Things you need to know before reading this chapter:
- Character thinking; Character remembering a past event/conversation
- Gnomeday is equivalent to Sunday.
Disclaimer: I don't own Tales of Symphonia and Tales of the Abyss
Chapter 13: A New Addition
It was Gnomeday, Gnome-Decan 16, the third day since they arrived at Belkend and the sixth day since they left Daath. Dist didn't have experiments or research to do for the day and since Kratos told him that there was no need to work on the reverse seal yet and that he had already finished reading all the books in the local library he hadn't read before that interested him, he decided to go and look for Kratos and see how he's coping with the seal on his power. Little did he know that Kratos already had something else planned for him on his day off.
"Why must I, a genius scientist and mechanic, learn something as mundane as fighting? Besides, I can always create machines to fight in my stead."
Sighing inwardly in annoyance at the childish behaviour of his charge, Kratos began to unsheathe Last Fencer.
"Because..." and in a split second, he was standing directly in front of Dist with the tip of his sword resting less than a centimeter from his throat.
"Things like this are bound to happen sooner or later, especially when you hold the position of a soldier."
"Al- although I am officially known as an Oracle Knight, technically I'm just a researcher... researchers don't have to go to the front line, right? It's not as if Daath is in war and even if it is, I will just stay in the sideline doing experiments to create and improve the weaponry." Dist rebutted even though his voice was laced with fear due to the sword hanging too close for his comfort to his throat.
Sighing tiredly, Kratos slowly lowered his sword as he pondered his next words.
"How about the monsters? Don't tell me you have already forgotten about what happened three days ago?"
Dist winced at the mention of the accident three days ago where he nearly became monster food if not for Kratos.
"No, of course not, but you were there to rescue me." He protested.
"I won't be always there to save you."
"Bu-"
"At least learn some defending skill. You couldn't have wanted to always rely on others to look after you, could you?"
Dist winced again at the thought of always relying on others. That was what he had been doing before he left Malkuth and look where it got him.
"Fine, but what do I defend myself with?" He said after a long pause and stared at the blade in Kratos' hand with a resigned look.
"Do you have any preference over the type of weapon you want to wield?"
"Hmmm... a weapon that I like..." Dist rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
"Now that you mention it..." He trailed off and suddenly a look of glee was over his face. The change on him was so sudden that Kratos swore he could see an imaginary light bulb switched on somewhere over his head and he knew he was in for another headache as he saw the look on Dist's face.
"Yes! I am glad you asked. I remembered that I always liked reading stories about the imaginary beautiful creature known as Death God. How graceful they are when they swing their gorgeous weap-"
"Are you talking about a scythe?" Kratos asked, cutting off Dist's answer so he didn't have to start enduring his long speeches just yet.
"Hey, listen to me when I'm tal-" He paused at Kratos' look and continued with a calmer tone. "Um, yes, I am talking about a scythe."
"No, it is impossible for you to wield it." Kratos said flatly.
"What? Why? Are you saying there is another weapon that suits a beautiful genius like me more than a scythe does?" Dist whined.
Kratos sighed. "Appearance has nothing to do with it. Scythe is a heavy weapon and is difficult to wield. It requires much physical endurance and is difficult for even a soldier with regular training just to swing it around, let alone fighting with it."
"But Largo-"
"Are you really comparing yourself to him of all people?"
Dist had a horrified look on his face at Kratos' word. "No!t Of course I am not comparing myself to tha- that brute! I am just saying that I couldn't stand the thought of someone such as him wielding such a beautiful weapon when I cannot."
Kratos resisted the urge to roll his eyes at Dist's words. Just think that I am dealing with a second Zelos... well, someone much worse than Zelos...but at least he isn't wearing pink...yet...
"I am referring to his physique, not his physical appearance. It doesn't matter what you think, you cannot wield a scythe, not with your current physical condition."
"... so the only reason I can't wield it is because it's too heavy?" Dist drawled after pondering the other man's word.
"That is the main reason you can't wield it. Choose another one that is lighter and easier to use."
"... must I choose a weapon now? Can't we do it at a later time, say, next Loreleiday?"
