A/N: I still live, really. I completely lost my inspiration for this for a while…and then I finished Anna Karenina and a tsunami of musings flooded my poor brain…

Well, this is the first of several timely installments, I swear. Love you all!

General Disclaimer: Anna is mine! And that means Kratos is by association! … okay, so I suck at lying. But her personality is all my idea! Does that count? … no, it doesn't.

Gaelras, a Tales of Symphonia Story

Chapter Eight: When Life Gives You an Army of Evil Lemons…

As any who have attempted such a feat know, squeezing twenty or thirty heads through a standard eight-by-three foot door is rather difficult and potentially dangerous to all parties involved. If their parents hadn't been running around with buckets of water, trying to put out a fire started by a carelessly thrown lantern, they would have yelled at the children to go home and stay in their rooms.

However, everyone was preoccupied with the instantaneous panic associated with the previous events, and so, no one stopped the youths from peeking out the doorway.

The stared openly as the adults doused the fire, youngest lying on their bellies and kneeling, eldest resting their chins on the heads of those below them. It may have been uncomfortable for anyone with a lack of curiosity, but none of these children could be said to have such. They were entranced by the scene before them.

As Eric and Lira Garris, among many others, busied themselves running back and forth between the fountain and the flaming cart, the Asgard merchants were surrounded by anxious townspeople, whispering worriedly to each other. The merchants were covered in dirt and grime, and their eyes conveyed something dark and depressing, of sorrow and fear.

From their position in the Garris forge, the children could hear only the sounds that carried above the crackle of the fire, mainly, a chorus of shouts for more water. Anna pursed her lips in exasperation; she wanted to know what had happened! She gently nudged the young ones kneeling below her, their bodies scooting across the floor to make room for her instinctively, a subconscious testament to their loyalty for her. In a graceful, swift movement, the teen stepped between them and through the doorway.

Altair and Gage followed as closely behind as possible, but as the youngest had already returned to their original positions, it was difficult to maneuver through them and Anna was far ahead of them by the time they managed to push through. They found her amongst the large group of townspeople congregated around the more lucid of the merchants, who were in the middle of describing some cataclysmic event in great detail. They looked weary but urgent, waving their arms erratically, obviously panicked.

The boys stopped at Anna's side and noticed the grim expression painted on her face as a man, one of the calmer of the merchants, relayed the tale.

"We were just south of Lake Umacy when they came, a mass of black and red. It was their helmets that caught our eyes, you know how those metal things shine in the sun and all, so we camped out at the lake. A couple of us went back to Asgard to see what was going on."

"They destroyed everything, even the walkways between the cliffs. It looked deserted, except for the stone dias, so we snuck up there and found all the women and children tied up on the altar. There was some high ranking Desian looking them over, like they were cattle, and he pulled four or five out of the group, three young women and two children."

Someone in the crowd raised his voice, which cracked audibly, "And the men?"

"Dead." A merchant replied. His face was stone, pale and lifeless. "They were piled in the caves. My brother among them." His wife burst into sobs.

Croaking as if he'd lost his voice recently, another merchant said, "They took my son." The calm merchant rested a hand on his back, and the man lapsed into a depressed silence.

"We waited until they left, then carried the wounded to the caravan." He gestured to the largest cart, where Luin's priests were already tending to the injured. "There's a smaller group headed north. They're moving pretty slowly, and my guess is they'll make it here by tomorrow night, Hima by the next day."

Later, if she was feeling particularly articulate, Anna would say it was as if a dam made of pure tension had collapsed and set a river of panic free through the town. But at that moment, all she could think was, the Desians are going to attack!

The crowd of townspeople dissipated exceedingly quickly as parents rushed home in search of their children, to confirm that something hadn't kidnapped them in the five minute space they'd been gone, only to find that their children were indeed missing. Anna, her brother, and Gage sprinted back to the forge and told everyone what was happening and that they should go home.

Every child, from age nineteen to five, politely refused.

"Excuse me, Anna," the tavern master's son murmured, "but haven't we been training together for months just to be ready for something like this?"

"And we've been thinking up good strategies for ages now!" A ten year old added, rocking back and forth on his heels.

The seamstress's daughter recalled one of those strategies, "Cut off the head first, right? Take out the Grand Cardinals first, then the Sergeants, and finally, the masses of soldiers running around chaotically without orders. That's what you said, Anna."

"Well, yes, but," Anna stuttered, backed against the wall by a hoard of youths, "those strategies require a massive amount of manpower from our side, and we're just kids-"

"Just kids?!" Someone shrieked. Altair, chuckling at his sister's expense, decided a little interference was necessary and he stepped between the children and their leader.

"I think what Anna's trying to say, is that if we want to pull this off, we'll need some help. Right, sis?"

"But-"

"With your charisma," Gage said, smirking, "we'll have no trouble coercing the entire town into joining the cause!"

"What, exactly, are we planning here?!" Anna cried.

They began yelling all at once:

"Why, a revolution, of course!"

"Time to eradicate the Desians!"

"Decimate them!"

