I'M SO SORRY I HAVEN'T UPDATED IN FOREVER!

This fic was supposed to have been done by now, but I was lazy, then I had writer's block, then I got sick, then I had exams, and...

Sorry freaky. :(

Disclaimer: Tales of Symphonia and all that junk, and a bunch of random OC's don't belong to me. All I own is Young Kratos, and even that is extremely debatable...

Chapter III: Fetch

After being introduced to everyone, Young Kratos was pretty sure his head was going to explode. He was sure he was not going to be able to keep track of all the names. Hopefully he wouldn't be here long. Lloyd had gone back to 'experimenting' with the Eternal Sword, trying to find a way to manipulate time so Young Kratos could go home. Right now, he was just 'experimenting' with an apple, trying to get used to manipulating the Sword's mana. Everyone else watched him.

"Right…" said Lloyd, concentrating hard on the red fruit. The Sword was towering above him. The apple he was playing with rose in the air a few feet. Then it exploded.

"Take all the time you need to learn how to use the sword," said Young Kratos, who was now covered in apple, as was everyone else.

"I can figure it out!" said Lloyd defensively.

"Stop being so cynical!" said Cheresea hotly.

"That wasn't cynicism, that was sarcasm," said Young Kratos, "There's a difference."

Cheresea glared at him. She couldn't believe that her grandfather used to be such an ass!

Raine smacked Young Kratos using all the motherly/teacher-ly authority she could muster, "Neither cynicism nor sarcasm will help you get home!" she lectured, "The least you could do would be to be civil to the man who's going to send you home!"

"Okay! Okay!" surrendered Young Kratos. He rolled his eyes as soon as the Professor's back was turned. All these people are insane, I swear...

Then he noticed that Cheresea was giving him a slightly condescending look. "What?" he demanded.

"Why are you always such a jerk?" she demanded.

He crossed his arms, "You guys haven't exactly been all that inviting," he retorted, "Since I was zapped here, I've been nearly strangled twice, I had to run away from a rabid cat that wanted to eat me, your mad friend tried to 'study' me, my older self already hates my guts, I've been dragged around like a piece of luggage, – why are you giving me that look?"

Cheresea fidgeted nervously. He had a point, "I just wanted to say, sorry about the way you've been treated."

"Why the sudden guilt trip?"

"I just... hadn't thought about it before. Everything happened kinda fast."

Kratos didn't say anything.

"Oh, and Chala is mean to everyone," Cheresea added, "It's not just you."

Kratos said nothing.

And then came the inevitable.

"CRICKET!"

"Oh no..."

"Huh?"

Fred appeared at the feet of the two children.

"Cricket!" he cricked urgently.

"What's wrong Fred?" asked Cheresea.

"Fred?" Kratos looked blank, "It has a name?"

If a cricket, a creature without eyelids, could narrow its eyes, that's what Fred did. He pointed an accusing antennae at Kratos and cricked angrily. Kratos blinked.

Suddenly, Fred pulled out a tiny frying pan (from where, it is not clear) and started hitting Kratos' foot with the pan with all the strength the little bug could muster... which wasn't much.

"...Kratos, why is Fred angry at you?" asked Cheresea, a little nervously.

Kratos shrugged, the little Wonder Insect still trying to beat his shoes to a rubbery pulp, "I dunno. Actually, when I first got here a cricket started chirping at me. He could be the same guy. But all I did was tell him to go away..."

Frustrated that his frying pan had done nothing, Fred threw it away, and then started cricking quickly and urgently at Cheresea. He was telling her, in great detail, how both Nagas and Abigal had converged on Meltokio, and were searching for Young Kratos. Unfortunately, Cheresea didn't have Sari's Cricket-To-English Dictionary, so all this was lost on her. She could understand basic Cricket, but nothing as complicated as what Fred was using now. But she hazarded a guess.

"...Do you want another marshmallow?"

Fred glared.

"Why are you talking to a bug anyway?" asked Kratos. Then he added, a little suspiciously, "...Are you sure you're not on something?"

Cheresea glared, "I'd never take drugs!"

Kratos raised his hands as a gesture of peace, "Fine, fine, you don't have to shout."

