I just had to do Mithos…

Disclaimer: I do not own Tales of Symphonia.

Part III: Mithos

I don't want to be all alone. I don't want to be left all alone in the darkness. And yet, I sensed that my friends of old were drifting further and further from me. Especially Kratos. I know how loyal he once was- he's stood by me all throughout our 4,000 year exile. But then, he met that filthy human, Anna. Oh, don't get me wrong- I didn't think she was that bad at first. Anna was the test subject for the Angelus Project, a project that I allowed my flunky, Kvar, to go through with. I decided that I might as well let the eager, newly- appointed Cardinal prove himself. Time passed…Kvar sent news that the project was almost near completion. I wanted to oversee the completion myself, but Yuan stopped me.

"Let Kratos go- he needs to get out once in 4,000 years. He hasn't been down to Sylvarant ever since the worlds were split. Let him get some fresh air. You know, stretch out a little bit."

The way Yuan had put it, it sounded almost as if Kratos was going developmentally backwards. But of course I saw through it. My dear Yuan…you think you can try to outwit me? Don't make me laugh…You and all your schemes…I know about them all. I know what you were really trying to do. You were trying to weaken the bonds between Kratos and me, weren't you? You were trying to show him that the outside was better than my beloved Derris Kharlan. Heh…and you succeeded- although, not directly. It was all because of AO12. She entranced my Kratos. She STOLE him from me. She stole his heart, his loyalty, and made them her own. She took Kratos' faith, which was already crumbling, and rebuilt around her. She shut me off from him. He didn't care about me. I had already known that he had voiced displeasure about my "Age of Lifeless Beings." This solidified it. I was heartbroken. What was wrong with what I did? All I wanted was to save Martel and fulfill what she wanted done- to have a world free from discrimination.

So Kratos deserted me. He abandoned me just like everyone else in the world did. I couldn't believe it at first. And then Kvar told me the whole story. He told me everything- how Kratos had killed all of Anna's guards and then escaped into the night with her. How AO12 still had the Cruxis Crystal on her- Key Crest-less of course. How Kratos was now searching for a way to allow humans- can you believe the nerve of this? - to use the Eternal Sword. To use MY sword. I was so very angry. Of course, Kratos foresaw this. I knew he had, because he set up a countermeasure against me. He used Yuan. Yes, Yuan blocked every single one of my attempts to regain Kratos. But then, I managed to get a plan past my sister's wily fiancé. I found a way to find Kratos…

"Mithos- if you send an army of angels after Kratos, he is going to know that you're after him."

"Doesn't he already know that?"

"Yes, but-"

"Yuan- I know that Kratos knows that I will go after him. If I send an army throughout, I can easily alert the Five Grand Cardinals of Kratos' betrayal. They will be on the lookout for him. He will NEVER be able to settle down as a human. NEVER. I'm sure that after being hunted for a while, he will come back and let Anna go, Yuan."

"I don't think so, Mithos. I've seen him with the girl. He looks like he'd do anything for her."

"Oh really?"

"Yes."

"Then maybe we should use HER to regain the traitor."

"You run the risk of damaging the Cruxis Crystal she has."

"I am willing to take that risk, Yuan. We must get both Kratos and the crystal back. I need both of them. I don't mind if you kill the girl."

"Won't that…destroy Kratos?"

"He'll get over it. You'll see. I'll make him get over it. Didn't you get over Martel? It's just like that. Don't worry- Kratos will be fine once he sees that human girl for who she really is."

"I just…don't have a good feeling about this, Mithos. I don't think Kratos will be able to handle this as well as I did."

"You act like Kratos needs to be babied around, Yuan. I know him. He's tough enough. I have decided. I will alert the Cardinals immediately telling them to find Kratos and the Cruxis Crystal and return both to me undamaged. That way, your precious friend will not be so…affected."

I was sure that that had settled the matter. Yuan left that meeting with a strange look on his face. I sent word to my subordinates that Kratos Aurion and AO12 were to be found and returned to me- alive. The search took longer than I thought. Kratos proved trickier to catch than I expected him to be. Of course, I suspect Yuan was helping them through the whole thing. I knew he couldn't refuse Kratos- after all, Kratos was the one who had helped him through his depression over my sister's death.

