My laptop crashed and I had to rewrite this. Uhhg. Anyway, a rather dull chapter in terms of action, but rich in that sweet, delectable character development everybody seems to love more anyway. Every Kranna story has this chapter, so bear with it and as always, enjoy-!
Anybody ever notice that Mithos as a child has blue eyes but in the OVA Yggdrasil has green? Weird. I also saw a few discrepancies over the color of Yuan's eyes. Also, has anybody noticed that in the OVA we get a look at Anna just a teeny tiny bit? Short hair, long dark boots. Thank you for the clarity ever so much, Namco (why did I put Capcom? Hahhh.).
Also, I just realized that about five days have gone by in the story and it's chapter 8. ...That's like 900 more chapters until Anna dies. Something must be done.
Reviews:
oursolemnhour49: I'm glad you liked it. I was thinking it was a little weird when I was writing it. I never plan chapters out, I just start writing and go with the flow. This one is a little slower to get the informational stuff out of the way, but I tried to melt Kratos a little bit more. Let's see how it goes~
Kiomori: Mithos sure is creepy, isn't he? There's something about a 4000 year-old child that just makes you shudder, haha.
DragonSong17: Thanks! I tried to make the illusion make as much sense as possible, so I'm glad you liked it. :)
Jnaso
Kratos stood and gazed through the rattling window at the darkness. The way that Anna told her tale indicated it was not a lie. He could feel her staring at his back for answers. Anna had proven over the course of the last few days to be unexpectedly sharp for someone thrust into so much turmoil. He would not have been surprised if she had been the type to faint at the first sight of trouble. Yet she had endured, and with almost irritating accuracy had pinned the suspect down as himself once again.
"What exactly is going on?" Anna asked as she fussed against the clasps on her jacket before spreading it over the foot of the bed.
Kratos ignored her as best he could. It had been a futile effort to try and escape from Mithos' unrelenting grasp. In less than a week he had discovered his location. Troubled, he gazed at the stars beyond the window pane. He was distantly aware of Anna's plaguing voice. If Mithos had the intention of ambushing them he would have already done so. If he had wanted to remove the slowly forming Cruxis Crystal from the girl's neck, he would have. His illusionary visit seemed only to serve as a reminder for Kratos that he could capture them whenever he pleased.
"Hey, Kratos!"
He faced her with a glare and snapped. "You're a nuisance."
Anna seemed unharmed by the remark as she slipped under the worn blankets, the innkeeper's large dress bundled up in her fist over her throat. "Forgive me," she smiled gently and patted the bed for him to sit beside her.
Kratos leaned against the brittle frame of the window instead. He folded his arms thoughtfully, the pressure on his sides reminding him of the freshly healed wound just below his ribcage. He would have moved on already had Anna's condition not been so delicate. It was a simple matter to look at her and see the battering taken from her deceased captors. Her eyes looked so energized above the sickly dark circles surrounding her lids as she scanned the room for details. The body that carried her was shaking without her notice from a deficit of rest and nourishment.
"Get some sleep. You need to rest," he told her as she was reaching for his sword that still lay on the bed. A child grabbed less objects out of curiosity than she did. Inwardly, he wanted to pry it from her hands as she strained to lift it.
Anna held the sheathed blade in the center and inspected it. Shining gold was spun down the handle in a spiral pattern speckled with sparkling, small stones. Parts of the glimmering surface were wrapped in stained cloth. Anna, aware of the hawk-like way Kratos was watching her play with his sword, slid her fingers along the layered edges above the grip. "What is this section called?"
It was obvious she would never cease to question everything around her. With fading annoyance, he abandoned his post at the wall and took his weapon from her hands. Anna slid aside to make a little more space as he sat down and placed his precious Flamberge across her legs for her to see. "That is the guard. Below it is the grip and the pommel. Collectively, they form the hilt."