"CRICK CRICKLEY CRICKET!" yelled Fred.

"Where's Sari?" Cheresea asked of the world in general, "I know she has a Cricket-to-English dictionary..."

Fred, frustrated that he wasn't getting his point across, gave one last angry "CRICK!" and hopped off to brood in a corner.

"...Does that kind of thing happen a lot around here?" asked Kratos.

"Yeah," said Cheresea, as if this was obvious, "Why do you ask?"

"...Nevermind."

There was a pause.

"Hey, there's something... I wanted to ask you about," started Cheresea, "It's kinda personal though."

Kratos shrugged, "I don't mind. What is it?"

"Back in the field," Cheresea started, "You said you didn't know who your father was."

"Ah..."

Kratos fidgeted, "I think it was just a one-night stand," he explained, "And I don't really get along with the rest of my family because my parents weren't married. But don't get all tied up because of it, it's not that big of a deal."

"...It shouldn't matter."

Kratos blinked, "Huh?"

"It shouldn't matter who your parents were, that's what I think," Cheresea said, "My Dad is always saying 'you're still you, no matter what'. You're a good person, I think. That's all that should matter."

Kratos looked at her long and hard, thinking about what she had said.

"...You know, you're not so bad after all," said Kratos, smiling, "Better than the crazy blue one, anyway."

"Hey! She's my friend!"

"I didn't mean to offend. Sorry."

"Well, what do you want to do now?" asked Cheresea.

Kratos looked at the stairs, and then back at Cheresea. He had a mischievous grin on his face.

"Wanna learn a new trick?"

"WHEEEEEE!"

"AHHHHHH!"

Young Kratos jumped off the banister right at the bottom, landing in a crouch, an action he clearly had practiced many times before. Cheresea, who hadn't slid on banisters before, just slid off at the bottom, apparently in shock. He walked over to her and smiled down at the prone girl.

"Wasn't that fun?" he said, still grinning.

Cheresea didn't move. His smile vanished. "Uh..." he started, worried now, "Are you okay?"

"THAT WAS THE BEST THING EVER!" yelled Cheresea suddenly, making Kratos jump. "LET'S DO IT AGAIN!"

"Uh..."

Cheresea grabbed her will-be grandfather's arm and dragged him back up the stairs. Shortly thereafter, their previous roles were reversed.

"AHHHHHHH!"

"WHEEEEEEE!"

This time both of them fell ungracefully to the floor after the ride.

"Ow..." moaned Kratos, who Cheresea was now sitting on.

"YAYAYAYAY!" shouted Cheresea.

"What is all the noise?"

The two looked up to see Old Kratos standing over them. He looked very disapproving.

"Uh..." started the younger nervously.

"Get up," commanded the older irritably.

The two minors did so.

Old Kratos glared at his younger self, "You should know better than to be so reckless."

The younger rolled his eyes, "It's not like I was jumping over a spike pit."

"Think about someone other than yourself on occasion, and maybe you won't have so many enemies."

"Look at her!" the younger waved an arm at Cheresea, "She's fine! And she had a blast! Don't be so stiff, you fossil!"

The older glared at the younger, "If anyone gets hurt because of you..."

The younger smiled a smug smile, "You won't hurt me," he said confidently, "You wouldn't want it to be permanent."

"It doesn't have to be," growled the older in a dangerous tone. The younger blanched. Then the older turned on his heel and walked away. When the younger was sure the older's back was turned, he gave his older self the finger, and then stomped off to do what Kratos would always be good at: brooding. This left Cheresea by herself.

She was torn, which one did she go after? She looked in the direction Old Kratos had gone off to, and followed him.

She found him sitting on the sofa, watching Genis and Presesa talking to Sheena. Cheresea approached him slowly.

"Hey… Grampa…"

Kratos looked over at Cheresea, who sat down next to him shyly. There seemed to be something on her mind.

"Is something wrong, Chersea?" he asked.

