It's been forever since I've updated this, I've seen my errors in my last chapter about not adding enough detail and such, and I will fix that problem to the best of my ability! Ok, this next chapter will basically cover the background information about the Worlds before they were cut off from one another in all ways (seeing Mithos yggdrasill fixed it so the Wholly Ground of Kharlan was one of the only ways to go from the two worlds. And yes, for some reason I still believe it was two worlds. Heheh, I'm such an idiot. But I will change the thing about the two worlds now.
Important Change; I made an error with it being two worlds, so know the plot line is the world has caused a war between all the nations for mana, and the group feels the only way to solve this is to make pacts with the summon spirits. And just why is Kratos so eager to join them? You'll find out sooner or later!
Distant Worlds
Chapter Two: A Few Simple Ground Rules
"Yuan! Yuan, wake up! That creepy guy is gone!"
Let's just say being awaken by an annoying twelve year old isn't all too pleasant. It was early morning, or alittle past dawn, and the morning frost was just now fading away. Staring blankly at Mithos, I could only pull the blankets around me tighter, blocking my view of the blonde. Unfortunately this was the wrong thing to do.
"Get up before I tell Martel you love her," Mithos complained, still attempting his goal of pushing me awake. Snarling angrily, I ripped the blanket off my body and starred defiantly at the younger companion. Sure he knew my weakness, but he was only a child. You could never trust anything a child had to say anything. But the fact Mithos was Martel's brother was the issue. Disdainfully, I sat up in bed and just starred at the blonde.
"Don't ever try. Now, what was this about the mercenary leaving? Oh what was his name. Gwah, his name isn't important anyway, he's a human," I muttered, alittle peeved about the man's disappearance. A slight chuckle came from Mithos before he grabbed my hand and dragged me out of the hotel, not even caring to see if I wanted to put on some new clothes, or even brush my hair. The nerve of that brat.
"And Martel's with him I think," Mithos added, dragging me out into the bright sunlight of Sybak. I bit down on my lip.
"Stop at once before I-, what? He has Martel with him! Once I find him I am going to blast him to pieces," I growled. I would have cussed, honestly, but Martel told me not to use fowl language around Mithos, so I tried my best to obey her rules. But it was pointless, humans used fowl language about us all the time. So what was the difference anyhow?
"Hurry! Stop babbling and follow," Mithos hissed letting go of my hand and ran off down a street. Shocked, I bolted after him. This journey was starting to become a nuisance, even though it had barely started. And the fact about this mercenary guy taking off with Martel,I just wanted to go back to Heimdall, exiled or not.
"Mithos, hold on," Panting, I tried to catch up with kid, but my running skill wasn't a strong suit I had. Leaning against the side of a building, I watched Mithos stop for a moment and whirl around to see me a few hundred feet behind.
"You're so slow! Come on Yuan! Right now that guy could be hurting my sister!" Mithos whined, and set off at even a faster pace. Just those few words set off sparks in my head, and I ran forward, ignoring any pulsing pain I was feeling at the moment. Martel was the most important thing at this moment, and that guy wouldn't dare lay a finger on her.
It was another ten minutes before both I, and Mithos, had found both Martel and that guy who's name keeps escaping my mind, at a side shop. With a sigh of relief, I walked up to them. At first I wanted to tell Martel how worried I was about her, but thought otherwise. There was a more important matter, that guy.
"You damn bastard!"Hissing, I smacked the mercenary on the back of the head with my hand, without thinking. Holding my hand in mid air, I froze. Had I just really done that? Surely my life would end here, only within seconds by the looks of this guys strengths.
"Yuan! What's gotten into you! Mr. Kratos, I'm so sorry for my friend's actions," Martel whimpered. I wasn't sure if the Martel yelling at me part was what really got to me, or her just calling me a 'friend' was what peeved me off to the point of no return. Either way, I just stood there, and watched the man, who I know remembered was Kratos, turn around. Flinching, I awaited my punishment.
"Next time figure what's happening before you result to violence, half elf."
"Shut up!"
"You really are a vulgar one aren't you? Why can't you be more like Miss Yggdrasill and respect me."
"What's there to respect! You're just a filthy human!"
"Yuan! That's enough!" Martel silenced both I and Kratos' quarrel.Silently, I made a mental note to not piss this guy off. At first I thought he was a pushover, but I was starting to realize he was just like every other human out there who thinks they are superior.
"Ha ha! Yuan's in trouble," Mithos laughed from the side of me. Wincing in the humility, I eyed Kratos angrily. Never again would he humiliate me in front of Martel,or Mithos for that fact. Or let on that I was a half-elf to the public. Never again.
