Sorry for the wait. I just graduated and was a little to hyper to type. And then afterwards a little too tired after the party, took me a whole day to recover and I didn't even drink.
Oh well, that isn't important. You all want to read the next chapter. Here you are.
Disclaimer: Namco owns Tales of Symphonia.
Chapter 11:
The fire crackled behind him as he walked away from the light. He could feel her eyes on him and it unnerved him. He walked until the sensation disappeared and he felt utterly alone. It gave him some relief. His mind felt clear now, he could think.
He flexed his hands at his sides, staring off into the darkness. He didn't realize how tense he felt, his muscle rigid. He had been forcing himself to keep under control, but the longer he spends with Anna, the harder it seems to be.
Noishe padded up beside him, lifting his head to stare dejectedly at his master. Kratos stared back down at him. Noishe still wasn't pleased with the company. The protozoan never did like others, even during the Kharlan War.
He shook his head and turned his gaze before him, not really looking at anything. It was strange how quickly his path had become diverted. He had wanted to stay clear of anything that would attract Cruxis to his attention. Perhaps even find a way to stall Mithos' own plans, yet he was now involving himself directly with the Angelus Project and placing the spotlight directly on himself.
Kratos crossed his arms. Regardless, he had become too involved to back out now. He would locate a dwarf, should there be any accessible still, get the exsphere removed and disappear again. Seth and Anna should be able to blend into a city and be forgotten as well.
He nodded to himself. It was doing him no good to start regretting his decisions once they had already been made. It would be simpler and easier to just complete the task and move on. Noishe whined and leaned against him and Kratos shifted his stance to support the big creature.
There was one problem though.
He sighed and bowed his head, eyes closed. He didn't know how effectively he could control his rapidly resurfacing emotions. Even when he had left Cruxis and forced himself to retain a human appearance, forsaking his angelic attributes and powers, he had yet to experiences anything as strong as he had earlier tonight.
Kratos fisted his hands, remembering how vulnerable he had felt. Seeing her cry, knowing he was at fault to some extent, had placed him in a precarious position. He had felt he needed to comfort her. Felt he needed to stay there. Why?
He had no explanation for that and of course when Anna asked, he had told her the reason he wanted to believe. He had come back because of the exsphere she wore. But he knew it was true. Not entirely. Why else would he have come back? He wasn't sure.
He shook his head. Pondering over it was not helping his situation. He just would allow himself to become distracted again. He turned then, heading back to the fire. Noishe rose, trotting silently beside him. Tomorrow they would reach Hima. He wanted to get as far from this continent as possible, though he knew that both the Hakonesia Peak pass and the Hima pass would be focused on by the Kvar once he discovered Anna wouldn't be found at Luin. He was hoping they wouldn't be in pursuit for another day or two yet.
The fire cracked loudly as he stepped into the firelight and Seth started from his sleep. Shaking his head, he rubbed his eyes and noticed Kratos. "Hey, sorry I drifted off—"
"Where is she?" Kratos glanced at the vacant area next to Seth and then looked in the direction she had gone.
"She said she wanted to go for a walk." Seth rose, brushing dirt from his pants. "Said she couldn't sleep."
"She should be sleeping." Kratos replied, annoyed. Why didn't that girl listen? "Where did she go?"
"I'll get her. I was the one who let her go. Give me a minute." Seth walked past him. Kratos stared after him. In a way he was grateful for Seth's offer. He did not want to experience a second confrontation with her in one night.
He crouched next to the fire, placing more grass and wood into the dying fire. Noishe stood at the edge, his head raise, ears perked. Kratos frowned. "What is it, Noishe?"
He whined once and looked at Kratos, his black eyes searching him. He barked once and then darted forward, growling. Kratos had his sword out at the exact moment he heard the scream.
Anna's scream.
Noishe was a white blur through the grass and Kratos heard the low hiss. Kratos saw Seth collapse to the ground, swearing and scrabbling back. Anna cried out as the protozoan bowled into her knocking her back.
The hissing intensified and Kratos saw the large snake as it lunged straight at Seth.