"How does this sheath hold it? Would it not melt or slice through? It is far too small." When having difficulty conversing, talk about his interests, Anna thought slyly as she watched his lesson closely. The blade itself she remembered to be rather broad and spiny, yet it rested in its casing of nearly a third of its width. He flipped it over on the sheets to expose the opposite side. Small markings were etched along the thick, dark wood of the scabbard. The markings reminded her of Eldrich's beautifully enchanted longsword.
The silence was much more comfortable now that her companion's irritation had died down. She couldn't blame him if he did think of her as a burden. Anna snuck a glance at him sitting beside her. It was an unspoken truth between she and Kratos that it would be impossible for her to ever live alone in peace. Though the fault lies entirely with him that I escaped to begin with, and he is impossible to speak to, and he is probably very much insane... I feel sorry he is stuck with someone like me. I bring him nothing more than misfortune. I can not even hide properly when he asks it of me.
Kratos could see the somber expression draped over all her features when he chanced a glance. She rested against the rickety headboard with a hand placed absently over his blade. Her face was thin and angular like her hair, with small, pale lips. The rims of her eyelids were a bloody red against her dark, downcast lashes. He noticed the muscles controlling them twitch as she looked up. He didn't bother to look away. The way she lay with that sword under her hand looking weak and for the first time, he thought, lovely too, yielded to him the beginning of an idea.
Her honest, brown eyes had locked with his secretive ones. Finally, she broke the stare as she coughed loudly, her small shoulders quivering as she tried to stifle the sound. She had been hiding her exhaustion from herself for days. The thought of sleeping was scarcely appealing after her episode earlier that night.
"Kratos," she said, clearing her throat, "please tell me what is going on. I would like to know before it kills me."
He couldn't continue to argue with himself over her right to know any longer. She deserved to hear the truth as to why her life had been taken away and be relentlessly tortured and pursued. "Have you heard the tale of Mithos the Hero and the goddess Martel?"
"Of course, everyone from Luin knows of it."
"Mithos was the boy you encountered in the illusion you experienced. He is the leader of Cruxis, the organization that controls this world. He is the one responsible for the group known as the Desians, which he uses to further his own ends. The Angelus Project which you were a part of is an effort to create a very specific type of exsphere known as a Cruxis Crystal. When equipped with its fully formed state, the wearer is granted angelic power and near immortality as a result of altering the body's metabolism."
"Then, when I die and someone adorns their body with this," Anna said as she placed a hand over her neck, "they become an angel? Like the ones that guide the Chosen?"
Kratos frowned and held out his hand for her to see his key crest. "Anyone who bears a Cruxis Crystal or an exsphere must also have one of these. This is a key crest. Without it, effects much like what you have been experiencing affect the user. However, the Crystal grants power and immortality at the cost of their humanity, voice, and ability to feel or sleep."
"Then, why would anyone want to become an angel? And why would someone thought of as a hero do this?"
"Mithos was a hero. What you know of as the Ancient Kharlan War was put to an end by Mithos and his companions, one of which being his sister, Martel. She was murdered after the war was resolved by a human who despised half-elves and as a result, drove Mithos insane. Her dying wish was for a world free of discrimination. Mithos took it to heart but in his madness, twisted her intentions. He believed the only way for there to be a world free from racism was to make them the same. By morphing everyone into angels he intended to remove the differences from elves, humans, and all those in between."
"But is that what Martel truly wished for?" Anna asked sadly.
Kratos sighed with regret, "No. But Mithos wouldn't listen to reason from either of his remaining companions. He created the religion based upon his sister and has been manipulating the blood lines of its human followers to create a vessel with a mana signature identical to Martel's in hopes of reviving her."
Anna looked doubtful. If not for his omnipresent seriousness, she would have thought it all an elaborate lie. "And all this has been going on for four thousand years? How does he intend to revive someone that long dead?"
"Martel's soul lives on in her Cruxis Crystal which thrives off of the Great Seed, all that remains of the Giant Kharlan Tree."
By now, confusion was beginning to frustrate Anna. "So, the Giant Kharlan Tree is not lost as previously believed?"