"What's with you two this morning? Rushing around town like you're on fire?" Martel asked, taking the subject off of what just happened. Crossing my arms, I glanced away and pretended I was oblivious of everyone. But that act didn't last long at all before Kratos had grabbed my shoulder and violently turned me around.
"Pay attention when someone is speaking."
"Who says I'm to take orders from you!"
"Don't use that tone of voice around someone who could easily tear you to shreds if he really wanted to."
"I'd like to see you try, human."
'Silence!"Martel spoke, stepping in between Kratos and I. Mithos just stepped away from our bickering, almost in attempts to block us out. I couldn't blame him, we were starting to get annoying.
"Sorry Martel," I spoke, not daring to breath the words 'I'm Sorry' to Kratos. Glaring at him for a few seconds, I noticed he had a flicker of amusement in his eyes. This guy was disturbing beyond all reason, and I didn't think that'd change.
"Are you three done fighting yet?" Mithos asked.
"Bantering is more like it," Kratos added in, giving me a suspicious glance. I felt like yelling at him 'Yea human, be suspicious of me. You better watch you're head, seeing I might chop it off in the middle of the night' but that was unlike me.
"Bantering then. Anyhow, can we please get going to the ice caps," Pleading, Mithos clung to his sister's side, almost in attempts to protect her from anything that might occur between Kratos and I.
"What's there?"Kratos asked, finally taking his stern look off of me and resting it on the siblings. For some reason I liked it better when he was looking at me, then looking at Martel. I swear, if I ever got the strength up to beat him, I would.
"The summon spirit of snow," Mithos smiled.
"That's ice, Mithos," With a smile, Martel corrected her younger brother.
"Oh right, Summon Spirit of Ice, Undine!"
"No, that's the Summon Spirit of Water. Celsius is the Summon Spirit of Ice, brother," Martel laughed. I didn't really find this funny, seeing my mind wasn't drifting off Kratos for one moment.
"Then I assume we will be heading off to form a pact?" Kratos asked, looking away from Martel, then back to me. Finally a chance to show him how strong I really was. Well, how strong I thought I was at least. Sure I could conjure up a few lightning bolts here and there, but was that something I should be proud of? And just what powers did this Kratos guy have?
"Right," Gleaming at the older comrade, Mithos looked over his shoulder at the city entrance.
"Kratos and I have already bought a few supplies we might need for our trip," Martel added in smiling.
"Where did you get the gald?" I found myself asking, taking my weary looks off Kratos and then resting it on Martel. Man was she so pretty to look at. Get a grip yuan, stay calm.
"Mr. Kratos volunteered to lend us the money."
"Pretty peculiar for a mercenary..." I muttered.
"Is that all you can say to Mr. Kratos after using his own money to aid our quest?" Martel almost yelled at me. Growling to myself, I stepped a few inches away from Kratos, just incase he might take too much offense to my next phrases.
"And stop calling him Mr., he doesn't even deserve to have a name..."
"Everyone deserves a name! If we didn't, then no one could tell us apart," Twitching my ear, I heard the younger Yggdrasill sibling add his two sense. Surely everyone could get along without names, humans never did call us by names anyhow. Mostly like 'it' or 'you' or 'half-breed'. So no names wouldn't be too much of a hassle for us.
"May I speak to you, alone?" Kratos suddenly asked, gesturing to me. Ok, to be honest this creeped me out. Just the thought of being alone with this guy sent shivers down my blue hair then down my spine. Maybe he was going to kill me now and get it over with.
"M-me? And I do have a name you know."
"Yes you, Yuan," I could hint sarcasm in his voice. The nerve of this human. He was so cruel to me, but so sophisticated and well-mannored around Martel and Mithos. What was so different about me.
"Whatever, if you're going to kill me now, get it over with," I found myself saying. Honestly I didn't want that to come out, but a smile crossed the man's face for a split second.
"I'll save that for later, now come along."
Without any other choice, I followed Kratos away from the others to speak in secrecy. Really, I just wanted whatever he was going to say to be over with. But this hell was just starting, and I would have to deal with it, to prove to Martel I could handle humans, even though I couldn't.
"I have a few questions for you hal- I mean Yuan." He corrected himself before he uttered the hated words 'half elf'.
"And those are?" Snapping back, I crossed my arms and made sure there was three feet in between us.
"The lot of you come from Heimdall, correct? Then why are you even broaching the idea of stopping the Kharlan War? Surely half elves can't stop the fight between elves and humans over mana."
"Correct, and also, that's where you're wrong, human. We can stop it."
"I'd appreciate it if you'd call me Kratos, unless you want me to address you as half-elf again." A snicker appeared on his face. Sighing, I gave a light nod and waited for another question.
"Fine then, Kratos."
"Also, it seems you are the eldest of the group? Excluding myself that is. How old are you then?"
"Eighteen, why," I snarled.