Seth's arms flew up to block his face and the snake latched onto his arm and he shouted in pain and shock. Kratos rushed forward and dropped his sword and grabbed the snake's head with his hands and pried open its' mouth. Seth fell back, his face ashen. The snake writhed and coiled its large body around his arm attempting to get loose from Kratos grasp.
Kratos released his one hand, keeping a firm grip with his other and retrieved his sword. The snake hissed, its long fangs dripping venom. Kratos smashed the hilt of his sword against the reptile's head. Its body with relaxed for a moment, loosening its hold on his arm and he threw it to the ground, driving the sword through its head.
"Seth!" Anna was attempting to get up and cried out, grabbing her broken arm.
"Anna, don't move." Kratos snapped at her and knelt next to Seth. The young man was groaning and shaking on the ground. His skin had turned pasty and his hair was already plastered with sweat.
"Seth! I'm sorry." Anna sobbed and Kratos unsheathed the dagger he had in his belt and grabbed Seth's arm, cutting open. Blood and blackened venom flowed from the opening. Kratos then cut off a strip off Seth's shirt and tied it tightly above his elbow.
"Noishe!" Kratos shouted and instantly the protozoan was at his side. "Take him and run to Hima. Get him to an inn as fast as you can." Noishe whined and lowered himself to the ground as Kratos turned back to the shivering man.
"Seth. I want you to hold as tightly as you can to Noishe. Don't let go, until you reach Hima. Do you understand?"
Seth's head shook, but he met Kratos eyes, wide and filled with pain. "Yes," he cracked.
Kratos easily lifted him and placed him on Noishe's back, entwining Seth's fingers into the fur. Instantly, the protozoan was gone. He watched after him for a moment before whirling around and knelt beside Anna. "Are you alright? Let me see your arm."
Anna sat shaking her head, pushing him away. "What are you doing? We have to go after Seth! It's all my fault!" She moved to stand.
"Anna calm down." Kratos grabbed her wrist and her chin, forcing her to look at him. "You are in no state to start running to Hima. If you let me heal you, we can travel faster and reach Seth before he becomes worse."
She froze eyes wide. He took her momentary silence as an opportunity to gather mana to heal her arm. Sometimes she made things much more difficult that it really had to be. Human emotions—women's no less—were something he could live without.
Kratos released her chin and placed his hand over her fractured arm. Thankfully she didn't move. He pulled back, frowning as he did so. He disliked the idea of using magic and spells; it appeared he wouldn't be able to leave that part of his life in the past while she was around.
Anna stared at her arm, gripping it. "It's-it's—"
"Yes, it is healed. Though I would prefer if you continued behaving as it weren't for the time being. I do not wish to explain myself to Seth."
Anna nodded quickly and Kratos rose, holding out his hand. "Come on."
--
She was stumbling and Kratos knew that at any moment she would collapse. If it had not been for holding her hand, pulling her along, she would have fell long before.
But, the unusual thing was, she didn't complain once. He could clearly hear her labored breathing and catches in her breath as they ran, but that was it. Whenever he offered to stop, she just wouldn't, she would walk right past him.
It wasn't until she finally stumbled. He barely caught her and he lowered her to the ground. "Anna. That is enough. You have to rest," he said.
Frustration filled her face. "I can't rest. What if Seth is dying? It was my stupid mistake and he is paying for it. I—"
"Anna, you will kill yourself if you continue on at this pace." Kratos said harshly.
"But—"
"No." Kratos glared at her, keeping a hold of her arms. He couldn't believe how stubborn she was.
She fell silent and slouched, relying on him to hold her up. Her short hair curtained her face. Her shoulder's trembled and shook. Kratos' expression softened and he lessened his grip on her arms.
They sat on the ground for a few minutes, and the sunrise was just starting to appear in the sky when she straightened and looked back up at him. "Can we go yet?" her voice was weak and he could hear the exhaustion on it.
Kratos didn't reply right away. He studied her and then looked towards Hima. He could make out the shapes of the buildings up on the plateau. At the pace Anna could move without collapsing again, it would be a couple of hours at the most. He sighed. There was one way that they could get there sooner without tiring her, but he really did not want to. He knew what her reaction to it would be…
"Kratos?"