She looked up at him and shook her head, "No…" she started, "I just, wanted to tell you something." She fidgeted for a moment. For some reason she felt awkward, maybe it was because she wanted to say something about her grandfather's past, which she knew was a sensitive topic. She took a deep breath, and then continued, "I was talking to your younger self, and he mentioned that he never knew his father. He said he didn't really get along with his… your family, because, you know…" she blushed, "Because your parents weren't married. And, that made me think. I can't really imagine what it would be like, growing up without a family's love. I mean, I didn't grow up with Mom and Dad, but you raised me, and you loved me. You were kinda strict sometimes, but you were always there when I needed you, so…"

She wrapped her arms around her grandfather. He was startled by this sudden display of affection, but didn't pull away. She buried her face in his shoulder, and said, her voice muffled slightly, "I love you Grampa. And I don't care who your parents were, or what your family was like, or what you did, or what the venom's doing to you, or anything! You're my Grampa and that's all I care about!"

Kratos' eyes glazed over as he looked down at his granddaughter. A little awkwardly, he wrapped his free arm (the one Cheresea wasn't leaning against) around her shoulders.

"Thank you," he whispered.

His granddaughter looked up at him, slightly puzzled. "For what?"

He closed his eyes.

"For everything."

"Ugh..."

Trethe felt awful. He was curled up on his bed, shaking and sweating profusely.

"UGH!"

The world went black.

Young Kratos thought he heard a noise. He looked up, it was coming from upstairs. He looked around, no one else had moved. That was weird, was he the only one that heard it. He stood up, and walked upstairs, trying to recall exactly what the noise had been, and where it had come from. It had sounded like... a thud, maybe? Once he was on the second floor, his eyes followed the rows of doors.

Then he heard another noise, another thud. He tentatively followed the sound, and eventually came to a door that he knew from the brief tour of the manner he had given, that this was Trethe's room. There was another thud.

"Uh... Trethe?" called Young Kratos, loud enough so that he could be heard through the door, "Are you okay?"

No response. He took this as 'no I'm not okay'.

Kratos opened the door. "Trethe, are you - ?" He stopped mid sentence when he saw the lone occupant of the room. He didn't panic, and he didn't say anything. He closed the door, calmly, as if he had found it empty, and then calmly walked back downstairs. He quickly found Cheresea, who was talking to Sari about something.

"Uh… Cheresea?"

She looked up at him. "Yeah?"

Young Kratos glanced around nervously, before asking, "Do you have any pets?"

Cheresea raised an eyebrow, wondering why the hell he was asking this. She exchanged glances with Sari, before saying, "There's Noishe."

"Is he a big fox with about," he paused, "...Nine tails?"

Cheresea blinked. "Uh… no."

"Well, there's a big fox with nine tails upstairs," said Young Kratos, "Unless that's normal around here." He added.

"That's not normal…" said Cheresea. Wait a moment, Trethe's Spirit form was a nine-tailed fox! "TRETHE!" she shouted, and then bolted upstairs.

"Chersea! Wait!" Sari sprung to her feet and followed her friend.

"What's wrong?" Kratos asking, and quickly followed Chersea and Sari. The three children raced up the stairs and the door to Trethe's room nearly flew open at Cheresea's touch.

It was empty.

"That's weird," commented Young Kratos, as the three entered the vacant room, "I could've sworn I saw a giant fox."

"Cheresea," said Sari, "The window's broken."

Cheresea walked over to said window. "Oh no..." She turned to glare at Kratos. "What did you do?!"

"Nothing!" protested Kratos, "I just opened the door! I didn't even come inside!"

"We need to find him."

They all turned to see Chala standing in the doorway. It seemed that she had been standing there for some time.

"Trethe seemed sick before we arrived back at the manor," said Chala matter-of-factly, "It might have been the spirit transformation. If he had changed, then when this idiot," she waved a hand at an indignant Kratos, "Barged in, it probably scared him."

"Then we have to find him before anyone else does!" said Cheresea.

"...Spirit transformation?" Kratos looked blank, "What are you talking about?"

"And you're coming along too, twerp."

"What?!" Kratos rounded on Chala, who had spoken, "I don't even know what's going on!"

"Good," said the Sadistic Queen of Cold, "The less you know the better. We will need you when we go search for Trethe. You saw him, you know what he looks like. We will need all the help we can get to find him again."

