Hello again! Sorry, I've taken so long to update. I had February vacation (We went to Disney world :D). And then we had less than a week before I was hit by standardized testing. Stupid CAPT, grrr… Anyway, I don't own Tales of Symphonia… but you know that.
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Autumn turned to fall with no further incidents for the two friends, that is not to say there was no fighting. Yuan had discovered that Kratos fought back better when he actually had to, so as part of his training Kratos was regularly jumped. At first Kratos was rather miserable with this turn of events, but soon became used to it. And when winter came their fights took on a different form.
" Ha, Kratos I got ya!" Yuan laughed as one of his snowballs hit home. The boys were running towards the mansion carrying (and tossing) stockpiles of snowballs. School had let out early that day, partly because of a coming snowstorm, but also because winter break would begin the next day. By the time they reached home both were wet with snow and laughing. The boys began planning what to do with the day, they never worked when it was snowing, not after they had almost gotten snowed into their hideout.
" There you are, Kratos!" Mrs. Aurion came hurrying towards them waving a letter. " I received a letter from your father. He and his troops should be arriving soon for the holidays. Do your dress clothes still fit you?"
" I don't think so… They were already rather snug last year," Kratos told his mother. Yuan watched them awkwardly; Mrs. Aurion always spoke as if he weren't there.
" I thought they might not. I'll send up the seamstress to make you some new ones. Now go clean up, you look a mess," She scolded. " I do hope the snow lets up, or they'll have a lot of trouble getting here." Kratos and Yuan left her worrying at the foot of the stairs.
" Man, Kratos you always dress stuffy. What do your dress clothes look like?" Yuan asked as they made their way to Kratos's room.
" More stuffy. I have to wear This fancy frilly shirt, and my shoes are shined, and my waistcoat has got all this trim, and my pants are really stiff. The whole thing itches," Kratos said looking rather cross. Not very helpfully, Yuan laughed. Kratos glared at him before opening the door to the room. Both boys changed into drier clothes, although Kratos wore only simple undergarments so he could be measured. When the seamstress came in carrying large bolts of cloth, pins, and more measuring tape than could possibly be necessary, Yuan looked at Kratos.
" The next few days aren't gonna be very fun are they?" He asked, Kratos looked at him darkly.
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The next week, went by in much better spirits than Kratos had suggested. Along with Kratos the entire mansion was decorated; Yuan had never seen anything like it. Back home the preparation for The Day of Celsius extended only so far as a few extra candles in the church and everyone taking a bath. The Aurion's, however, were far more extravagant. Every room in the entire house was covered in signs of the season. Streamers, and lights covered every wall. Tapestries as big as carts hung in the entry hall, and smaller ones hung everywhere else. The guest bedrooms were all aired out and cleaned. Each room was meticulously prepared; the rooms going to officers were given even more care, with specific details being changed to their liking.
Mrs. Aurion was running the household in much the same manner her husband ran his troops. The slaves were her army and they waged war on the house. The two boys dashed in amongst the chaos, helping where they could, but more often making nuisances of themselves. When they ran into Mrs. Aurion they would be sent away to take cover in Kratos's room. But being entirely to caught up in the feel of the holiday, they couldn't stay still. As a result, the bedroom was probably the most decorated in the house. Yuan would sneak out and steal decorations which they hung all around the room. In honor of Celsius the two boys even put fake icebergs that floated around Noishe's tank.
When they were not decorating they made use of the toys that lay unused for most of the year. Once when locked in the room for an extended period of time, they turned the room into a battlefield where stuffed animals waged violent war against each other. As much as he was enjoying himself, Yuan still thought odd that the humans went to such lengths to celebrate a deity which they didn't even believe in. Eventually he came to the conclusion, that like Kratos on the last day of school, they wanted an excuse to party.
As the week came to a close, the preparations reached their climax. The mansions ballroom was opened. It was the biggest room in the mansion, and it went to waste the rest of the year. Yuan was positive the plantation's entire slave population could live comfortably inside it. The room was cleaned until it shown. The floor was mopped, and the little stage was vacuumed (Yuan became very excited over this new machine), and when no one was looking the two friends skated across the floor in their socks. Down on the grounds a path from the street to the house was cleared, and lights were hung to show the way. The stables were cleaned to accommodate all the visiting horses, and then everyone waited.
Kratos was sent to bed by his mother, and was told that when he woke up he should wear his nice clothes and that everyone would be there. However, once dressed for bed the two stationed themselves by the window and waited. They sat in silence, as long as they could. From the dark room, they could see the entire plantation. Down by the edge of grounds the slaves were beginning their own celebration. Every night for the next week they would be given extra food and drink, and no one, except for those serving, had to work.
" Hey, Yuan?"
" Yeah?"
" How do you like the celebration so far?"
" It's great. I've never had so much fun in my life. Everyone's in a really good mood, even the slaves," Yuan responded.
" You are a slave," Kratos told him.
" Oh, yeah," Yuan said in wonderment, having nearly forgotten he was in such a position. " Although, your mom doesn't seem in such a good mood."
" She takes parties and stuff really seriously. She says she wants a good reputation, and that people judge you on how everything looks," Kratos replied, tracing patterns in his breath on the window.
" You included?" Yuan said grinning at him.
" Yes, me included. She gets judged on how I look. She says good mothers have well dressed children," Kratos was blushing now. Yuan had been teasing him all week about how his mother dressed him. " Although you have to dress nicer than normal too!"