"It is just basic defending skill, it is not as if you would be using that weapon for you whole life. You even said it yourself just now that you don't want to learn how to fight."
"Yes, I know. I just want to try something out first. I promise I will have a weapon ready by then." Dist waved his hand in a dismissal motion.
"Fine, suit yourself." Kratos said and sheathed his sword.
Not waiting for Kratos to start having second thoughts about letting him off so easily, Dist quickly changed the topic. "So where were you during the weekdays? I barely saw you in the city. Were you practising how to use the Seventh Fonon to cast spells? How is your progress controlling your new power?"
Must he always fires so many questions at once? "The reason you barely saw me was because you spent most of your time cooped up in the lab, not because I wasn't always in the city. And yes, I was mostly here working on my skills in manipulating it. Though it's still difficult, I think I'm getting the gras-" Wait, that question...! Did he jus-
"Ah ha! So it's true that you only just acquired this power! I knew something was wrong! I have been thinking about it since then, you shouldn't be able to use any Fonic Artes at all if you couldn't even feel the Fonon, and no monster came after us when you escorted me to Daath!" Dist exclaimed as he pointed at Kratos almost accusingly.
"..." Kratos glared at him.
Evenos was right, although his personality is a bit extreme, he is indeed too smart for his own.
Dist flinched at Kratos' 'famous death glare'. He then held up his hand and sputtered, "I-I swear I wo-won't tell it to anyone else i-if you want to keep it a secret."
Kratos closed his eyes and sighed as he noticed Dist's nervousness at his glare and face-palmed. "I am not going to do anything to you if that's what you are thinking. And yes, I would appreciate it if you don't tell it to the others."
"Of course I won't tell it to others. After all, you decided to keep mine so I should also keep yours." Dist said as he visibly relaxed.
"Could I ask you a question?" Dist asked after a moment, curiosity plain on his face.
I doubt it really is only ONE question. Kratos resisted the urge to sigh or to say his thought out. I guess it wouldn't hurt since he knew about it already and would have figured the rest out on his own... wait, why do I get the feeling of our role being reversed compared to when we were on the ferry?
Taking Kratos' silence as permission, Dist began to ask his question. "So are you a pseudo Seventh Fonist?"
"If by pseudo you mean only having Seventh Fonon in my body recently, then yes."
"How?"
"It happened when I accidentally touched a fonstone."
"... what exactly happened when you touched it?"
"The fonstone glowed and a feeling of warmth spread within my body. I presume that Seventh Fonon was being passed into my body at that time."
Dist had a calculated look as he absorbed the information Kratos gave him. "When was it?"
"..."
"I would have thought that that was before our first encounter, seeing as how you used a Seventh Fonic Arte to heal me. But then there is also the question of why no monster came after us when we were in the forest near Mt. Roneal."
Dist narrowed his eyes at Kratos. "So I suppose it was after you dropped me off in Daath."
"..."
"I take it I'm correct then. So if you weren't a Seventh Fonist back then, how did you heal me?"
Dist sighed at Kratos' silence. "It's fine if you don't want to tell me now, but I swear I would get to the bottom of this."
He crossed his left arm in front of his midsection, rested the elbow of the other arm on his left hand and rubbed his chin with his right hand. "But how? It shouldn't be possible for someone who didn't have the inborn ability to use Seventh Fonon..."
"I want to know the answer to that myself. I've heard that attempts had been made to create a pseudo Seventh Fonist in the past but it failed when the subject underwent some permanent damage."
Dist nodded at Kratos' words and recalled the many side effects the experimental subjects of Fomicry suffered from when they decided to change the structure of the replicas to ones that were purely based on Seventh Fonon. "Neural contamination and Fonon mutation, sometimes the physical appearance of the subject will also be altered to suit the Seventh Fonon gathered in their body."
He looked at Kratos with concern. "Did you feel anything weird after you touched the fonstone? And I don't mean something like the feeling of warmth you just mentioned."
Kratos thought about it for a while before answering. "Nothing I am aware of."
"... could I have some blood sample? I could help you figure out what and how it happened to you."
Kratos became silent at the question. He wanted to know what exactly happened to his body. However, if he let the man before him run a blood test for him, he would find out some other things that he was not sure he wanted anyone on this planet to know.
