not...!"

"Then how would you not know a metaphor when you come across one?"

"Gah! I don't even like cookies!"

Somehow, the conversation had went downhill from there. Keele could only stare in wonder at what was happening, completely lost.

"Don't worry, it happens all the time."

Keele turned over in surprise at where the third voice came from. However, he had turned over too fast and that earned him a brief sharp pain from his wounds. Wincing, the elf saw what was beside him. Or rather, what was perched on the head of the bed's frame. An orange-yellow-colored two-headed bird the size of a falcon.

"A talking two-headed bird?" Keele exclaimed in surprise.

"I'm not a bird. I'm a summon spirit," the "bird" chirped in reply, raising one of his wings.

"Uh, excuse me for my rudeness, but what's a summon spirit doing here?"

"In case you didn't hear what Kratos had said earlier, since you were probably surprised at him being a healer, he mentioned that they're on the trail of the summon spirits. Kratos is my pact-maker, so naturally I'm always by his side."

"Oh," Keele barely got that word out when he realised what the bird had just said. "Wait, Kratos is a summoner?"

"Ever since the day he was born."

"Ah... I guess that's a stupid question..." Keele replied, rubbing the back of his head. "Which Lesser Summon Spirit are you then?"

"I'm not a Lesser Summon Spirit," the two-headed bird replied, feeling slightly offended. "I'm an Elemental Summon Spirit, the Summon Spirit of Light, Aska."

"Oh! I'm sorry! I didn't know!" Keele apologised profusely. "It's just you look like one..."

"I can't possibly use my actual form when we're in a building," Aska grumbled. "But I guess it's to be expected."

"Aska, what are you doing?" Kratos asked as he turned around, sensing Aska's presence in the room.

"Entertaining this elf here while the two of you sort out your staring contest," Aska replied sarcastically. "I think he's ready to tell you two why he was at Lake Umacy."

Before saying another word, Kratos turned back and gave Yuan a glare that practically told the half-elf to shut up or you're going to get it, which caused Yuan to cringe in defeat, before turning back to Keele.

"So, care to tell us why you were at Lake Umacy seeking Undine's help?"

OoOoOoO

"So, the reason that Keele is seeking Undine's help is because Heimdall is plagued by some sort of disease, huh."

After telling both Kratos and Yuan the reason he was seeking Undine's aid, Keele had quickly fallen back to sleep. The room was mostly silent, except for the soft footsteps of Yuan's slow pacing. The half-elf was moving around slowly, as if thinking. However, as soon as he realised that he was being ignored, Yuan turned to see what Kratos was doing, and saw that his best friend was rummaging through his stuff, and had a couple of books lying on the bed.

"What are you looking for?"

"I had a feeling of d?vu," Kratos replied without lifting his head to look at Yuan. "I'm making sure."

"You mean you came across a similar disease before with the exact same symptoms?"

"It is not I, but rather, we came across it before," Kratos corrected. Finally finding what he was looking for, the healer pulled a book out and started flipping through it really quickly. Kratos stopped as soon as he found the page he was looking for.

Yuan walked over when he realised what the book Kratos was looking at was. Stopping beside where Kratos was at, Yuan wondered what was the verdict.

"Just as I thought..." Kratos muttered. "I'll still need to physically examine one of the elves to be sure that it's exactly the same thing..."

"Well? Care to tell me what it is?" Yuan asked, feeling a bit ignored. He crossed his arms as he waited for Kratos to answer.

Kratos closed the book he was holding and turned to look over at Yuan. "Remember the time when we needed to go to Heimdall for permission to enter the Torent Forest to look for Origin?"

Yuan paused and placed his right hand on his chin as if in thought. "I remember that we seemed to have gone there only to find that the elves of Heimdall were sick. Don't tell me you think that it's the same thing?"

Kratos sighed as he turned away. "I'm hoping that it's something else, but I highly doubt it. But if it is, then it's beyond my power to heal it..."