He breathed deeply and opened his eyes, locking them with hers. He was asking for trouble and so far, from what he had learned from Anna, she wouldn't accept what he was going to offer.
"Damn it, Kratos! Answer me!" Anna snapped at him, surprisingly with her condition.
He sighed. "You won't make the distance."
"Yes I will." She argued, pulling herself from him, attempting to stand. He watched her as she struggled, knowing that if he offered to help, he would be dodging slaps.
She managed to get her feet under her, but when she tried to stand, her legs buckled and she fell, Kratos managing to catch her again. She pushed his hand away, keeping her eyes averted.
Kratos raised an eyebrow then shook his head. "If you wish, I could carry you."
She snapped her head up and glared at him. "You have got to be kidding me."
She stared back at her.
"No," she growled. "You aren't going to carry me."
Kratos nodded his head. "Then we will sit here until you can get up on your own." He sat back, watching her.
Her expression went from mad to angry. He was surprised she was shouting at him, but he suppose she was considering her options. It still amazed Kratos how varied her moods were.
She stared at him, not saying anything. Kratos was content to look away, prepared to wait out her stubbornness. It was obvious that she cared deeply for Seth. Perhaps she had finally found her old feelings for the young man.
The realization tugged at his mind and he felt…saddened? He frowned, wondering where the feeling came from when Anna mumbled something.
He blinked and looked at her and she flushed. "I said okay." Kratos sat for a moment, then stood up fluidly. Anna held up a finger as he moved towards her. "But only until—Hey!"
Before she could even finish speaking, Kratos and bent and scooped Anna up bridal style and her hands instantly latched onto his neck as she cried out in shock. He winced as her shout rang in his ears. "Please refrain from shouting," he said as he started walking quickly.
She flushed, either from anger or embarrassment, he couldn't tell which. "Do you have to carry me this way?" she mumbled.
"Would you prefer to be carried over my shoulder?" he answered.
"No." She frowned annoyed. "I am not a sack of potatoes."
"Then please, if you have another preference, let me know," Kratos replied.
Anna fell silent and Kratos walked at a quick pace. He could have easily have ran, but it would be best not to cause suspicion. Logically, he should be exhausted from the running. Luckily, Anna had been too tired to notice that he wasn't even breathing hard.
It took only a few minutes before she fell limp. Her head rested against his shoulder and her arms rested loosely around his neck. She felt so light as if he wasn't carrying anything.
By now the sun had begun to peek over the trees. He broke into a jog, making sure he didn't jostle Anna as he did so. He wasn't sure why it mattered whether or not she woke or not. But oddly, he found he couldn't bear to disturb her. Why was that?
Kratos found his thoughts wandering back to the strange feelings he was experiencing. For some reason he worried about her. He couldn't argue that it was because of the Angelus Project because in order to protect the exsphere, her life didn't matter. Then again, he had never been one to simply kill innocent people to gain something. Yes, that explained it.
But then there were these strange emotions. First of all, he had found himself smiling and laughing a lot more. He would admit that much of what the human girl did was amusing. Yet he supposed that being surrounded by hundreds of soulless angels would give him no reason for humor. And even when he left, he had not interacted so much with humans until now.
He nodded to himself. It was much easier to see the explanations when he had time to think and analyze the situations. Though, the more recent emotion was the most confusing.
It had become quite obvious that Anna's feelings for Seth had grown over his absence and the time they had together. She had been afraid at first, which was believable and she had been captured believing that her entire past life had been destroyed. Even now, her concern for him was unmistakable. Yet, why did he feel this sadness when he thought about it?
Kratos frowned. He should be relieved that there would be someone who he could leave her with once her exsphere was removed, but he wasn't. He almost felt, pushed aside as if he was simply her bodyguard. But then again, that was what he was in a sense. Her protector, or rather, their protector, since it was obvious neither had the ability to defend themselves. And in a way, it annoyed him that Anna wasn't even grateful for his efforts.