"Describe them!"

"…I think you meant 'destroy'. As in, destroy them!"

"I knew that!"

Anna looked at her friends, excitedly chatting about the imminent battle, and sighed. What was she getting them into?

Eric Garris was extremely surprised when, half past eleven at night, every parent in Luin showed up at his door, demanding him to release their children. He was almost choked to death by the tavern master, who seemed more entertained by killing him than finding out where his son was. Luckily, Lira Garris kept her head.

"They're at the forge, with our children." She said steadily.

Assuming there were twenty to thirty children with the Garris family, and each had both their parents present, forty to sixty men and women now stormed across the yard to the forge. Their children could feel their doom approaching.

When said parents burst into the forge a few minutes later, they were met by the calm, composed faces of children who had made an irreversible decision. Most were stunned by the mature looks their children gave them, except for Jordan Yaxley, who was never known for his perception.

The innkeeper towered over his son, a fierce, demanding look in his eyes. "We're going home, Gage. You will pack your things and be ready to leave in the morning."

"You're abandoning Luin?" Gage replied.

"We are moving to Palmacosta."

"You are moving to Palmacosta. I am staying here, to defend my home."

"Gage…" Jordan growled, a warning in his tone. His son did not flinch.

"Will you join me? Or will you run?"

"You'll die."

"So will you, eventually."

Jordan Yaxley growled again at his stubborn son, cursed, and stomped out of the forge.

The multitude of bodies watching them suddenly remembered why they had come in the first place, and parent and child began arguing. Child argued that they needed to protect their homes, parent reasoned that they needed to protect themselves.

Eric immediately offered his help to the cause, but Lira was less willing. She would not bend, even to her daughter, and turned back to their home, where she took up her knitting and wept.

Anna saw rifts forming between families and felt guilt claw at her heart. Her need to fight the cursed Desians had infected her friends and caused all of this, and she hated the pride that welled up in her soul. She saw before her two choices: send these people she had grown up with to their deaths or run with them to a new home. Her foolish, courageous nature warred with her compassion.

Oddly, it was her younger brother who provided the answer. His voice, normally so quiet and analytical, rose above the shouts of the opposing families.

"Hey! Listen! Do you want to see your families ripped apart by the Desians? You don't do you? Look at what's happening to you- you're letting your fear of them control you, destroy your families. We're staying; we've already decided that. Most of us are old enough to make that decision, and the younger ones are mature for their ages. Now the only thing to decide is whether you'll allow the Desians to tear you apart or fight it."

He trailed off, realizing what everyone else had known since he began speaking: his words were the most he had ever said in front of so many people, and he felt his cheeks redden in embarrassment. Anna sensed this and sealed her fate.

"My brother's right. Your fear of the Desians is destroying your families, your relationships. When they come, the Desians might kill all of us. Which would you rather have? A divided family, never knowing whether your children survived or not, or a united family, fighting to release the oppression of those that would destroy it. Your choice. We've made ours."

If Anna had been some unknown child from some city far to the south, they wouldn't have paid her any mind. But Anna was an eighteen year old they'd watched grow from a cute little girl with twin swords to a young woman with strong convictions and the good of everyone else thought of before her own. They respected her for her beauty, her intelligence, her forging skills, her swordsmanship, and her deep love for all things. But their pride would never allow them to admit this, and so they stood in stunned silence instead of cheering as they so wished to do.

However, the children had no such prejudice toward the young, and they leapt to their feet in joy, cheering.

Many of the adults conceded immediately after her impassioned speech, and after their children's pleas many others joined as well. Those who still refused visited Lira Garris for a while, then returned to their cold, empty homes.

Anna beamed at her success, her forming guilt squashed by the newfound respect she had for her friends and their parents. She glanced over each family, memorizing their features and expressions, until she landed on a shadowed figure in the corner, his arms crossed.

She had to carefully edge between the chatting families, few of which actually fit in the Garris forge in the first place, in order to reach him. And when she finally did, he simply raised his red tinted eyes to hers languidly, in a very nonchalant manner.

Anna ignored his indifference and placed her hands on her hips, head tilted at an angle, saying, "You probably shouldn't be here, you know. Gage might think you're gathering info for your superiors. Or do you want to help, too?"

"Perhaps I am. What would you do, then? Take me prisoner, or kill me?" Kratos' face its usual stone mask, the girl couldn't tell whether he was teasing her or being completely serious. She hoped for the former.

"Of all the Desians," she stated firmly, "spies are the worst. They gain your trust and then betray it. Such acts will be met with nothing but the harshest of punishments."

"Is that a threat?" his lips twitched, and Anna felt a twinge of annoyance at the thought that he believed her incapable of such a thing.

"No. Just my opinion."

It was at that moment that Gage Yaxley finally found his crush talking with what he now called his sworn enemy. Luckily, Eric had also spotted his daughter, and they approached her at the same time.

Gage stepped between the auburn haired man and Anna, choosing to ignore her huff of exasperation. He spoke with an even, low voice, "What do you think you're doing here?"