Yuan said nothing. He knew exactly what the cure was. The disease that Kratos mentioned was cured by Martel at that time by combining Undine's power and her healing magic, which was boosted by the power of the Unicorn's Horn in order to cure it.

Yuan realised that Kratos had gone completely silent after his last statement. Turning over to look, he noticed that Kratos was gripping his book tightly, a sign that he was slightly aggravated and frustrated, and Yuan knew why. Being a healer, Kratos got frustrated easily if was unable to help those that were right in-front of him. That was the reason why the seraph hated it when he had to go inspect the Desian Human Ranches during Mithos's rule. People in-front of him were suffering and yet he was powerless to stop it. While Kratos never showed it, Yuan knew him well enough that the half-elf could tell what his best friend was really feeling.

Kratos had the true heart of a healer, just like Martel. Sighing, Yuan walked back to where his bed was. "We should rest. We'll deal with it as it comes, just like what we've always done, right?"

Kratos did not reply, but Yuan knew that the summoner agreed.

OoOoOoO

"Yuan! Wake up!"

Yuan silently grumbled in his sleep and turned over, covering himself over his head with the blanket. "Just a while more..."

"We don't have a while more!" Kratos growled and silently cursed to himself. He always hated waking Yuan up in the morning. The half-elf was fond of sleeping in. Most of the time he would just leave him alone, but not today. The swordsman could not afford to let his best friend sleep in today.

"Oh come on..."

"Wake up this instant, Yuan Ka-Fai! Or do you want Keele to really die this time?" Kratos snapped this time. He was getting impatient.

Yuan threw the blanket off and sat up immediately. "What?"

"So you finally decided to wake up?" Kratos said in a sarcastic tone. "Now that I have your attention, I'm sure that you can tell that someone is missing."

"Maybe he just went downstairs for food?" Yuan grumbled, still sore at having his sleep disturbed.

"I've already checked. The innkeeper said he left about an hour ago. I can't even sense a single trace of his aura," Kratos replied as he quickly packed his stuff away. "Wash up quickly and get ready to leave, now."

"Fine..." Yuan muttered as he got up from bed.

OoOoOoO

It wasn't until about ten minutes later Yuan was ready to leave. It wasn't the first time he had washed up, got dressed and packed his stuff away this quickly. It happened often during his Kharlan War days. After all, he was a soldier fighting for the Sylvarant Army. Even after he had reunited with Kratos and started travelling around with him and a couple of other people, he had to be ready to get up and leave quickly when the situation demanded it. Such was the time of war.

Grabbing his things, Yuan quickly went downstairs and made a stop at the counter of the inn to return the key to the room. After thanking the innkeeper again for letting them have the room for free, Yuan quickly stepped outside. Turning to the sky, the half-elf realised that the sun had barely rose. The streets of Luin were still quite empty and there wasn't much happening right now, save for the few people that ran grocery stores and the ones that did their grocery shopping early in the morning.

After strolling about town for a bit, Yuan found Kratos by the fountain at the western part of Luin where a statue of Lloyd stood. For a moment, Yuan had wondered the reason Kratos was there because of Lloyd's statue, but then remembered the current situation. For as long as he had known his best friend, Yuan knew Kratos always focused on the task at hand, not letting anything that wasn't important distract him. That was also the reason Yuan didn't argue back just now when Kratos dropped his serious tone. The half-elf knew better than anyone else the consequences of retorting when Kratos was dead serious. Either you obeyed, or you would face his wrath.

As he got closer, Yuan realised that the summoner seemed to be concentrating on something. Kratos didn't even turn around when the half-elf approached him. The summoner simply remained as he was with his chin resting on the crossed fingers of his hand, with his elbows resting on his lap. Kratos probably sensed Yuan approaching anyway, and there wasn't any need to break from what he was doing. After all, Kratos was expecting him.

It felt like forever before Kratos finally stirred. Getting out of the position he was in, the summoner stood up. "Lake Umacy. Keele went back to Lake Umacy."

"Wait, what?" Yuan sputtered in surprise. "Alone? To fight Undine again? In his state? Is he crazy?"

