I'm sorry that I didn't get this up sooner, but it's been the most hectic week that I can remember. Everything seems to be happening at once and I haven't had a chance to just sit down. So here's the final make-up chapter. We're on real time now (not that that seems to make a difference).

I don't own Tales of Symphonia

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Chapter 11 April

Slowly, slowly, slowly Yuan inched his way out on the limb of a tree that hung into the human base. He gave a forlorn look over his shoulder, but his companions stared back blankly. He wasn't entirely sure whether it would be better to look down at his hands where they gripped the rough bark of the tree, or to make sure he didn't look down, ever. He settled for looking back again and pouting. Martel, Mithos, and Kratos were unmoved.

"Why do I have to do it?" He whined.

"We'll all have to do it eventually," Kratos responded rationally.

"Yeah, but I have to make sure there's no one guarding this side. Not only could I fall, but I could get attacked!"

"Well, I offered, but you wouldn't let me go," Martel said kindly.

"You said you'd go in her stead," Kratos added.

"Besides if we lose someone, it ought to be you," Mithos mumbled.

"You guys suck, I hope you know that," Yuan told them before inching forward along the branch. When he at last reached the top of the wall he stepped down on to it and glanced to either side. The only soldiers were leaning on the front part of the wall staring out over the gate. He waved his companions towards him and then got down on his knees so that if any of the soldiers turned around they wouldn't see him.

In a moment Martel landed neatly besides him.

"You did it," she whispered and squeezed his hand. Yuan blushed at the contact. In a moment Mithos landed between them and glared at the other male half-elf.

"Kratos will be coming in a second. Noishe started whining at the base of the tree and he had to calm him down, which is hard to do from so many feet up," Mithos told Martel, although Yuan had the feeling the message was actually for him. Mithos's words proved true and soon enough all four companions were together on the wall of the enemy base.

"What now?" asked Yuan in a whisper. The pause that ensued seemed to last forever, and the four friends slowly realized that they hadn't a clue what they were doing.

"Are we gonna die?" Mithos asked with all the innocent bluntness of childhood.

"No of-of course not!" Yuan stammered. "Right Kratos?"

"There's no reason to assume that we'll fail. We've gotten this far, so it's obvious that this base isn't very well run. It's just been recently built, I wouldn't be surprised if the person in charge was more used to building and expansion than the more violent aspects of war. If we're sneaky we should be all right. I suggest stay low and go along to the front of the wall. We can take the guards down quietly."

"Do we have to?" Martel asked quietly.

"It's a couple of guards or a townfull of civilians," Yuan told her.

"I know…"Martel sighed.

Carefully the four companions began to travel along the wall, keeping as low as possible. When at last they drew close to the corner near the soldiers, Yuan told the siblings to hang back.

"Watch this, THUNDER BLADE," Yuan shouted, and the guards fell stunned.

"YUAN!" Kratos whispered frantically.

"What? I didn't kill them for Martel. But don't worry, they'll be out for awhile; trust me." Yuan responded.

"It's not that! You just gave away our position!"

"Then I suggest we change our position," Yuan told him. With a quick glance over the wall, Yuan grabbed Martel around the waist and jumped down. About half way down the wall there was a stack of boxed building material, and with another leap off of that, Yuan landed safely.

"Please let us live," Kratos said aloud to no one in particular and, grabbing Mithos, he followed Yuan down.

Quickly the four companions hid behind the boxes. In a short while a few soldiers wandered out.

"Why did the general send us out? It was just lightening. We can't investigate every freak act of nature…" a young soldier complained.

"If we do it quickly we can get it over with, and then you won't have to worry, alright?" an older soldier said. Together the two humans opened the gate and stepped outside to look around, leaving the path open for the intruders to make their way into the interior part of the base.

The inside had a cave like feel to it. New as it was, there had been no time in which to furnish it. Not that any of the four of them had expected the base to have a homey feel to it, but they had expected some paintings or tapestries or perhaps a chair. There were very few soldiers about as the companions made their way through the big empty stone halls. It was, however, extremely difficult to hide with nothing around, and so Yuan had stunned a few more soldiers.