"The Great Seed is the dormant state of the tree. It's absence is the reason this world is suffering due to the deficiency of mana. Once reestablished, the seed would grow and mana production would continue, but instead Mithos bound Martel's soul to the seed so she would live on while he searched for a way to revive her. Would you like for me to explain it again?"
Anna blushed. "No, no, thank you. I think I understand, it is just a lot to hear at once. So, if both the seed and Martel are dormant, then would planting it and restoring the flow of mana to the world not bring her back to life as well?"
"The tree and Martel are both dormant, yes. However, if one part would awaken, the other would die."
Anna rubbed the gnawing exhaustion from her eyes. "Then the world shall die when Martel is reborn. Would she not be sad to know this?"
"One can assume."
Kratos took the sword from her lap and leaned it against the bed. Anna sniffled at his side. When he looked at her once more, tears had begun to drip from her chin. She held her face calm and smiled sadly at her hands clasped together on the bed in front of her. "It is truly sad, is it not? That the world should die for a woman who simply wished for it to be a place of beauty with inhabitants that respected and loved each other. That everything should lie dead at her feet when she is able to see the world she must have loved so much again..."
"The world is a twisted place. Regenerating it would be pointless."
Anna pushed his arm as rough as she could, which wasn't much. "Why? There is so much beauty in the world. If it could be more lovely, why not make it so?"
Kratos smiled thinly and looked downcast. "Yes, perhaps."
"Kratos," Anna groaned while wiping her tears, "do you even look at anything? I mean, really look? There is so much to be seen. You can find something wonderful anywhere if you just try."
"No, not particularly," he replied. He had seen everything there was to see in his lifetime countless times.
Anna clenched her fist and raised it excitedly. "Well then, that settles matters! We will just have to regenerate it ourselves." Her partner gave her a strange look. Kratos, she realized, would probably never lighten up, but she had never seen him do anything like this before. His arms were twitching violently. A strange sound was coming from inside of him. Anna cautiously slid back against the headboard as far as she could. Was this another illusion?
"...Kratos," Anna carefully whispered, "are you laughing?"
It was another few seconds before his shaking stopped. It hadn't been audible and it hadn't been long-lasting, but it had been laughter. Anna huffed and smacked her hands down on the bedding as angrily as she could while she half-laughed herself, "What? What is so amusing about this?"
He held his thin smile in place. "Did I not make myself clear? Regenerating the world is pointless."
"No, it is not," Anna said with an uncharacteristic seriousness. The look in her eyes was strange, unlike her expressions had been around him the last couple days. "You are afraid."
Kratos narrowed his eyes and said nothing. She was challenging him, a girl who could barely stand, let alone fight. He remembered the curious way she regarded his sword while he explained the pieces to her and the idea that had begun to take root in his head. He always had a soft spot for those who wanted to learn. He thought of his last apprentice and swept the approaching doubts from his head.
She had been rambling on about fear while Kratos expertly ignored her. "Anna," he interrupted, "you can never have a home. You will never be able to settle down and have a lover or a family. You will be pursued forever, until you die."
The girl was looking at him with the same challenging stare of the undaunted. Her large, brown eyes were burning against him. With the same sharp tongue that he experienced when they first met outside the ranch she replied, "Yes. Excellent summary that I am already aware of-"
He snatched the dagger beside the candle and held it by the blade out to her. She carefully gripped it, the curious, quiet look returning. Once more he cut her off before she could bombard him with questions, "I will teach you how to defend yourself."
Anna placed the weapon back on the chair and smiled happily at her new teacher. "Then, I shall teach you how to see what I see," she agreed, "and we will try to find a way to put the world at peace together. Though I do not understand what would possess you to instruct me on how to stab correctly after earlier."
Kratos felt a similar energy flowing through is veins as when he abandoned Mithos' side. "That is probably what decided it."
