KH: Here's chapter seven, finally. Sorry about the kinda long wait. I was busy over the weekend, and I was finishing a game of Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance.
Kratos: Kharlan Hero does not own Tales of Symphonia. Now do you care to let them read the chapter, or are you just going to make excuses?
KH: Enjoy the chapter.
No, Anna is still in there! I start running towards the inn, I have to get there before the Desians do. By the time I get down there, the Desians are already entering. I go to a rear entrance I remember seeing. When I enter, I am relieved to see that Anna is already there with Alexis. "Anna said that the Desians were probably looking for her, so I thought it would be a good idea to get her out."
"Thank you." After a quick glance around, I see that they even thought to bring all our supplies down. I grab my bags and turn for the door.
"Be careful." Alexis looks a little worried about us.
"Don't worry, we will be. Just make sure you don't get yourself into any trouble." Anna gives Alexis a quick hug before grabbing her own bags and going to follow me. I can now hear the Desians talking to the clerk in the lobby.
"We have to go, now." I run out and quickly dart behind another building as a Desian patrol passes. Anna follows right behind me. I feel her grab my arm as the Desian patrol comes closer to our location. But thankfully, the patrol is called away before they discover us. We continue running out of the village. We had to hide a few more times, but were never found. Finally coming out of Hima, we saw Noishe waiting for us. I picked Anna up and placed her on Noishe before heading south. She looked at me questioningly, but didn't say anything, instead gripping Noishe around the neck as he picked up speed. It wasn't long before the Desian shouts faded and I eased my pace slightly.
"What do we do now?" Anna asked me.
"We go on to Triet, like we were originally planning."
"What if the Desians are there too?"
"Right now their top priority is searching the Asgard region, to try and determine where we went. They didn't see us in Hima, so they probably won't think to check Triet until we have a good head start."
Anna mumbled something that resembled okay before laying her head down on Noishe's and beginning to snore softly. Noishe has better endurance than humans, so walking through the rest of the night shouldn't be a problem. We continue on in silence. It's dreadfully boring, I hadn't realized how much I had gotten used to Anna's chattering. I looked over at her, she looked so peaceful, fast asleep. It's somewhat amazing how she can sleep while bobbing up and down on Noishe and not fall off. Noishe didn't seemed so amazed, as she had begun to drool slightly on his head. He turned to me with an exasperated look. "Don't complain to me. Maybe now you'll think twice before covering me with dog slobber."
He just rolled his eyes at me and looked forward again. And the boring walk continues. Not much happened during the night, a few run-ins with monsters, but most had the sense not to attack me, those that didn't weren't given enough time to even regret their decision. Finally a suitable camping spot was found just as the sun was rising. I spread out one of our sleeping bags and gently laid Anna on it before starting a fire. She woke up just as I was finishing making her breakfast. "Good morning."
"Morning." She got up and looked over at the food. "Smells good. Is it ready?"
"Yes." She was soon happily eating breakfast.
Once she finished she turned to me. "So, are we leaving soon?"
"No, I want to travel by night for a while, just in case any Desians are following."
"Oh, okay."
The rest of the day was spent by Anna playing with Noishe and taking a nap. Once night fell we headed for Triet once more.
~O~
We had been traveling for a few days now, always by night. Anna seems to have gotten used to the strange sleep schedule.
"Kratos?"
"Yes?"
"You never explained how you can be an angel and have control over the Desians. Aren't the angels supposed to protect the people and help the Chosen get rid of the Desians?"
How to explain this? "It's complicated..."
"Then you better start explaining."
"Cruxis, the organization of angels who control the church, isn't what they lead you to believe. Cruxis' main goals are to resurrect Martel and end discrimination by making everyone the same. They need the Chosen in order to bring back Martel. And they need exspheres and cruxis crystals to further their plan to end discrimination. That's where the Desians come in. The Desians are a group of half elves within Cruxis. They use humans to make exspheres and potentially cruxis crystals. The Desians also give the Chosen another reason to go on the Journey of Regeneration."
"So, the Desians are controlled by the very people who say they want to protect us from them?"
"Yes."
"And what about Martel? Are you saying the goddess is dead, not just asleep?"
"There is no goddess. Martel was an ordinary half elf, the older sister of the leader of Cruxis. When she died, her brother started Cruxis in order to fulfill his interpretation of her final wish."
"What was her final wish?"
"She wanted to see a world without discrimination. But what she desired is for the races to be able to accept each other, not what her brother is trying to do. She didn't want any sacrifices, but that is exactly what the Chosens are..."
"And you were part of this group?"
I look away. "Yes... I have been a member of Cruxis since it's founding, over four thousand years ago."
"Is Yuan a member of Cruxis too?"
"Yes."
"And the leader? Who is he?"
"The leader's name is Mithos Yggdrasil, though he is called Lord Yggdrasil. He...dislikes anyone but the Four Seraphim using his first name."
"Mithos? The same name as the hero of the Kharlan War? And he lived four thousand years ago, that's strange."
"The Hero Mithos and Lord Yggdrasil are the same, technically."
"But, there's no way the hero would be doing something like that. And what do you mean technically?"
"After Martel died, Mithos changed. He isn't the hero anymore, he is Yggdrasil."
"The Four Seraphim you mentioned earlier, who are they?"