A while before they actually came across the dungeon, the four could actually hear it. The halls were so silent and echoey that the shouts and cries of children carried a great distance. At the first wail Martel took the lead and began to run as fast as she could in the direction of the sound.

"It's in here," Martel said, calling the boys over. She had opened a large wooden door with a barred window in it that led to a winding staircase.

"Be careful. There are almost definitely more soldiers down there," Yuan warned her.

"I'm sure we'll be alright," Martel assured him, and she began to ascend. Almost immediately the four intruders heard running and voices.

"Some one's coming!"

"Call for back up!"

"None of the magitechnology communication is set up yet, you know that!"

"Brace yourselves!" Kratos ordered just as a man came running towards them, sword drawn. Before either man could do anything, Martel acted.

"PHOTON!" she shouted, and the man fell before her. Yuan and Kratos stared at her in amazement.

"Way to go!" Mithos told her, and Martel smiled back at him.

"Wow... I didn't know you could do that," Yuan said in shock.\

"How do you think I survived traveling with just myself and baby Mithos. It's not too strong a spell, but it gets the job done. I just hope he's alright…"

"Another one's coming!" Kratos shouted, and Martel felled him as well.

"Let's continue, shall we?" the woman said, and daintily she stepped over the fallen soldiers.

"She's amazing!" Yuan shouted turning to grin at Kratos.

"Quiet," Kratos told him. Together the two siblings and the two old friends made their way down to the base of the steps, where they were met with a shocking sight. Rows of barred prison cells stretched out before them, and all of them contained half-elves. There were more prisoners than could have possibly been from a single town, and the companions were horrified when they realized more villages must have been sacked. Nearly all of the captives were children, women, and the elderly. The towns had been emptied of their able bodied men, and judging by the relatively small number of women, the women who had been strong enough to attack had been killed.

Slowly all the captives began to notice their visitors, and soon all eyes were on the young rescuers who stood awkwardly in the doorway. Silence settled over everything as the prisoners stared at their heroes and their heroes stared back.

"Are we gonna be saved?" One child asked, and suddenly the whole group was talking. Unsure of how deal with the people in front of them the companions looked around at one another. Yuan glanced at Kratos who, for all the leadership he showed in small groups, looked somewhat cowed by the number of people in front of him. Shrugging, Yuan opened his mouth to speak but Mithos beat him to it.

"We've come to save all of you, but you have got to be quiet. We'll get all of you out of here we promise." Mithos held up a set of keys he had apparently pilfered from the body of an incapacitated guard and began to open the first cage. Martel hurried to help the people inside.

"We can't leave this base at all functional," Kratos suddenly said to Yuan. "They'll just go after more people."

"Mithos, Martel. Keep doing what you're doing. Kratos and I are going to find the leader of this infernal place and take him down!" There was a cheer from the captives.

"But wait! I want to help," Mithos begged stopping in the middle of his rescue.

"We need you here Mithos. You have to open the cages while Martel heals anybody who's injured," Kratos explained.

"Let's go buddy," Yuan said and he pulled his human friend up the stairs, leaving Mithos pouting with the keys in his hands.

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There weren't many hallways left to explore, and soon enough Kratos and Yuan found themselves in front of the general's quarters. They had passed the soldier's quarters earlier, and at last found out why they hadn't seen anyone. There seemed to be some sort of excited drinking going on to celebrate the successful captures. Yuan had expressed a desire to destroy them, but Kratos said that they would be useless without the head anyway.

"Here goes nothing." Yuan swallowed heavily and swung the door open wide,

"Who the hell?!" the general shouted in surprise. Kratos looked at him with empty eyes and pulled out his sword.

"We're here to destroy you."

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Aww, it's like the game! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I probably won't post anymore until after finals, although the next chapter is already half finished anyway. I'm going to try and get at least to chapters out before the end of the month, so see you then!