With the change in mood, Anna climbed from the bed and peered out of the window, leaning against the frame. It felt like dawn was approaching, yet the sky had nothing to confirm it. Stars glittered around the speeding clouds that dotted the sky. The warm candlelight slicked the window with its ghostly golden hue. She could see the figure of Kratos behind her looking through the window as well. Anna failed to put into words how happy it made her to hear answers, no matter how complicated or depressing they had turned out to be. The sight of her new friend smiling as best he could (which admittedly, wasn't much) and laughing (though it had been at her expense) was delighting. She had her doubts, but Kratos was turning out to be a person she could trust just as she hoped.
"So, how would we go about regenerating the world? I assume the Journey of Regeneration is a farce," Anna spoke as she returned to her seat.
Kratos folded his arms and concentrated. Anna only knew one portion of the problem. "To regenerate it we would need to combine Sylvarant with its other half, Tethe'alla."
"Tethe'alla...? That is where Eldrich and Brom are from!" Anna exclaimed, leaning closer. "It is a part of Sylvarant? Is it not also the moon?"
"Long ago, the two worlds were one. Mithos split them apart and placed them in different dimensions to prevent the world's eventual collapse due to the limited amount of remaining mana. Now, when one planet prospers, the other is placed into decline. When a Chosen of Regeneration completes their journey, the world they sacrifice themselves for is funneled the remaining mana, shifting the balance from the other."
"This explanation is getting to be quite troublesome," she muttered. "How could a mere child wield enough power to do something like that?"
"Mithos was never a mere child. In the combined world of Sylvarant and Tethe'alla over four thousand years ago, the art of summoning had not yet been lost." Kratos could see Anna had become completely lost. He continued, "Beings known as Summon Spirits exist. When a summoner proposes to form a pact with a Summon Spirit and succeeds, they are granted the Spirit's assistance. Mithos used them to form the mana links that surround the Great Seed, preventing it from germinating and destroying Martel. By doing so, he broke the promise he made with them to restore the Giant Kharlan Tree. However, prior to that, he commissioned the master of Summon Spirits, Origin, to forge him a sword imbued with his power. By using this weapon, the Eternal Sword, Mithos split the world into two and hid the comet of Derris-Kharlan, the origin of the Summon Spirits, the Giant Kharlan Tree, and the elves, with the barrier caused by the Tower of Salvation miles from the world's surface."
Anna waited to see if there would be another torrent of information dropped upon her. When the silence remained unbroken, she sighed, "I understand the part about Summon Spirits well enough, but there is a third planet and it is sealed from our sight by the Tower of Salvation? I want to say that it makes no sense, except none of what you are telling me is exactly... probable..."
"Are you sure you don't want me to explain it again?"
Anna huffed lightly, "Yes, I am. There is just one thing I really do not understand."
"What is it?"
"Why did you not leave Cruxis sooner?"
If he had honestly expected that Anna would fail to put the clues together, Kratos would call himself a fool. Yet he couldn't help but feel a twinge of surprise. "I feel no need to explain."
Anna laughed quietly and edged closer, lifting his hand. Her fingers trailed across his key crest and she began, "So, this is a Cruxis Crystal then? Then, you are an angel?"
It seemed Kratos had enough of talking. The truth had set a calm throughout Anna. Tired, she grabbed the stale pillow and propped it up against Kratos' leg. His following expression as she collapsed upon it and curled herself around him was dark and unamused. She didn't care in the least. With a solid figure like Kratos as close as possible, it was the safest she could feel in the tiny room that creaked against the wind.
"If that is true, you really do have a lot to repent for," she said as she drifted off into sleep, "we need to start right away."
What Anna didn't see as she slumbered was the way the glower melted from her protector's features. Tranquility settled into his heart along with relief. It had been long years since he confided in anyone, let alone someone who he deserved hatred from. To see her nestled against him as he remained seated, alert and on guard as always, was strange but welcome. He would protect her as long as he could, with the warmth of humanity seeping into him slowly from the gentleness of her smile.
Fin.
...Kidding.
Reviews are a welcome source of caffeine.