"Will I get an explanation afterwards?"

"No."

"...I don't have a choice, do I?"

"Not at all."

"I hate you."

"The feeling is mutual."

"Good."

They glared at each other.

"Um..." started Sari meekly.

"We need to hurry!" said Cheresea, "Anything could happen!"

"Ooh, we gotta find Trethe, the giant fox! Ooh, we ain't gonna tell you what's going on! Damn Chala... gotta remember to punch her in the face sometime... when she isn't about to kill me, anyway..."

Young Kratos wandered the streets, muttering angrily to himself. Chala had decided that it was best to split up in their search for the lost Summon Spirit. Kratos had already gotten bored. The city's population of giant nine-tailed foxes wasn't that large. So, to occupy himself, he vented some general anger.

"What exactly am I supposed to do when I find him anyway?" Kratos muttered, glaring at any passers-by who gave him a weird look, "It's not like I can shove him in a sack. The least anyone could do is tell me what's going on, but noooo..."

"Hello there," purred a voice from behind.

Young Kratos turned suddenly, and was met by a very strange sight.

Judging from the long pointed ears, it was an elf woman, with long, sleek, black, hair, revealing clothes, and – ahem – proportions that made certain parts of his brain fizz.

The elf looked at him critically. "Have we met before?" she asked in a deep, soothing voice.

"Uh…" Young Kratos stammered. His experience with females in general was severely lacking. He never had a girlfriend before, or any sisters, he barely knew his aunts, and he didn't even get along with his mother very often. The only woman he had any positive interactions with was Yuan's older sister, who was like, well, an older sister to him. Except their relationship, for the most part, included shouting, long lectures about staying on the straight and narrow, and, on occasion, a hammer. Young Kratos was always on the receiving end of all this, incidentally.

The elf raised an eyebrow. "You look a lot like someone I know," she commented, "What's your name?"

"G-give me your name, and I'll give y-you mine!" stuttered Young Kratos, with a weak attempt at bravery.

The elf smiled. "I think," she ran a finger along the boy's chest as she spoke, "Your real name is Kratos Aurion. And I think we've met before."

Young Kratos shuddered, wishing his head would just explode already, "I-I don't think we have," squeaked the terrified boy, "M-met that is. I d-don't know any elves!"

"I can fix that," said the elf, still smiling, "My name is Abigal. And I think, we're going to have lots of fun, Krats!"

This finally brought the epic battle between pure terror and raging teenage hormones inside Kratos' head to an end.

"STAY AWAY FROM ME!" screamed Kratos in terror, before speeding off, running almost at Mach 1.

Abigal watched him go. She sighed, "You think you know a guy…" she shook her head. There was nothing else for it but to follow him. He would come around eventually.

Young Kratos only stopped running when he couldn't inhale properly anymore. He leaned against a convenient wall and wheezed for a few minutes. He looked back over his shoulder, to find that the slut – er... elf had not pursued him. He slumped to the ground, completely exhausted. Was there anyone in the future that wasn't completely nuts?

Then he saw Sari running up to him. She opened her mouth to say something, and then noticed the condition he was in.

"A-are you okay?!"

"Fine," wheezed Kratos, "I just... had to run away from a crazy lady. Anyway, did you find Trethe?"

Sari nodded, "Cheresea found him. Chala wanted me to bring you."

Kratos rolled his eyes, "Why doesn't this surprise me?"

Cheresea had found Trethe holed up in an alley in the shopping district. Cheresea and the others crowded around the entrance, so no one would see the giant fox as they passed by.

"It's okay, Trethe," said Cheresa to her transformed friend, who seemed scared, "We're gonna help you. Okay?"

Trethe whined.

"So... this really is Trethe then?" Kratos asked.

"Yes," said Chala, "That's why we're calling him 'Trethe'."

Young Kratos stared at the Summon Spirit. "Is this... normal for you people?"

"The short answer to that question is 'yes'." said Chala.

"...What's the long answer?"

"I doubt you would be able to comprehend the complexities required for a 'long answer'," said Chala, icicles forming on her words.

"I see... it's that kind of situation," observed Young Kratos, "So... what are we gonna do with him?"

