The last Angel on Earth
Yuan had closed his eyes as he sat on a tree branch of the world tree Yggdrasill. His hands were folded behind his head while he closed his eyes. Yggdrasill was doing great. Over the course of millennia he stopped counting how much time had passed. He just knew that a lot of time had passed.
Everyone he had known back then - annoying Lloyd, carefree Colette, smart Genis, calm Raine, mysterious Sheena, playboy Zelos, quiet Presea, collected Regal, shy Emil and loud Marta – everyone has died a long time ago. Well… Emil technically didn't die because he was the Spirit Ratatosk. But what was the difference anyway? As soon as Marta died Emil returned to his Spirit body and force himself to forget about his love. And he didn't know if his best friend was still alive. Derris-Kharlan never passed over, what was this planet called again?, Aseria again. Maybe they had found peace far, far away in a solar system.
How twisted that sound…
He was thinking about himself. He was older than Yggdrasill itself and still he loved this tree. It was not a love considered between two lovers. It was a love between two friends. He had felt the same towards his oldest friends Mithos and Kratos. It was solely a platonic love. Despite how much he got into arguments with the two.
One day he met a kinsman again. He didn't question Dhaos' motives. He really didn't. But, despite his weird appearance, which reminded him of Mithos Yggdrasill somehow, he was actually a very nice guy. They had met only once. They talked about Yggdrasill and Yuan told him the creation of the tree because he was bored. Dhaos told him that he came from far, far away and needed a Mana Seed from the tree. Yuan didn't ask why, he only said that the tree couldn't produce a seed because of magic technology. Dhaos never asked what magic technology was and left. He never saw him again. Shortly he even wondered if that guy died. It was just another soul lost in the stream of time.
Yuan sighed and looked to the leaves above his head. They rustled in the wind. He didn't need to be with the tree all the time. Sometimes he disguised himself as an old man named Tristan. He could cover his identity as a half-elf or even as an angel. With this disguise he met a human which reminded him a little of Kratos. Miguel Albane was strong but bad at expressing his feelings. He loved his wife Maria dearly. Just like Kratos did. Then he was slaughtered alongside his wife. Only their child survived. Cress Albane was more like Lloyd… At least he guessed he was more like his best friend's son. He sometimes even wondered if Cress and Miguel had been direct descendants of Lloyd. He never kept track of Lloyd's family after his passing.
Suddenly he heard voices in the distant. Yuan grumbled in annoyance. What did strangers want here and… He stopped midtracks as he could tell to whom the voices belonged to. Speaking of the devil, it was Cress Albane with Mint Adenade and Chester Burklight.
Shortly after he heard the voices, he saw from his position three humans, Cress, Chester and Mint. The latter reminded him a little bit of his fiancée Martel. Not the tree spirit but the half-elf. Yuan watched carefully the humans. Cress had reins in his hands and was leading a brown horse to the valley. The horse itself was dragging a cart with a tombstone to the place with little to no effort. From his position he could read two names written on it. One was Claus F. Lester, the other one did actually surprise him. It was Dhaos' name. So that guy has also passed.
"So… Where do we place this tombstone?" asked Cress.
"I would like to place it… here." Mint said after she walked towards a place and gestured with her gloved hand to it.
"That is a good position." Chester replied.
Soon they managed to place the tombstone onto the ground. Mint went back to the horse and cart and got some white flowers. Then she walked back.
"I know that we would have never meet each other naturally, Claus. We don't even know where you are buried." the swordsman began sad. "But may your soul return to earth and rest there for all eternity."
"We don't know how the rituals of burying the dead works in your home country, Dhaos. But we wanted to place your name on the tombstone as well." the young woman continued.
Chester had closed his eyes and muttered:
"Rest in peace, you two."
They stood there in silence for quite some time, never noticing Yuan's presence at all. And then… they turned around and wanted to walk back to Toltus.
"That was quite the speech." Yuan announced his presence. "Why are you humans all so sentimental all the time? Do you really think the dead care about stupid tombstones or burials?"
The three stopped and turned yet again around. They looked around the valley but couldn't find anyone until Mint raised her gaze upwards and found a young man who looked like he held far more wisdom than someone would suggest. Yuan raised an eyebrow at the curious gaze of the three before he jumped from the tree branch and landed safely on the ground.