"It's not as if I didn't expect it," Kratos replied without moving. "He desperately wants to save the elves, despite the fact that they may not appreciate it. He's desperately trying to prove that he can do something, trying to seek their approval. Either he was going to succeed, or die trying."

"That's foolhardy! What's he trying to prove? This is merely suicide!"

"To him, it isn't. I'm only beginning to piece together as to the reason why from the way he acted last night, but one thing's for sure. He has never experienced a real friendship before. When he laughed, it felt distant, as if he hadn't done it in a long time. There was also a tinge of jealousy in that laugh."

Yuan paused for a minute and pondered about what Kratos had just said. While he wasn't able to read into people's thoughts and actions as well as Kratos did, not to mention that Kratos had an extremely high sensitivity to aura and could sense a person's feelings from their aura which gives the pure-blood summoner another advantage, but he certainly understood him whenever he said things like that. "That means he doesn't want anyone to help him. He'd rather succeed on his own or die trying. But still, that's..."

"I know. That's why I can't just leave him alone."

"Then shouldn't we hurry to Lake Umacy?"

"Yeah," Kratos nodded. "Time to fly."

OoOoOoO

Keele gasped as another blast of water magic hit him. The elf gritted his teeth as he tried to stand with the support of his bow. But his entire body was screaming in pain. It was a miracle that he had even lasted this long. Keele attributed it to a blast of adrenaline rush, but it was somehow gone now. Not like it would help him anyway. After all, he was nothing but a weakling that couldn't do anything.

"Well? You can still back down. Summon spirits do not kill anyone that challenge them. But if you would still rather die, then I would kindly oblige."

"What am I thinking? I couldn't defeat Undine by myself even when I'm at full strength. What chance do I have when I'm not fully recovered from yesterday? But still...I guess it's for the best. After all, I'm useless. No one needs me. No one would care if I died anyway..."

"I guess you would rather die instead. Don't say I didn't give you a chance." Undine raised her hand and prepared to cast another spell.

Sensing the mana flow, Keele tried to move, but his body wasn't obeying. The elf didn't know why, while he was prepared to die, a part of him was screaming at him to dodge, to stay alive, but his body just refused to oblige.

However, it was too late. Undine had already finished casting Tidal Wave and the spell was speeding dangerously towards him. But before it reached Keele, someone came in-between the elf and the powerful water magic. Keele couldn't tell who it was because the person had his back turned, but the elf noticed something blue glittering from the person's back. Keele barely managed to register what those were. Blue-colored mana wings.

"Aura Shield!"

The Tidal Wave spell came crashing, but Keele noticed that the area around him and the person in-front of him was safe from the spell. However, before the elf could piece together what was happening, another person landed in-front of him, half-kneeling on the ground. And this person was facing Keele.

"Yuan?" Keele gasped in surprise when he recognized who that person was. However, Keele noticed something different about Yuan. Violet-colored mana wings were seen glittering from his back. "Yuan, you're..."

Without saying a word, Yuan grabbed Keele and took off into the sky. Turning to look back at where they were at previously, the half-elf noticed that the shield the other person had put up was fading. "Kratos!"

Kratos gritted his teeth as he realised that he was unable to hold Aura Shield for much longer. "Damn it! Why can't I use Aura Shield at its full power? I don't understand..." However, before he thought about it further, the seraph knew he needed to do something before Tidal Wave blasted him. "Aska!"

In a flash of light, a white-colored glyph appeared in the sky. Aska materialized in his true form and fired a large ball of light at the Tidal Wave spell, causing it to scatter and dissipate. After the spell was gone, Kratos buckled to the ground as his mana wings disappeared. Aska landed beside his pact-maker and went on the defensive, in case Undine decided to continue attacking them.

"Kratos!" Yuan exclaimed as he landed beside the summoner, recalled his wings as he continued to hold onto Keele. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine..." Kratos muttered as he stood up. "I used Aura Shield longer than I should have..."

"Are you sure? Sereneus told you not to use your Crimson Aura power recklessly..."