"They are the leaders of Cruxis and former companions of the hero Mithos. The Four Seraphim are Yggdrasil, myself, Yuan, and Martel."
"But Martel is dead, how can she be a Seraphim?"
"Yggdrasil refuses to believe she is dead."
"Is there anything else I should know about?"
"Sylvarant isn't the only world."
"What?" She looks confused.
"The Kharlan War was a war between the human kingdoms of Sylvarant and Tethe'Alla. When Mithos ended the war, he split the world, Aselia, into the worlds of Sylvarant and Tethe'Alla, each one having the corresponding human kingdom. These two worlds compete for mana. When the Chosen completes a Journey of Regeneration the flow of mana is reversed and the Desians are transported to the other world."
"This is confusing."
"Quite. You might want to take some time to sort this all out, if you have any questions, you can always ask me."
"Okay." Explanations finished for now, we keep on walking. It's strangely silent with Anna trying to think through all that she's just been told.
~O~
It had been slightly over four weeks and Triet was finally in sight. About two weeks ago, we stopped in Izoold to restock, but didn't stay. The last four weeks had been pleasant. I've found that I enjoy being around Anna, despite her somewhat annoying tendencies. She also seems to have gotten more comfortable around me.
"Kratos, I'm tired!" I hear a whine from behind me and feel a weight on my back as she tries to put her head on my shoulder to look at me. Due to being several inches shorter than me, she fails and instead grabs my arm, insuring I don't just ignore her complaint.
"No more than half an hour and we will be in Triet and you can sleep in a real bed."
"Fine..." She lets go and goes back to walking, pestering Noishe while doing so.
A half hour later we enter the city and head straight for the inn. I pay for the rooms and lead Anna to hers. She immediately plops down on the bed and promptly falls asleep. I watch her for a few minutes before heading back into Triet. The sun is just rising and the market is starting to get busy. I walk around a little looking at what is being sold. Occasionally I'll buy something we had gotten low on, but so far I haven't found what I am looking for. I'm not even sure I want to buy what I'm looking for anyway.
A few more minutes of walking and I spot a jewelry stand. That's the best place to look for what I might want, an engagement ring. I've started to care more for Anna over the past weeks, fallen in love with her. But I'm still not sure if I really want to take such a big step as proposing. Because of my importance to Cruxis, marrying her would put her in even more danger... Then there's also the fact that she might say no...
"Kratos?" An unexpected voice from behind startles me. What's he doing here?
I turn around. My guess is confirmed when I'm met with none other than Yuan. "What are you doing here?"
"I could ask you the same thing. Anything in particular which brings you to Triet?"
"Not really, just that it's somewhat out of the way."
"Oh, and just so you know, our old friend is looking all over for you."
"You didn't tell him where to find me did you?" I glare at him.
"No, of course not. I told you I would keep him off your trail, and that's what I'll do. I just thought you might want to know he is searching for you, and there's only so much I can do to keep him from finding you. Now, may I ask why you're standing here looking at a jewelry stand?"
"None of your business."
"Okay then, I merely thought I might be able to help you with whatever you're trying to decide."
Silence falls between us, but he doesn't leave. "Yuan, may I ask you something?"
"Yes."
"Were you nervous when you proposed to Martel?"
He looks at me and I can see the sorrow that always accompanies the mention of Martel. But he smiles as he replies to my question. "Nervous? Are you kidding me? I felt like I was going to throw up."
"That would have made quite the scene."
"Yes, I suppose it would have." He chuckles. "Now then, about the reason you're asking."
"..."
"It's Anna isn't it? You've gone and fallen in love with her."
"You say that like it's a bad thing."
"Not a bad thing per se, just interesting. Are you going to ask her?"
"I don't know."
"If you love her, you should tell her."
"It's complicated. As you said earlier, I'm being searched for. It would just put her in danger."
"She's already in danger because of the Angelus Project, at least if you married her you would always be there to protect her. I think you're just making excuses."
"Why would I make excuses?"
"Because you're afraid of her answer."
"Well, assuming I do propose and she says yes, then what? With Desians pursuing us, we can't leave any records that we were here."
"That is a problem."
"Maybe..." I look over at him, thinking.
"What?"
"You're part of the church."
"Yes, so?"
"As a member of the church, you would have the authority to do a marriage."
"Wait a minute. You're saying you want me to marry you and Anna?" He looks at me in disbelief.
"Why not? It would solve that little problem."
"No, there's no way."
"Yuan, you're the one who's encouraging me to hurry up and propose, and this is the only way it could work out."
We stare at each other for a few minutes, wondering who would give in first. Finally, "Fine, I'll do it. I'll be back in Triet in three days, you better have asked her by then."
"Thank you, Yuan."
"Hmph." He turns and walks away. I proceed to find an engagement ring. After finishing my errand, I return to my inn. Anna is still asleep so I go to my room to wait for her to wake up. The wait only serves to increase my nervousness. What if she says no? I mean I've only known her for about one and a half months. What if she ends up getting hurt because of her relation with me? I try to calm myself and had nearly succeeded when I heard the door to the next room open. Anna had gotten up.
KH: Well, at least you got a fairly long chapter for your wait. Hopefully it was good.
Kratos: Reviews are appreciated.
KH: I'll try to get the next chapter out quicker, but who knows.