"No."
"Pleeeease! I really want to know how it happened! Don't you want to know too? And it would be a breakthrough if I figure out how to create a pseudo Seventh Fonist without having them go crazy!" Dist whined.
"Don't make me repeat what I said." Kratos said with an air of finality.
"Bu-" Dist caught himself and did not finish his sentence as he saw the 'look' on Kratos.
"Fine, see if I care when something horrible happens to you." Dist stuck his tongue out at Kratos and stomped away.
A smile tugged at the corner of Kratos' lip as he stared at Dist's retreating back, once again amused at his childish display.
It seems I don't have to worry about him telling others about this at the moment, not when he wants to be the one to take the credit of finding a way to gather the Seventh Fonon for those without the inborn ability to use it. And...
"I just want to trust a friend."
He sure is taking this 'friendship' seriously. I didn't want to think of it that way... but it's true that I'm manipulating him through his value of friendship.
"I will be here coming Loreleiday." He called out after Dist and, instead of resuming his own training on the manipulation of Fonon, he followed Dist back to Belkend.
"Stop following me!" Dist shouted at Kratos once he noticed the man following after him.
"I am not following you, this is the only path back to Belkend."
"Y-You!" Dist's face flushed a scarlet red as he pointed an accusing finger at Kratos. Then he let out a frustrated sigh that showed his irritation towards the red headed mercenary and, without saying another word, stomped towards the direction of the Fon Machine Labs. Kratos shook his head lightly and after that, he headed towards one of the local bars.
Although only a meeting time and place was written on that mysterious message he received three days ago, he figured there might be some other things going on in this city, otherwise there wouldn't be a need for secrecy for Evenos' messenger. He decided he would also do some digging up before meeting this mysterious messenger.
He didn't like the idea of not knowing what was going on if he could help it, and where else apart from bars could get him the most information? It also helped that today was Gnomeday when most workers would take a break from their work and most likely go to the bar to relax. He knew which bar would be the most crowded from his previous visit to Belkend and knew that that would be a good place to start.
When he entered the bar, it was already very crowded despite that there's still be another hour before the sun set. He went straight to the counter and ordered a beer from the bartender. After he took his beer, he found a secluded corner where he could observe all the customers that came to the bar and sat down there. One of the perks of equipping the Cruxis Crystal was that he could hear loudly and clearly what the others were talking about without needing to get too close to them. He started listening to the various conversations taking place and tried to pick out the 'interesting' ones as he pretended to nurse his beer.
"... that guy is the most annoying..."
"...a millionaire!" "Yeah, dream on, as if you could ever..."
"... you think I have any chance with..."
"... is your kid doing..."
"... could never figure it until... brilliant mind, if not for his..."
"... not going back tonight... not until she..."
"... least until we have a more clear instruction from-" "Shh! Are you mad? This isn't the place to talk about it!"
Kratos glanced over to the direction where that last conversation he picked up came from and saw three men huddling together in one of the corners. They looked to be in their twenties. There wasn't any distinctive feature that separated them from the others in the bar. All three looked soberer than most other occupants. Although each of them had a beer in front of them, all mugs were full, it was as if the three mugs of beer were just a cover for whatever they really came to do, like what Kratos was also doing.
"Hey, don't blame me, he is the one that started it." A black haired man said and pointed at the brown haired man sitting beside him.
"Don't point at me, I only asked if we should let him know about it." The brown haired man rebutted.
"Stop it! What are you, children? We have better things to do than hearing the two of you arguing like kids, especially about this. We will do whatever is required of us, nothing more, nothing less, so stop asking questions like that."
"Fine."
They started conversing about other daily matters after that. Kratos knew he wouldn't be able to hear anything more that sounded 'interesting' from the three of them. He started listening to the other conversations to see if he could pick out other 'interesting' ones while keeping an eye on the group.
About ten minutes later a man entered the bar. To be fair, many people came to the bar, the reason Kratos paid more attention to this man was that out of the corner of his eye he saw the brown haired man became rigid the moment this newcomer showed up. The newcomer was a bespectacled elderly person, Kratos judged that he was of similar age as Evenos. Another thing Kratos noticed was that this man did not fit in the bar, not when he was wearing a laboratory coat. However, since most of the customers in the bar were already starting to get drunk, none noticed the out-of-place man or just didn't care.