"Don't worry about that," Kratos replied as he shrugged Yuan's words off. "How's Keele?"

"Still alive if that's what you mean," Yuan replied as he turned to look at the elf he's holding.

"Kratos... Yuan... You two are... Why..." Keele muttered in his half-conscious state. While he was conscious enough to be able to register what was happening, his body wasn't in a state to move at all. He was suffering from new injuries and a few of his old ones got worse.

"Why do you interfere?" Undine asked as she got impatient.

Ignoring the summon spirit for the moment, Kratos raised both his hands and started focusing healing mana onto Keele's body as he uttered a spell incantation. "Aqua Heal." The elf's more severe wounds started to heal up a little. After a few more seconds of being exposed to the healing spell, Kratos stopped it. "This will have to do. We need to deal with Undine first."

Yuan nodded as he sat the elf down on the ground and remained crouched beside him. Kratos turned to acknowledge Undine while Yuan remained with Keele.

"Why do you interfere?" Undine asked again. "He wishes to die, I was merely granting his wish."

"I'm a healer, I don't give up on people until the very end. If this elf wishes to die, it's his choice, but not before I've tried to help him first," Kratos replied firmly.

"Who are you to decide for him?" Undine challenged.

"Then let me ask you, Undine, who are you to decide that you should be the one to kill someone just because he wished it?" Kratos replied, seemingly unfazed by the question.

Undine looked a bit surprised at the answer. "Ha ha ha! You show no hesitation at all with your answer! Clearly my observations of you weren't adequate during the time when you travelled with Mithos while he was my pact-maker!"

Kratos frowned as he wasn't exactly amused with Undine's outburst. The summoner turned to look over at Aska with a face that clearly asked what just happened. The Summon Spirit of Light shrugged and returned a look that seemed to indicate that's just how Undine is.

"Very well," Undine continued as she got serious. "You who possess the right of the pact, I am one who is bound to Sheena. What do you wish of me?"

Kratos took a deep breath as he stepped forward moving in-front of Aska. The Summon Spirit of Light gestured to Yuan who was still beside Keele to hand the elf over to him. Yuan obeyed and stood up with Keele, with the half-elf supporting the latter. Grabbing Keele with one of his talons, Aska brought the elf to one side where he would be safe and watched over him.

"Undine, I am Kratos Aurion. I ask that you annul your pact with Sheena and form a new pact with me."

"Since Sheena has fulfilled her vow, the formation of a new pact is possible. But before I can do that, I must first test your worthiness as a pact-maker. Get ready!"

With the signal to start the battle, Kratos quickly unsheathed his sword and charged forward towards Undine. Once there, Kratos's sword met with Undine's water sword as she blocked Kratos's strike. They exchanged a few sword strikes thereafter, neither yielding as both summoner and summon spirit matched blow for blow. However, Kratos wasn't fighting alone. Just as Undine did a download swing, instead of blocking it, Kratos back-stepped away from it instead. Just then, a magic glyph appeared beneath the Summon Spirit of Water which signalled that she was the target of an incoming magic spell.

"Holy lightning, I call upon thee from the heavens to unleash thy fury of thunder! Indignation!"

That call revealed Yuan who was behind the casting of the powerful lightning spell. Kratos was merely diverting Undine's attention away from the half-elf who had started casting it right at the start of the battle. The spell struck, blasting Undine with a huge bolt of lightning.

However, that didn't seem to phase the Summon Spirit of Water much as she recovered. Even though she was weak against lightning, it was still going to take more than that to take her down and for Kratos to pass her test to get that pact.

Undine recovered just in time to block another incoming strike. However, this time it wasn't Kratos that swung at her. It was Yuan. Yuan quickly followed up with a second strike with the other end of his dual-bladed sword, surprising Undine enough to be able to strike the summon spirit. Without giving Undine a chance to recover, Yuan rushed her just as she staggered backwards. With his Swallow charged with lightning mana, Yuan brought it down towards Undine.

"Thunder Explosion!"

The barrage of lightning exploded all around Undine hurting her even further. The summon spirit tried to recover from the attacks once again, but she wasn't being given any room to breathe.