"Ah yes, right. And what about Miss Yggdrasill?"
"Seventeen," I answered in a whisper.
"And Little Mithos?" I cringed at the sound of 'Little Mithos'.
"Twelve..." By now I felt like smacking him all over again. Why did he care so much about our age. Whatever, if he was going to ask my age, then I could surely ask his.
"And you?"
"Why do you want to know?"
"Well, if you asked our age, then I have the right to know yours!" I snarled back, losing my temper.
"Calm down. And to answer your question, twenty one," He almost said it like he was disappointed in his age. Shrugging it off, I tried to ignore his age, and the awkwardness of talking to Kratos alone.
"If you're done, hum- Kratos... I'd like to return to my fellow half elves," I hissed, trying to escape Kratos.
"Do as you please, Yuan." Just hearing him say my name was bad enough. Why couldn't he just call me half-elf again. Just hearing him say 'Yuan' sent shivers down my spine over and over again. I knew I'd never get used to this stranger. Strange he was.
"One more thing."
"What?"
"I'd like to set a few simple Ground rules before setting off to The Summon Spirit Of Ice."
"Ground rules? What makes you think you can set ground rules for us!"
"Not 'us', but just you Yuan."
"Ground Rules for me, do you think you're my father or something?"
"No, I don't."
"Then continue..."
"Stay out of my way, number one. If we're in a fight, don't try to be the hero, seeing I can already tell your physical strength is lacking. Number two, don't ever raise your tone in front of me near the others. If you have a problem, ask to speak to me in private. Surely you can even understand my reasoning behind that. And finally, I reserve the right to leave at any point of this journey. My reason being is mine, and for you not to know. Understand the rules now, Yuan?"
Staring blankly, I tried to make sense of everything he was telling me. How could he even tell that I wasn't as strong as I built myself up to be? Did I slip about it? Or was he just that observant. Humph, maybe that whack in the head did him some sense. And the rest of the rules I could deal with, odd they were, but still. I could deal.
"Fine then."
"All right, then it's settled. Let's make our way back to the others," Kratos grimaced. Reason behind his sudden sulk I did not know, and didn't honestly give a damn about.
"I second that," I yawned and followed behind pace of Kratos, not daring to defy him. Well for now, now I needed to test his boundaries, and limits. Both mentally and physically. And just possibly I could get a few of his secrets in time.
"I thought you two would never be back,"
What a welcoming greeting from the Prince Of Sarcasm, Mithos. Shifting uneasily, I took my place next to Martel and managed a fake smile. I had to show her everything was fine, even though it wasn't.
"Mithos, that's not the way to speak to Yuan and Mr. Kratos," Martel warned.
"Please, call me Kratos Miss Yggdrasill," Kratos answered with a smile. His odd like for her was getting me angrier by the second, and I felt like smacking him once more.
"Heh, all right then. But only if you call me Martel,"
"Very Well."
"I'd prefer him to be called gregeth," I muttered, cussing in elven to Mithos. It was a slip of the tongue, and Mithos had taken full pride in telling Martel of my vulgar language.
"Marteeeeellll! Yuan called someone a grothj," Mithos attempted the pronunciation. I doubted he even knew what a gregeth was.
"A what?" Martel blinked, Kratos starred at the boy and glanced over at me.
"Gregeth I am?" Kratos whispered to me suddenly. Uneasily I eyed him.
"Y-you? Of course not," I replied, almost sweating and letting on the fear I was starting to have about this guy.
"Humph, just checking, Yuan," He always ended his sentences to me by saying my name. And for some reason he found amusement in saying my name also. Shrugging off any suspicions about that act, I glanced to the others.
"I was just saying that if we were going to get to the Icgiard Region we should get moving," I yawned. Icgiard Region, where the temple of the Summon Spirit Of Ice sat. The land bridge from this continent to the Icgiard was a danger, but would be better then attempting to sail by sea.
"Then we are talking the strip of land to Icgiard?" Kratos asked, looking at me sternly.
"I would assume," I replied, biting down on my bottom lip.
"All right then! And thus begins the journey of Mithos and his companions!" Mithos joked, running out ahead of the three of us. Martel quickly scampered after him, more so worried he'd get hurt or lost. Sighing, I glanced over at Kratos to see he was looking at me again.
"And so it begins," Kratos smiled and brushed past me. Twitching angrily, I growled and followed him. This was going to be a long trip. An extremely long trip.
Author's Note:
Ok, 411 about this. Icgiard is the flanoir region, where Celsius is, but is much bigger and contains a few more towns and villages. It is connected to the Sybak region by a narrow strip of land on the east shore called 'Death Strip'. Or in elven "Montipleria". And that's it for the geography of Kharlan for now. I hoped you enjoyed this chapter. Heheh.