"Um..." Cheresea paused. She hadn't thought about that.

"We should try to sneak him back inside the Wilder Mansion," said Chala, "If he stays out here someone else will see him, and we don't want to cause a panic."

"You have a plan then?" said Kratos, "It's not like you can walk a giant fox through the front door."

"Obviously that isn't the next course of action," said Chala, "We'll have to sneak him back inside."

"But how?" said Cheresea, "The window he jumped out of was on the second floor, and if we try to sneak him in on the ground floor, someone is bound to see us!"

Sari smiled, "I have an idea."

"What do you mean, 'stay out here'?"

"Which part of that is giving you difficulty?" snarled Chala, "We need someone to stay out here and keep an eye on Trethe."

"He can take care of himself!" said Kratos. Trethe, who was standing next to him, nodded furiously.

"We still need a lookout." Chala argued.

Kratos snorted, "Who died and made you ice queen?"

"If it weren't for the fact that one day you're going to be my best friend's grandfather," Chala started, "That would be you."

Kratos crossed his arms. "Fine."

They were standing at the back of the Wilder Mansion, near a door that, Sari said, led into the kitchens. Apparently Sari had some kind of plan, but she, Chala, and Cheresea needed to go on ahead, leaving Kratos and Trethe outside. The two males watched the ladies walk inside. Kratos had a sinking feeling that he had just been abandoned.

He walked over to a wall and sat down, leaning against it.

Kratos looked over at Trethe, who was lying down with his head on his paws.

"So... is this, normal for you?" Kratos asked, "Randomly turning into animals, I mean."

Trethe gave him an irritated look.

"I'm from four thousand years in the past, remember?" Kratos pointed out, "It's not like I know what's normal here."

Trethe rolled his eyes and looked away.

"...What do you think they're doing in there anyway?" Kratos continued, "They're really taking their time. Girls can be so weird sometimes..."

Trethe covered his ears with his paws. He liked it better when Kratos was stoic, scary, and silent.

Trethe's discomfort didn't go unnoticed. "Fine," said Kratos a little bitterly, "Be that way."

They sat in silence. Then Kratos got bored. He stood up and started wandering the grounds. He hadn't realized that the Wilders had trees behind their house. Maybe this was where they got some of their fresh food...? Eventually he came upon a stick. He picked it up, and looked back at Trethe. He walked over the the Summon Spirit, curious about something.

"Hey, Trethe."

Trethe looked up, wondering what stupidity he was going to have to face next.

Kratos held up the stick so Trethe could clearly see it. The boy-turned-fox seemed unimpressed.

Kratos threw the stick and yelled, "FETCH!"

Foxes belong to the family canidae, to which wolves and dogs also belong. Certain behaviors are hardwired into the brains of such creatures, even Summon Spirits of a certain type. Trethe didn't know this, so he didn't know why he leaped after the stick, caught it in his mouth, and then trotted back to Kratos, dropping the stick at the boy's feet.

They stared at each other in amazement.

Then Kratos almost fell over laughing.

His laughter turned into a yelp of terror when Trethe knocked him over. Trethe stood with his paws placed firmly on the boy's shoulders, growling down at Kratos. Kratos tried not to breathe.

"N-nice... Trethe..." squeaked Kratos pathetically.

Trethe was about to give the boy an injury he wouldn't soon forget, when he remembered that if Kratos got hurt, that might jeopardize Cheresea's existence. Damn time paradoxes. Trethe released his prey and then bolted, spurred on by anger and frustration.

"...Hey! Hey! Come back!" shouted Kratos, getting shakily to his feet, "Please! Come back! Ah... dammit!" He kicked a nearby wall. He got a splitting pain in his foot for his trouble. He was hopping around on one foot, swearing almost until his face turned blue, when he heard a new voice.

"Hello there."

Kratos turned, but before he could find the source of the voice, he was thrown against the wall and pinned there by... a big black wing? Young Kratos looked up.

Nagas smiled back.

A/N: OH NOES!

Hopefully this chapter makes up for my absence. The next chapter is already almost halfway done, so it should be up in a few days.

Oh, and the next chapter will be the last chapter.

Please review.