"Thunder Blade!"

This time, it was Kratos that fired off a magic spell. The blade made out of lightning came crashing from the sky onto Undine. The continuous attacks from the two seraphim ended up driving Undine into the water of Lake Umacy.

OoOoOoO

"Wow, that's pretty amazing," Keele commented. He had recovered enough by then and was spectating the battle along with Aska who was beside him. "One attacks at the frontline and the other used a magic spell. Then they switched roles just like that, forcing the opponent to deal with a different opponent at a moment's notice."

Aska turned one of his heads over to look at the elf. "That's how they fight. While the two of them have completely different fighting styles on their own, they know what the other is capable of and are able to adapt to the other. They are completely in sync with the other when fighting together. Trust is extremely important when fighting in a team. They trust each other, understand each other's fighting style and they cover each other."

"A bond of friendship and trust..." Keele trailed off as he stared at the sky as if thinking of something.

Aska did not turn away and decided to observe the elf. Keele looked like he was thinking of something that happened in the past. What, the summon spirit didn't know. After all, he wasn't Sekundes, the Summon Spirit of Time and Space. But one thing Aska was certain of from the way the elf had spoken the previous sentence. It wasn't something pleasant.

"So, what do you think of them?" Aska asked suddenly, seemingly in an attempt to distract Keele from his unpleasant memories.

"Huh?"

"Kratos Aurion and Yuan Ka-Fai. Two of the Heroes of the Kharlan War, former Seraphim of Cruxis. Now that you know who they really are, what do you think of them?"

Keele bit his lower lip. He knew why Aska was asking that. It was because he's an elf. For centuries since the Kharlan War, after Mithos had split the world into two with the power of the Eternal Sword, the elves had severed all ties to the outside world, not caring what happened to it. Speaking of the Heroes of the Kharlan War was taboo in Heimdall. If anyone spoke of it, they would be exiled. That was the reason why the only person that was allowed to speak of such things did not live in Heimdall. An elf dubbed the "storyteller". An elf that feels that the history of the world should at least be preserved, thus he left Heimdall to do just that, and someone younger that believed in the same thing would replace the previous "storyteller" before the former passed on.

"I don't know..." Keele finally replied after a while. "I've always hated the fact that I'm an elf. But one cannot choose their parents and I've come to accept that fact. But the fact that I'm nothing but an outcast in Heimdall doesn't help. I've always wanted to leave the village for a long time now. But I don't know anything about the world, nor how to survive. The only thing I can do is stay where I am. Right now, the elves are in danger, and yet I can't do anything..."

Aska waited patiently for Keele to finish what he had to say. Perhaps it was due to the fact that he's a summon spirit that Keele had even said all that. It seemed like Keele was someone that kept everything to himself. "Kratos and Yuan aren't bad people. Believe it or not, they are trying to help you. My advice is, don't push them away."

"Why?" Keele questioned. "It's none of their business. It's not as if the elves would appreciate it."

"Why, you ask?" Aska replied as he turned back to the scene of battle. "As Kratos would say, you don't need a reason to help someone."

OoOoOoO

"Is it over?" Yuan asked as he stood side by side with Kratos after they had forced her into the waters of Lake Umacy a second time.

"No, not yet," Kratos replied as he stood ready. "Can you feel the mana flow? It's getting stronger. Undine is about to get serious."

"You know I can't sense water mana very well," Yuan replied, grumbling. "Because I'm extremely attuned to my elemental affinity, remember?"

"Oh right, it slipped my mind."

"Slipped your mind? That's not funny."

Kratos frowned as he gripped his sword tightly. The summoner didn't even bother rebuking Yuan's words. While Yuan was extremely effective against Undine, the half-elf was also more vulnerable than he was to Undine's attacks, especially those that strike at long range and magic. Yuan needs to see the attacks coming to dodge since he can only sense the flow of water mana at short range. Unless he was fighting his opponent at close range, that usually spells problems for the half-elf.