"Who are you?" asked Chester.
Yuan smirked at the question but decided not to answer it. Let's see how much he could tick the three off.
"I don't need to tell my name to you humans." the guardian said.
"You are a half-elf then?" concluded Cress.
"I used to be a half-elf. Now I am the Guardian of Yggdrasill."
"If you are the Guardian of the World Tree why haven't we seen you before?" the swordsman asked.
"I don't need to be with Yggdrasill all the time. I often walk under you mortals and disguise myself as a human."
"How is that possible?" Mint said her question. "We've met several half-elves before but not once they could disguise themselves as humans."
"Have you listened to what he said? He said he used to be a half-elf." Chester explained. "This guy over there is now the Guardian of the World Tree. One of his abilities might be to disguise himself as a human."
"I am impressed." Yuan stated. "But my abilities have nothing to do with being a Guardian of a World Tree. I enhance my abilities with a special crystal I found several millennia ago. This crystal also allows me to control the aging process of my body to the point where I can't die naturally."
The guardian walked towards the group and stopped in front of Cress. He smirked as he watched how the eyebrows of the teenage boy twisted. He was now certain that this boy was a direct descendant of Lloyd.
"Then… you are alive as long as Yggdrasill itself." Mint concluded.
"I am even older than the tree itself. I was there then this tree was planted by the son of my best friend." Yuan remembered.
"How old are you anyway?" Cress asked him.
"Lost track. If you are as old as me, time doesn't really matter to you anymore." the guardian answered him.
"Well… That's true… I guess…"
"The only thing that matters to me is to keep Yggdrasill alive at any cost. I once travelled to the civilisation of Thor in order to prevent further use of magic technology and stop a war. Then I noticed that a comet was going to collide with the planet I start to manipulate the calculations. In the end Thor was directly hit by the comet and the vast majority of humans and half-elves were whipped out from the planet's surface."
"How cruel can you be?!" Chester shouted in anger.
"Trust me. If Yggdrasill dies the world will be overwhelmed with demons because the seal that keeps the demons away will break. In the end I saved the planet from the demons countless of times." Yuan said.
"You!" Cress raged and drew out his weapon.
"Oh? Did I strike a nerve?"
Before Cress could even attack him however, Mint stepped in front of him, effectively stopping him. The guardian watched the young woman and thought to himself that she really was reminding him of his fiancée. Shaking his head, he said an apology.
"Take a deep breath and calm yourself. It doesn't help you if you get angry at him, Cress." Mint advised him. "He explained it to us. He is the Guardian of the World Tree. His job is to prevent the Tree's dying."
The other three remained quiet until Yuan began to chuckle slightly.
"Never change, Mint. Never change." the guardian said.
"How do you know my name?" she asked him curiously. "Unless… We have met you before. But where?"
"Does the name Tristan ring a bell in you?" Yuan replied.
"You are Tristan?! But… Tristan is an old guy and was a good friend of my father!" Cress shouted. "I thought he had passed once we returned."
"Haven't you paid any attention to what I said, Cress?!" Yuan snapped.
"Sorry…"
Yuan closed his eyes and talked to himself in order to calm down again. Just like Martel said so many millennia ago. It wouldn't help him if he got angry at himself. After he calmed down again, he turned around and put a hand on the tree's trunk. He smiled slightly as he felt the presence of the Spirit Martel.
"So… Uhm… What are you going to do now, Tristan?" the swordsman asked him.
"Call me Yuan." he stated. "And to answer your question. I don't know. The tree is healthy and don't need my support currently."
"How about you come with us, Yuan? You can help us rebuild Toltus." Mint suggested.
Yuan considered this option. Why not? He could help them rebuilding Toltus. At least he would have something to do until the day they all die. Hm… Maybe he should then watch over their descendants. That was a good idea.
Author's note: Yuan technically could live in Tales of Phantasia . Why I made him Tristan, a friend of Cress' father again, you might wonder. Well... It just came to me~. Hope you liked this little One Shot about Yuan, Cress, Chester and Mint. ^^