Eric rested his hands on the shoulders of his daughter, and she looked up at him pleadingly. Why, he didn't know. "You have a problem with this man, Gage?"

"Yes! He's a Desian spy! He'll tell them what we're planning!"

The accused was silent, his eyes showing only the slightest traces of emotion, the only proof that the boy's words were even heard, let alone that they affected him.

"What in Martel's name gave you that idea?" Eric asked. He found the accusation ridiculous.

"We overheard him talking to his superiors in the chapel!"

The sword smith cocked an eyebrow, "You mean he was praying in the chapel? What's so odd about that?"

"No! He was saying he hadn't talked to them for a while, and that his plans would be finished soon, and he'd be back once 'the operation was underway.'"

"I don't see how praying makes him a Desian, Gage."

The boy spluttered incoherently, looking from Anna's livid expression to her father's confused face to Kratos, who appeared genuinely annoyed. And he finally realized he'd just admitted to eavesdropping on a Desian spy, who was probably quite good with that sword of his. Lapsing into silence, Gage dropped his eyes to the floor and felt a blush creep up his face.

Eric studied the man before him for a moment, from the sword at his side to the clothes he wore, and the annoyed expression that mirrored his daughter's. He recalled Jordan telling him about a mercenary staying at his inn, and how cold and detached the man seemed.

"You are a mercenary, correct?" he asked, releasing his daughter's shoulders.

He could tell the man knew where he was headed with his question, and the hesitance in the mercenary's reply confirmed that he wasn't happy with it.

"…Yes."

"We need all the help we can get for what's ahead. You'll be paid as much as we can pay you, which probably isn't as high as you're used to." The sword smith said all this with a continuous sigh, as if he thought the attempt futile. He watched the mercenary carefully, noting how he seemed to be thinking every option through. He almost missed the split second where his auburn eyes flicked quickly from his own to his daughter's. And Eric Garris felt a tiny smile grace his rough features; he knew the man's answer. Thank Martel for Anna's charisma.

"You realize that, even if you somehow defeat the little group headed here now, the Desians will send the whole of their army here. You are no match for that."

"We can win! I know we can!" Anna cried. Her statement, head by the surrounding townspeople, started up a loud cheer for the prosperity of Luin and her children.

"If you are so intent on throwing your lives away, I suppose I must lend my assistance." The mercenary said, and he added quickly, "I expect no payment until after the battle. Consider it paid if we lose."

Eric chuckled. "I will."

"But we won't lose!" Anna cried again, a loud cheer echoing her.

Considering the lack of space in the Garris forge, the self-proclaimed soldiers of Luin moved to a better location for formulating their plans: the weapon shop. A place the children had dreamed of using as a base since they started their little meetings. Two stories of every war strategist's dreams.

"We'll send the women and children to Hima. They'll tell everyone what's happening and then they can backtrack through the mountains to Palmacosta."

"But it's the women and children they're after, right? I mean, all they did in Asgard was take the women and some of the kids. If they don't get what they want after we're through with them, they'll keep looking."

"Yeah, but we'll decimate any group that marches north. They'll have plenty of time to find a safe place to lay low for a while. The real problem will start when the other ranches find out what's going on."

"Do you even know how many Desians are coming?" Kratos' voice, laced with disbelieving annoyance, effectively halted any forming plans. It was with a slightly nervous wave that the calm merchant offered his information.

"It's a small group. They don't expect to encounter any resistance from a little town like this, or from Hima either. I'd say a hundred and seventy at the most, only a couple mages. Mostly newer soldiers. They couldn't stay in formation, kept knocking each other out of line and-"

"One hundred plus. And we have…?" the mercenary asked, perpetual frown growing on his chiseled face.

When Anna, her father, and several others started looking around, counting heads, Kratos sighed; what hope did a tiny group of inexperienced, backwater townspeople have against a four millennia year old organization bent on the destruction of anyone opposing its will?

"Thirty-three." Eric stated very matter-of-factly, just as Altair and Gage simultaneously shouted, "Thirty-two!" and "Thirty-five!"

Kratos really, really wanted to smack himself on the forehead and hopefully knock himself out, ending this torture. However, Anna supplied a better alternative by smacking her brother and friend on their foreheads. Problem solved.

"Thirty-seven, actually, not counting the younger ones who probably shouldn't be here." She said, gesturing to a corner of the building where several boxes of shields were stacked. The boxes wiggled animatedly and revealed an unstable pyramid of children who giggled and ran over to their parents, at which point they were sent home with stern glances and whispered reproaches.

"We're outnumbered 4 to 1. I assume a frontal assault is out of the question?" The hesitant nods Kratos received in reply made him wonder if they even knew what a frontal assault was, let alone how it differed from other strategies.

They had no chance. And the thought forced a long forgotten emotion, something akin to fear, to well up in Kratos' heart.

A/N: Can anyone guess the title for the next chapter? And those poor Luinians. I wonder if they'll make it? And shouldn't I know the answer to that question? Leaves you little hope for my sanity, it does.