Just then, Kratos sensed something coming at them at high speed. "Move!" Kratos yelled. Almost in an instant, both seraphim dashed off in opposite directions. Columns of water started raining on the both of them, targeting where they previously stood as they moved. "Don't stop moving!"

Kratos tried to edge towards where Undine was supposed to be. With all the water surrounding them, and the fact that he couldn't exactly concentrate on the aura of his surroundings with the need to be constantly on the move, Kratos was unable to sense Undine's exact position. He knew she was around the lake, but where exactly? The summoner simply couldn't strike without a clear target in sight. Just then, Kratos heard a barely audible gasp from a distance. If it weren't for his angelic hearing, the summoner might not have heard it. Ignoring what he's trying to do for the moment, Kratos summoned his mana wings in-order to increase his movement speed. He knew Yuan was in trouble and he had to get to him. The columns of water continued to crash around him as he moved, with him trying to get to Yuan's position as quickly as possible.

Yuan had made a grave mistake while he was trying to dodge the columns of water. Even though Kratos had told him not to stop moving, it didn't help with his dodging much. His lack of awareness for the flow of water mana caused him to make a slight misstep which compromised the speed he was originally moving at. He had barely managed to dodge the next column of water, but before he can gather his bearings together, the next one managed to land a hit. That caused the half-elf to take damage and he was unable to move for a while as he staggered. Of course, that meant he was a sitting duck for that period of time. Yuan sensed that the next water column was already extremely near him and tried to move, but even if he did move now, the half-elf was not going to make it anyway.

However, just before the next column of water hit Yuan, a sphere of light came blasting through it, scattering the attack. Yuan realised what had happened, looked up to find Kratos beside him, blasting another Aura Sphere at the next column of water. Now that the columns of water weren't scattered all over the place and targeting just the spot they were at, Yuan looked towards the lake and noticed that there was a wall of water at a single spot of the lake.

"Kratos, blast that wall of water at the lake," Yuan said as he finally recovered enough to stand up. Kratos nodded as he turned to focus at his new target. Yuan raised his weapon and fired off a blade of wind into the sky, dissipating the next column of water that came at them.

"Aura Blast!" Kratos declared as he blasted a sphere of light that was similar to Aura Sphere, only larger and more powerful towards the wall of water. The attack penetrated the water barrier and hit whatever was behind it, effectively stopping the columns of water that was attacking them. The wall of water also disappeared, revealing Undine behind it. The summoner followed up with an Aura Sphere which blasted Undine back into the water again. Kratos recalled his wings after his previous attack had landed.

"Did we get her this time?" Yuan asked as Kratos turned around and used First Aid on the half-elf. The spell washed over him and Yuan felt a bit better from the previous attack he took.

"This isn't going to work," Kratos replied as the glow of healing mana disappeared from his hands. "Undine will just recover from our attacks once she's in the lake, and will most likely use that attack against us again."

"Why am I not surprised the water recharges her? I guess it's to be expected since she's the Summon Spirit of Water," Yuan grumbled. He was still feeling a bit sore about getting hit and being somewhat useless against long range water attacks. "So, this is the thing that makes Undine stronger and harder to beat. I don't recall her being that annoying back during the Kharlan War."

"This is what happens when a high summoner asks to form a pact with a summon spirit..."

"Yes, yes, I know," Yuan gently retorted as he threw a light punch at Kratos's shoulder. "Any plan of action?"

"Yes," Kratos replied, turning to look at the lake, observing it. "We need to freeze Lake Umacy. Cut off the source of her power."

"Wa-wait, freeze the lake?" Yuan exclaimed. "I don't know any ice spell that is strong enough to freeze an entire lake!"

"I can..." Kratos replied softly.

"Eh?" Yuan exclaimed for the second time. "You can use ice magic?"

"Just the one that draws power directly from Celsius. It's strong enough to freeze a lake, but..." Kratos trailed off.

It was then something dawned on Yuan. Something that happened back at Derris-Kharlan. The spell that Kratos was trying to cast for the past few days, which always ended up in a failure and him getting annoyed with his best friend. Yuan knew it was an ice spell that had failed. The half-elf felt traces of ice mana whenever he investigated the scene.