The newcomer looked around the bar and started moving towards the direction in which the group of three were huddled up once he spotted them.
Before any of the men could say anything, the elderly man held up his hand and stopped any of their attempts to speak. "Follow me." He said and turned around, heading towards the entrance of the bar despite only just coming in less than thirty seconds ago. Without saying another word, the three men got up from their seats and followed him.
After a while, Kratos also stood up and left the bar. Once he was outside, he looked around and saw the group of four heading towards the direction of the Fon Machine Labs. He followed after them at a safe distance.
"Do you have it?" The leading man asked when they left the more crowded streets.
"Yes, V-"
"That's enough for now, you could tell me more later."
When they rounded a corner, he noticed another presence also tailing after those four. He slowed down his pace and took note of the other person that was doing the same thing as him and saw a girl with short dark hair. She was wearing all black, a suitable choice of clothing for stalking. A katana was strapped on her waist.
He couldn't see her face clearly as she was moving fast while blending into the shadows cast by the surrounding buildings in the setting sun. He only knew that she was a girl because of her slim figure that was tightly hugged by the dark skin-tight clothing. He had to applaud her speed and her skill at silent moving. Not exactly sure where this was going, Kratos decided to conceal himself from all the five people he was tailing after and decided to only make his presence known to the girl after he knew for sure that it was safe for him to do so.
"Hey, didn't you say that no one would be working now?" The black haired man questioned as they passed by Fon Machine Lab Two and saw lights coming from within the lab.
"I bet it's Dist, he is always in the lab doing whatever it was that pleases him." The elderly man said.
"Aren't you also like that? Being a scientist that obsesses over his research and all."
The now confirmed scientist sighed. "I would say he is a more extreme case."
"It doesn't matter what he is doing, but would he interrupt us?" The one who Kratos labelled as the more rational of the original group of three asked.
"I don't think he would leave anytime soon. Even if he does, it would be of little consequence. After all, he is also one of us." The scientist replied.
"Oh yes, about that, we were talking about whether we should also let him in on it too. Although I have heard about his temper and personality issue, it would be a great help if he was to also take part in this." The one Kratos labelled as the 'loudmouth' said.
"No, not yet. I haven't heard anything of the like from Van, though it wouldn't matter if he was to accidentally stumble upon it. It seems his coming to Belkend was not made known to him either, maybe I will ask him about it the next time I saw him."
"I thought you were told to drop it." The black haired man pointed out.
"I don't see any problem with just asking." 'Loudmouth' rebutted.
"Haven't you heard the phrase 'curiosity killed the cat'?"
"That doesn't ha-"
"Drop it! Could the two of you stop arguing with each other for at least an hour?" 'Rational' hissed.
The scientist chuckled at the three young men following him. "Talk about nostalgic, it sure brought back memories."
The group became silent after that as they continued on to wherever their destination was.
So much for this being a secret mission. I have to tell Evenos that Van would sooner or later learn of Dist's coming to Belkend. Though if these men here are working for Van, judging from their need for secrecy, it seems I have hit bull's eye. I wonder who it is that girl work for though? Is she an ally or enemy?
Several minutes later, the four men that he and the girl were following after stopped before the back door of Fon Machine Lab One. The scientist took out a key card from his pocket, typed some password and opened the coded door. The door closed after the men got in.
Kratos saw the girl rushing over to the closed door and put her left ear against it. He could now see that the girl's hair colour was deep dark violet and she had a golden green right eye while her left eye was covered by an eye-patch. She looked to be in her early teens, probably around the age of fifteen, or maybe even younger if she was also making herself look older like Van was doing.
With his enhanced hearing, Kratos picked up the words coming from the other side of the door without moving an inch from his hiding place and exposing himself to the girl.
"I wonder how long it would take for this research to bear any fruit."
"Are you stupid or what? This is the most dangerous research I have ever heard of, we need to proceed with caution. And it was only started recently, at least another ten years would be..." The words faded out as the group got deeper into the lab and Kratos couldn't hear them talking anymore.