Kratos stopped short, staring ahead blankly. Annoyed? Upset? Why—?
Clenched his hands involuntarily and Anna moaned, "Ow. What…?" Kratos realized that he had been his fingers had dug into her arm and he immediately relaxed his hand and started walking again.
"What the heck was that for?" Anna rubbed her arm tenderly, suppressing a yawn. Kratos smiled at the expression before catching himself and the smile disappeared.
"I apologize. You slipped."
She blinked blearily at him and looked as if she wanted to argue, but her head drooped and leaned back against his shoulder. The smile played on his lips again and he fought it, but in the end he found his gaze repeatedly falling to her sleeping face.
--
"Kratos! I swear if you don't put me down I will smack you so hard you will—Ah!" A soft thud caused the people listening to shouting girl to snicker as Anna sat on the ground with a surprised look on her face.
Kratos stared down at her. He counted silently in her head. Three…two…one…
"I hate you! I really, really hate you." She growled at him as she picked herself up from the ground, wobbling a little.
Kratos couldn't hide the smile, which only seemed to enrage her more. "It isn't funny!"
"I beg to differ, Anna. It appears that most of the townspeople find it highly amusing. If you wish to not draw attention to yourself, perhaps you should stop shouting so much."
Anna stamped her foot and Kratos walked past her. The walk up the mountain path had been interesting. Anna had awakened to find herself still in his arms. He supposed she had forgotten how she had ended up there and had preceded to yell at him to put her down. Of course, he tried to explain that the footing was poor and she would most likely fall. She didn't listen and continued to yell at him and hit him. A smack to the face finally forced him to swing her up and deposit her on his shoulder and grab her legs to stop from kicking him. The punches and hits to his back were of little consequence, but annoying nevertheless, thus the reason for dropping her.
"You are jerk, you know that?" she hissed as she caught up to him, brushing her pants off.
"You if you believe so."
"You think awfully high of yourself, don't you?"
"I am taller than you and most other people, so I guess I could consider myself 'high'." Kratos answered.
"That's not what I meant and you know it." Anna snapped at him. "You think this is funny? Annoying me?"
"Indeed."
She growled in frustration and crossed her arms, turning her face from him.
Kratos smiled again. For some reason he found it difficult to resist taunting her. Perhaps it was because she was so easily irritated. He couldn't help it once she started arguing with him.
"Anna?" he said after a moment.
"What?" she grumbled, not looking at him.
"The inn is right here."
Kratos watched as she stopped and looked back at him. She had walked right past the stairs and even past the Noishe who lay on the ground, appearing to smile at her as he thumped his tail.
Anna scowled and hurried back, pushing past him as she rushed in through the door. Kratos chuckled, but it died quickly as he heard her ask for Seth. Noishe whined up at him and he glanced at the protozoan, his face fallen. "I'm fine, Noishe. Thank you for getting him here safely."
The protozoan growled and huffed. Kratos smiled and rubbed the creatures head. "You should be thankful. He will be taking her off our hands once the exsphere is off."
Noishe growled and bared his teeth. Kratos frowned. "I am not sure what you are implying, Noishe, but I am not going to change my mind. The exsphere is my only concern; I simply do not wish the girl to be harmed by my sword or have to die in the process of retrieving it."
Noishe rolled his eyes and snuffed, lowering his head and turning it away as if to end the discussion.
Kratos glared angrily at the protozoan. Sometimes he wished he could fully interpret what the protozoan said rather than just assuming. He shook his head. At least when he did have these 'conversations' with Noishe, he was able to remember what he had obligated himself to do and refocus on that responsibility, though it was another question whether he could keep that focus in sight, or become distracted by a certain girl's presence.
Kratos turned brusquely and opened the door to the inn, striding in. She was just a girl. Sure he was confused by these strange emotions, but it was just because he was unused to them. In time she would be nothing more than another person and then he would see how foolish he had been to think that it was anything more. How foolish Noishe would be. The protozoan was jealous.
Anna was just another human girl.
There we are. More denial from Kratos. I wonder how long he will be able to keep it up.
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