Sighing, Yuan placed his hand on Kratos's shoulder and stepped forward, raising his Swallow in his other hand. "You can do it," Yuan said as he removed the hand that was on the summoner's shoulder. "After all, you've always pulled through at the most critical moment." With that, Yuan rushed towards the lake just as Undine emerged from it. Summoning his wings, the seraph took flight and engaged Undine in a battle above the lake.

"Is that so..." Kratos muttered to himself. Taking a deep breath, he cleared his mind of all other thoughts and started to focus on what he was going to do. "He's right. I won't fail this time." The summoner then raised his hands as he started reciting the incantation. An ice-blue-colored ring of mana started forming around him as ice mana started gathering.

Yuan was battling Undine above the waters of Lake Umacy, while the summon spirit floated about the lake, the half-elf was fighting in flight. They were currently exchanging sword strikes with each other, neither seemingly getting the upper hand. It was fine though, since that was what Yuan wanted. His job was simply to distract the summon spirit and keep her occupied without her noticing what Kratos was doing. Yuan was sensing the flow of ice mana in Kratos's direction at the same time, so that he would know when to prepare for their final assault on the summon spirit. It seemed like it was taking a long time until the half-elf finally sensed the flow of mana reaching its peak.

"Everlasting ice, grant me thy power, and embrace they with the unwavering power of frost! Deep Freeze!" Kratos declared as spears of ice rose all around the waters of Lake Umacy, slowly freezing the entire body of water. It wasn't long before the entire lake was frozen.

"What the?" Undine gasped in surprise.

However, it was the opening Yuan needed. Diving in, the half-elf struck the Summon Spirit of Water with his Thunder Slash strike arte as Kratos started moving in from behind. The final slash of Yuan's strike arte knocked Undine away onto the frozen lake, summon spirit skidding along it. Yuan then followed it up with his Thunder Wave strike arte. A powerful wave of electricity blasted Undine, not giving her a chance to recover. Kratos then fired off his Dragon Roar strike arte after Yuan's attack. A dragon created from pure mana crashed into where Undine was, further preventing her from recovering.

"One more time!" Both Kratos and Yuan called at the same time as they prepared to use Dragon Roar and Thunder Wave again respectively. However, this time it was to combine their attacks together to form a Unison Attack. "Roar! Dragon of thunder's fury! Thunder Dragon Roar!" Once again, a dragon created from pure mana rushed towards Undine's position, but empowered with the thunder element this time, crashed into the still struggling Undine. However, the impact from the attack was so great that it caused the ice to crack, plunging the summon spirit into the icy depths of the frozen lake.

It took about a minute before Undine finally resurfaced from where she sank. The water was starting to thaw out at this point. Even though Undine made no move to attack them, both seraphim, who were now waiting at the lake's bank, continued to stand their ground, ready to defend themselves at a moment's notice.

"I have witnessed your power. Now, make your vow."

It was only then both seraphim fell at ease. Yuan recalled his weapon while Kratos sheathed his sword. Stepping forward, the summoner took a deep breath and regarded Undine with confidence. "I vow to protect this world and the World Tree for as long as I live."

"Very well, I accept your vow," Undine replied as she acknowledged the vow. "I pledge my power to you, pact-maker Kratos Aurion!"

Undine disappeared in a swirl of blue light, and in its place, a ring with an aqua-colored gem attached to it slowly floated down into Kratos's right hand. It was an aquamarine, the proof of the pact with the Summon Spirit of Water, Undine.

Kratos closed his hand around the aquamarine. He knew this was just the beginning, and things would only get harder from here on. However, he wasn't going to back down. Not now, not ever. He will see this through until the very end, and he won't be alone.


AUTHOR'S NOTES

This chapter ended up being longer than I expected it to be, but I'm actually quite satisfied with it. I'm really liking my re-written version much more than the original. Now that Kratos has a pact with Undine, it's time for them to get going to Heimdall.