" Oh no, now my shirt comes in a different color," Yuan said sarcastically. Suddenly the boys were distracted by lights coming down the path.
" Oh look Yuan! They're starting to arrive." The precession was astounding. Cart after cart rolled up the path towards the mansion. The sound of laughter and singing drifted up to Kratos's room as the soldiers entered the house. For the first time since his arrival, Yuan wondered whether the mansion was big enough.
" Damn! There's got to be more people here than in the entire half-elf army! Who's guarding the humans?" Yuan said in amazement.
" There are still regiments left. This is just my dad and his men, and his friends and their men. He doesn't like everyone," Kratos told his friend.
" Damn!" Yuan said again, and whistled. The last cart was now coming down the path, behind it slaves were extinguishing the lights.
" I think that's my Dad," Kratos said, " He always comes last."
" You wanna go see him?" Yuan asked.
" Oh no, I'd just embarrass him," Kratos replied heading for the bed. " I'll see him in the morning." Yuan watched his friend sadly. It didn't seem right for Kratos's dad to be embarrassed just because his son came to see him.
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Both boys woke up very early the next morning. Behind the door, they could hear the busy hallway fill with people. Hurriedly they changed and washed up. Yuan admired his frosty blue shirt in the reflection of Noishe's tank, but was not as kind to Kratos's clothes.
" You look hysterical! Oh god, your really are one of the decorations aren't you?"
" Shut up, Yuan," Kratos whined, " I don't like it and your not making it any better!" Yuan did a poor job of stifling his laughter.
Grumbling, Kratos lead the way into the hall. They struggled to move amongst the crowd of soldiers that now filled the hallway. When they reached the stairs the crowd thinned out, and the boys were finally visible.
" Well, this must be Aurion's son. Don't know anyone else with hair that sticks up like that. Although your father hardly has any left," A tall man had approached them and was now laughing at his own joke. When he realized that Kratos found nothing funny about his father's baldness, the man shut up.
" Well, just hope you've got your mother's genes in that area. Anyway, have you seen your father yet?" The man said. Kratos shook his head. The man stared at Kratos as if wondering why the boy was silent. " Anyway follow me."
The boys trailed after him, as the man lead them down the stairs to the parlor. The parlor was one of the many rooms Yuan hadn't discovered until the decorating had begun. It wasn't a very large room but it had an air of importance about it. The room had a large fire place that immediately drew the eye. In front of the fireplace were a few fancy love seats, and bordering the it were two thin book shelves. In the room General Aurion sat beside his wife, but each talked to other people. The general was laughing with a short, stocky man and an old gentlemen in a very fancy uniform; his wife had the rapt of a young officer. When the three entered the room it grew silent.
" Why, General Zlatan I see you found my son. Come here Kratos, there's someone I'd like you to meet." Kratos approached cautiously, leaving Yuan to stand in the doorway with General Zlatan. General Aurion gestured to the old man beside him.
" This is Commander Swift. The commander of the human army," Kratos gasped and then gave the commander an awkward bow. Yuan stifled a laugh and ended up snorting. Meekly he looked up at Zlatan, who was looking at Yuan out of the corner of his eye with disgust.
" Nice to meet you, sir," Kratos said politely, hoping to take attention away from the half-elf in the doorway.
" Such a polite boy," The commander said patting Kratos on the head. The man was obviously getting on in years, and seemed as if he wasn't entirely aware of his surroundings.
" And Kratos, this is General Everard, training master at the Swift Military Academy." General Aurion said gesturing to the short man. Kratos performed another nervous bow. Everard had a piercing gaze and was studying the boy intently.
" Will he be going to the Academy?" Everard said.
" Eventually, he's a little young now." Kratos's father replied.
" You sure he's got it in him?" Everard said bluntly.
" My family has been fighting this war for generations. Trust me my son will too," At the same time both men turned and looked at Kratos. The poor boy became very pale and whimpered. The room was silent.
" Hey, generals! The boys are having a snow war outside! Come and lead us," A captain said poking his head between the half-elf and the general who stood in the doorway. The commander, and Everard got up to leave.
" I'm not sure I should leave my wife," Aurion replied.
" I'll be fine dear! I was just going to show this young man some, um, sowing I'm working on," Mrs. Aurion said. There was silence.
" Do you like sowing, Sergeant?" General Aurion asked.
" Love it," said the sergeant. For a moment the two Aurions stared at each other. With humph General Aurion followed his colleagues out of the room. Behind them came Mrs. Aurion and her sergeant. Kratos stood alone in the room staring at the carpet. Yuan watched him for a moment trying to think of something to say.
" Come on Kratos! Let's grab some hor 'devours and go to your room. We should be able to see their entire giant snowball fight," Yuan said. Kratos perked up immediately, and together they ran from the room.
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Sort of a short strange little chapter, but the next one is sort of a continuation so it shouldn't be to bad. Only one more chapter before, our boys turn into teenagers. They're growing up so fast! Anyway, I was asked whether or not the CD booklet had Yuan's age, it did not. It just had bios for the nine playable characters and Mithos. I know it's sad. About as sad as the fact that I can only read the numbers…
Also I got all the general's names from Zlatan is some precious metal, Everard means brave boar. We all know what Swift means. I hate naming things…