It seems that the girl also couldn't hear anything anymore as she sighed and straightened herself. Realising that nothing would happen unless he did something, Kratos stopped hiding his presence. The girl immediately noticed another presence in the vicinity and stiffened. She got into a fighting stance with her hands hovering over the hilt of her katana. However, once Kratos stepped out of the shadow to let the girl have a better look at him, she relaxed and dropped her fighting stance.
"Kratos Aurion?"
"Who is asking?"
"Cantabile, a Major serving in the Sixth Division of the Oracles." The girl replied.
"You are the one that sent the message." Kratos stated.
"Yes, I never imagined we would run into each other in such circumstance."'
"So the message you sent is related to this new and dangerous research. I take it that this experiment is not referring to Fomicry."
"We still haven't found out what this experiment is, only that Van claimed it as something the previous Grand Maestro ordered him to research on. It also seems that he has talked the newly appointed Grand Maestro, Mohs, into it and has his full support. Despite being the highest leader in the Order of Lorelei, even Evenos wouldn't be able to know about something that the Grand Maestro decided to keep from him." Cantabile explained. "How much did you hear?"
"I reckon about the same as you, I started following them when they left the bar." Kratos answered.
"Wait, you mean you have been following those three before that or you just suddenly decided you have to follow them when they left the bar? And were you also following after me?" Cantabile asked in a tone full of amazement.
"The latter. I picked up their... shady conversation from the bar when I was trying to do some investigation on my own. And yes, I was hiding my presence from you."
The violet haired Major whistled. "Fon Master Evenos had told me what to expect when he sent me on this mission and I thought he was exaggerating."
What exactly did Evenos tell her about me? Kratos raised an eyebrow at the girl's word. "I take it you followed the scientist."
"Yes, I saw him talking with Van in this city two days after Van was supposed to be sent on an 'official' mission to visit his sister. I reported it to Evenos after I got back to Daath and that's when he sent me on this mission."
"I see. What exactly is your mission?"
"I am to stay in Belkend to find out as much as I could about this research. I was also told to introduce myself to you while I'm here. Although I don't know the details, I supported Evenos' ideal to overthrow the Score. He told me about you and how you were also one of his supporters in it. I could tell that the Fon Master has high expectation of you and I would like to offer my help should you need it in the future."
"I will keep that in mind when the time comes."
Sensing that the more serious part of the conversation had ended, Cantabile decided to talk about something else. "So, I heard that you are babysitting Van's newest recruit."
Instead of confirming Cantabile's word, Kratos asked another question instead. "Have you met Dist before?"
"No, I was in a long-term mission away from Daath since before he joined, though I've heard bits and pieces of him when I reported to Evenos. He also told me a bit about him." Cantabile pulled a face as she recalled the conversation about a certain scientist between her and the Fon Master.
"I take it you don't like what you heard." Kratos commented, amused at the weird expression on the female soldier's face.
"Well, yeah. Evenos told me what happened when he ordered Dist to come to Belkend. I can't imagine anyone having the guts to yell at the Fon Master, nor could I imagine anyone in their right mind doing something like that... I mean, he always has this grandfatherly aura surrounding him that makes people not want to raise their voices at him. He is also the highest leader of the Order, how could he be so disrespectful towards his superior, didn't he think of the consequences before doing such things?"
At the word 'disrespectful', Kratos chuckled lightly as he remembered what Dist had told him about his former best friend and his most hated person when he was still in Keterburg. He could easily guess that the former best friend he was talking about was Jade Curtiss, and the other one that he called 'pea-brain' would have to be the Crown Prince of Malkuth, Peony Upala Malkuth.
"What is so funny?"
"Just remembering something Dist told me before, about how... respectful he could get towards those he doesn't like. And yes, I agreed that he was disrespectful towards Evenos, but I can assure you that that wasn't his worst."
"Right." Cantabile said with a disbelieving tone and sighed. "I am not the type to judge others based only on a third party's opinion, but I trust Evenos when he told me about how unstable Dist could get."