And then, one day, I received news from Kvar. He and his men had trapped the couple in the Iselia forest, and had managed to capture Kratos. Sadly, he reported, Anna had fallen off of the cliff taking the Cruxis Crystal with her, as well as…their son. This news shocked me. I did not expect Kratos to like the woman that much. And yet, here was news that he had had a kid. I was wounded. He was acting like he liked those pathetic, separated twin worlds over the glory of Derris Kharlan. I knew then that Kratos Aurion had to pay the price for abandoning Mithos Yggdrasil.

Kratos was taken back to Derris Kharlan by Kvar and his men. Bloodied to a point of almost non-recognition, Kratos was thrown in an unceremonious heap in front of me. I forced his head up, and looked into his eyes. They were empty, devoid of any life. The spark that Yuan said had existed when he had been with Anna was gone, replaced by an eternal black void. I asked him why he had left, why he had taken Anna, why he had had a SON. He responded in a dead voice, a haunted one.

"I…don't know…something…told me that I…should…"

"And what was that something?"

"I…don't know."

"Come now, Kratos. Don't play games with me. Tell me. Was it because…you wanted to see what life as a normal person was like?"

"…"

"Answer me."

"I…can't."

"And why not?"

"Something…prevents me."

"Ah. I see how it is. You want to protect her. Even though she's gone, you still want to protect her. What's the point in that? She was just another human. In case you haven't forgotten, Kratos, humans KILLED MY SISTER! And then…you…you have the NERVE TO GO MARRY ONE! DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU'VE DONE? YOU'VE BETRAYED EVERYONE! ME! MARTEL! HER MEMORY! DOESN'T THAT STAND FOR SOMETHING!"

I slapped him. Hard. I couldn't hold myself back. A part of me wanted to stop, to take him into my arms and tell him that I knew what it was like to lose a loved one too, but the Yggdrasil part took over, told me that didn't I say that betrayal was the worst crime? Wasn't Kratos a betrayer? Hadn't he left me alone, when he had promised that he wouldn't? So I slapped him. I didn't stop. My voice rose in volume as my rage for the past three years let itself out. He fell back, did nothing to stop me, did nothing to resist. I hit him again and again. When I stopped, I looked down, breathing heavily. I felt…strangely calmer, although, my anger had not been sated. I ordered the guards to take Kratos and lock him up in one of the rooms. As they dragged him out, Kratos gave me a haunted sort of look. I haven't forgotten it. I don't know why, but his expression that day still gives me chills. It was…so unhappy. Pain-filled, sorrowful, all the horrible emotions that I had experienced when Martel died were etched into Kratos' face that day.

I went to go visit him later. He looked dreadful. That same haunted look only added to the stark gauntness of his once trim body. He sat there on the cold stone bench staring straight ahead, seemingly not breathing or anything. All he did was stare. He didn't move, not even when I called his name softly. He didn't say anything. He didn't DO anything. Those damn blank eyes kept looking straight ahead, locked in their unending gaze. As I left the room, the guard informed me that Kratos was not eating, was not drinking, was not even sleeping. He had been sitting in that same position since the beginning. It saddened me, to see my loyal seraph brought to this pitiful state all because of one damn human woman. If only…if only I could have protected him, then he wouldn't have to suffer so much. Surely Kratos knows that I just want to protect him, that I want to protect him from the outside. However, a small part of me tells me that all that I keep telling myself about Kratos is a lie.

You don't want to protect Kratos; you want to make sure he doesn't leave you.

You only want to protect yourself…

End Part III

A/N: Sort of twisted sappy Mithos there. Definitely twisted, maybe not so sappy. Also, for those of you who care, I ended the Mithos section with him telling himself that he only wanted to protect himself because I think that one of the reasons why Mithos reacted the way he did to Kratos and Anna was because of his loneliness. I mean, that's pretty much what governs his actions throughout the game- he's lonely. Poor Mithos… Anyways, hope you enjoyed Part III. Now, go review!