Tales of Symphonia, idiot renegade

((A/N: Wow, I got lots of positive responses to the Botta thing.

Crystal adept: Nope, sorry, no Idiot seraphim 4. It's gotta end some day... And yes, I did complete 3.

Silver Latias: You gotta love the broomcloset!

Katandshadow: The word necrophilia pops into my mind... (yeah, I misspelled that.)

Kitsu: The Katz thing came from Genis having a Katz costume too, obviously.

Neeako: Well, it's always nice to have cookies with you, in case of an emergency.

Dragonwings144: Yes, Regal's shirt is really really gay. Extremely gay.

Everyone else: Thanks for reviewing! You can all have some of Zelos's cookies! Yaaay!

Zelos: H-Hey! My cookies!))

Chapter thirty-six.

Yuan returned to Triet base, feeling incredibly gloomy. So, this was it. Kratos would finally release Origin's seal. The goal he'd been striving for would be reached. The worlds would be reunited again, and the Great Seed would germinate. But why was he not pleased?

Sighing, he slumped down in his chair and looked over at a photograph on his desk. It was taken a long time ago, when it was just the four of them. On it, Mithos was pulling Yuan's hair, and Martel was shouting at him. Kratos just stood at the side, staring at this strange scene. Kratos had always been the serious one. He never joined in on games, or joked around. Though this had changed a bit after four-thousand years. Yuan was suddenly reminded of the Scrabble game they still needed to finish. And then he was reminded of a conversation he'd had a long time ago.

/Flashback time/

"Sir, what's this picture?"

"Hm?" Yuan looked up from his game of Minesweeper, to see Botta staring at the photograph on his desk. "The ones I used to call my friends." He replied nostalgically.

"You look like you used to have a lot of fun together." Botta remarked.

"Actually, they were the most annoying days of my life. But I suppose they could be counted as fun." Yuan pondered.

"If I had friends like that, I'd never let them go."

"Even if they turn out to become your worst enemies?"

"Yes. Deep down, they'll always be the same person."

"And what if they had to sacrifice themselves to save the world?" Yuan inquired.

"I'd search for some way to save them. Isn't that what the Renegades are all about? To avoid sacrifices?"

"Botta, you're one heck of a side-kick, but also a hopeless optimist." Yuan sighed, turning back to his game of Minesweeper again.

/End flashback/

"That's it!" Yuan called, running over to his bookcase. "I'll search for another way! Or atleast some way to save Kratos. I can't let him die!"

Sadly, after a long, sleepless night of flipping through books, Yuan came up empty. He hadn't found any way to prevent Kratos from dying. Though he had discovered a way to turn summon spirits into vegetables for a limited amount of time. But that wasn't very relevant to the current situation.

'I need coffee…' he thought, rubbing his eyes tiredly. He looked over at his cup, and saw that it was empty. Groaning, he got to his feet and walked over to the cappuccino maker, placing the mug inside it.

'The main problem is that Kratos's mana will be gone once he releases the seal. And without mana, he will die. How do you solve a problem like that?' he yawned slightly, and pressed a button, causing his cup to be slowly filled with coffee again.

"… That's it!" he called suddenly. "When your coffee mug is empty, you refill it! So if someone's mana runs out, you need to refill it!"

Completely forgetting about his coffee, he hurried over to one of the many stacks of books, and pulled out the one titled 'controlling mana for dummies'. Slamming it open, he flicked through the pages until he found what he was looking for.

"It is possible to transfer one's mana from one body to another. If you do so, this will result in your own mana level dropping, and the other's mana level rising." He read. It was followed by simple instructions on how to do so.

"Alright! Yuan to the rescue!" Yuan hopped to his feet, and stared at the clock. "Oh my god! It's ten o'clock in the morning! I hope I'm not too late!" grabbing his cloak, he quickly teleported himself to Torent forest. He appeared in a deserted clearing.

"… Hey, this isn't the location of the seal! Where the heck am I!" he called out in frustration. His voice echoed across forest, and caused a few birds to fly away in alarm.

On the other side of the forest, Kratos Aurion looked up, and listened intently. A long silence followed.

"Kratos!" Lloyd called, running towards him, followed by his usual posse, and Mithos.

"So you've come." Kratos unsheathed his sword. "Well, let's get this over with."

((Oh noes! Will Kratos win this battle? Will Yuan make it in time? Stay tuned for the next chapter of Idiot Renegade!))