She then shrugged. "Who knows, maybe my impression of him won't be as bad if I am to meet him in person. Anyway, I would leave it at that and I hope you can succeed in whatever you want to do with him."
Kratos nodded. "I will see you when you get back to Daath then, unless there is something else you require of me."
"No, not at the moment anyway. I would report my findings directly to Fon Master Evenos once I return to Daath." Cantabile nodded at Kratos one final time and left the area.
Despite Dist's anger at Kratos refusing his request, he had come to the fields outside Belkend to seek out his pseudo teacher come Loreleiday. In his hand was the weapon he promised Kratos he would bring with him to their session.
"So this is what you meant when you said you want to try something out? Brilliant, is what I would have said if you have also taken into account that the strength of it would also be significantly reduced." Kratos dead-panned as he looked at the large scythe Dist was holding with just one hand.
"No, it isn't what you are thinking." Kratos arched an eyebrow at the smug look on Dist that said 'I-know-something-you-don't.'
"Here." He threw the scythe over to Kratos who caught it with ease. His eyes widened slightly as he realised that the weapon was much heavier than he first thought when he saw Dist carrying it around without breaking a sweat.
In fact, I think it's even heavier than a normal scythe. "How?" Kratos asked as he swung the heavy scythe and slammed it down onto the ground, noticing how the weapon easily cut through the hard land as if cutting through warm butter.
"Oh that's easy, I just added a few glyphs of the Third Fonon to the weapon and adjusted it to my Fonon frequency so I can carry it around with ease while any other person handling it will feel the full weight of it." Dist looked at Kratos and the scythe next to him. "Though I am amazed at how easily you handled it, I made it to be much heavier than even the normal ones."
"I see, this will also stop others in their attempts to steal it from you. Clever."
The smug look returned to Dist's face at Kratos' compliment. "Of course, I am a beautiful genius after all."
Seeing Kratos' unimpressed look, the look on his face was replaced with nervousness. "The- there is also another ability I added to the scythe."
He walked over to the weapon in question and gripped the handle. A seal appeared underneath the scythe and in a split second, it shrank till it was no larger than a dagger.
"How is it?" Dist turned to his companion and asked with a smirk.
"If you want me to say I am impressed, then yes, I am impressed at your skill in Fontech. However, I will be more impressed if you could stop showing off so we could get to the lesson."
Ignoring Dist's flushed face and gaping mouth, Kratos told the man before him to enlarge his weapon again and take a defensive stance.
He knew the scientist had absolutely no idea how to fight, much less what a defensive stance looked like, so he told him to just take a stance in which he thought to be the most defensive and they would work from there. However, one look at Dist's sorry excuse of a defensive stance, Kratos knew that it would undoubtedly be a long time till Dist could become someone capable of defending themselves, much less a real soldier...
Well, he was in reality just a researcher... but still...
Author's Note:
splitheart1120: Yes, Kratos really needed that power boost if he was to survive and still be something like a war god in this fic.
Martel Irasia: Glad to know I gained another story follower^^ Hope you enjoy the rest of the story.
It may be a bit confusing as to why Kratos suddenly decided to train Dist in defending skill. Kratos had been a teacher of swordsmanship many times during his long life, it was also during those teaching sessions that Kratos taught his students not only skills in fighting, but also the ways of life... maybe that sounds weird... but you understand what I'm saying, right? Anyway, since Kratos decided to steer Dist away from his twisted goal to revive Nebilim, it would be easier to do so if he was to become something like his mentor.
About Dist using a scythe, well, you have to admit that there has got to be some reason he was known as Shinigami (Death God) Dist or Dist the Reaper after he became a God General. And another reason is that... I personally like the idea of someone wielding a scythe, really, I think it's cool. Too bad so far there aren't any Tales characters (the playable ones) that use a scythe as their weapon...
Did anyone guess that the messenger of Evenos is Cantabile? For those that don't know who Cantabile is, she is a character that was introduced in Tear's Story in Tales of Fandom Vol. 2. She was originally a God-General and was later replaced by Asch. By the way, some of the dialogues Kratos heard in the bar were referring to Dist.
Uploaded on 31 July 2012. Edited on 7 April 2013.