Me: Chapter 10! Double figures! Two chapters ago I would have never thought that I'd get this far. I have a nasty habit of abandoning unposted fanfics.

Kira: What's kept you going?

Me: The reviewers. I know it sounds corny but I would have given up about five chapters ago if I didn't know that people were reading.

Kira: That, and the fact that laras daughter would kill you if you didn't carry on.

Me: Right. Well, I need a disclaimer. Kira?

Kira: Mez10000 doesn't own Tales of Symphonia. She only owns a copy of the game and Nia, Stephen, Cyclone, Izarax and Naois.

Me: Thank you. Which doll do you want this time?

Kira: Mithos!

Me: You have a thing for angels, don't you? (Gives a Mithos doll)

Kira: Yay, now I can practice voodoo!

Me: (Anime sweatdrop)

Either I was very small, or Derris-Kharlan was very big. As the thought went through my head, I reminded myself that I was still a finch. I had perched on Kratos' shoulder. Stephen was a small, fast dog trotting at Kratos' heels.

Kratos first walked towards the warp to Mithos' castle. An angelic guard stopped him.

"Lord Yggdrasil is busy. He does not want interruptions. If you have an appointment, I suggest you wait."

"How long has Lord Yggdrasil said he will be?"

"Lord Kratos, he told me not to let anyone through for all of this day."

Kratos turned swiftly and made his way through Derris-Kharlan. Many corridors later, he stopped at a computer terminal and pressed some buttons.

'What are you doing? What's going to happen?' Stephen asked.

"I'm inputting a sequence that will change the destination of the warp pad. It will be redirected to the second level of Derris-Kharlan. That is where the Seraphim quarters are, as well as training facilities and other essentials." Kratos muttered.

'In English, please?' Stephen asked again.

'Kratos is redirecting the warp pad. Also, Kratos has no idea of the existence of English or England.' I explained.

'Oh. So, we're staying the night?'

"I would assume that would be obvious at this point."

'Hey! What exactly are you inferring?'

'Stephen, he's not inferring anything. He's implying that you're stupid.'

'Take his side, why don't you?'

'Thanks, I already had!'

"How do I get myself into these situations?" Kratos asked thin air as he stepped onto the warp.

We were in a corridor with doors on either side. Kratos counted two doors on the right and opened the door. It was a fairly small room, with only a bed, desk and lamp.

"Since it seems like we'll have to get on with each other for a while, I feel I'm entitled to some answers. Then again, I am aware that these answers could destroy Symphonia, so I won't press you for the answers." Kratos sounded much more casual than normal.

(A/N Kratos is IC! Now watch it all fall apart…)

'Alright, ask away.'

"What is your world like? How different is it?"

'Hmm, we rely on electricity a lot. Electricity is what we call Volt's mana. But, there aren't any Summon Spirits. To keep the world's natural balance in check there are guardians of the elements. Of course, most people in our world either don't know this, or believe it to be a myth.'

'Nia, you left out one important detail; who the guardians are.'

'Fine. Kratos, we're the guardians.' I said as casually as possible.

Kratos' mouth was slightly open.

"You are equivalent to the Summon Spirits?"

'So?'

"You just don't seem…how you would expect a higher power to act."

'Don't let Stephen's intelligence mislead you. Anyway, Gnome is really annoying. He has got to be less 'Summon Spirit-like' than us.'

"True. My second question isn't really a question. I need to know more about Naois."

'Will you be taking this one, or shall I?' I asked Stephen.

'You.' Was the instant answer.

'You need to understand that once, Stephen and I were a little overconfident in our powers. Neither of us knew where Naois came from. At the time, she just expressed a strong dislike of us for no apparent reason. The first time we came head to head ended in her running away to a different world. Then we made our first mistake and followed her.' My emotions were shown heavily in my voice, as I clearly remembered that event.

'She had lead us to her own world. It was pitch black and neither of us could see a thing besides Naois and ourselves. We couldn't even see each other. She tormented us. Without speaking a word, she filled her world with a sound that was, for me, unbearable. A drop of water falling. At first, it didn't bother me, I couldn't feel the water, so I regarded it as a joke. But as time goes on there is only the drip of the water. You may think its laughable, but that drip of water was the most effective form of torture.'

"It is one of Mithos'…Yggdrasil's torture methods too." Kratos spoke. "One of his favourites, as it doesn't physically harm the person you are torturing."

'That more or less sums it up. Anyway, what are we going to do for the rest of today?'

"There is the combat training area just down the hall." Kratos suggested.

'I can't believe that we never get to see this level of Derris-Kharlan. It's awesome!' Stephen said.

'Kratos, what if we get caught?' I asked.

"Mithos is busy in a meeting. Yuan is elsewhere; for some reason he's been spending less and less time here. And no-one else has the fifteen digit security code."

Ten minutes later

We were in a fairly large room, about the size of a sport hall. Various wooden and blunt weapons lined the walls.

"So, Kratos? You going to teach us some cool fight moves or what?" Both Stephen and I had taken our half-elven forms.

"I can see why Kratos couldn't believe that we are element users." I sighed.

Sometimes, working with Stephen could be grating.

"Choose your weapon." Kratos reluctantly said.

"You don't have to do this if you don't want to, Kratos."

"No, the more you prepare for oncoming fights, the better."

Stephen had already run up to one of the walls, looking at some short swords that could be passed off for daggers.

"Nia, your weapon?" Kratos pressed.

"I always prefer hand-to-hand combat."

"Haven't you ever used a weapon?"

"Once or twice I've used a bow and arrow, although it wasn't in a fight. The best thing about hand-to-hand combat is that it's hard to lose your weapons."

"Fine. We shall start with the basics…" Stephen groaned at Kratos' words. "First, I want you to go from relaxed to alert. When I say so, draw your weapon."

The first time Kratos shouted "Now!" I got into a fighting stance and summoned some fire. A second later, Stephen drew the two daggers from his side and shoulder. This wasn't acceptable, according to Kratos. We practiced a couple of times until eventually…

"Now!" Kratos shouted.

Stephen's hands whipped to his daggers and pulled them out, bringing himself to a fighting position. However, he didn't keep hold of the dagger in his right hand, which went flying towards Kratos. He did what any sane human would do and duck. The dagger landed with a thud in one of the walls.

"Whoops."

After a little more practice (with safety covers on the daggers), Stephen had it perfect. Then Kratos started some basic techniques. For safety reasons, we couldn't all practice at once, so first it was Stephen against Kratos. Stephen wasn't happy.

"Me, against Kratos? It's not fair!" He complained.

"He's not going to hurt you."

"Him, hurt me? As if. I'm just concerned for Kratos."

"I wouldn't worry. It's not often that you find someone who has been practising swordplay for four thousand years."

Stephen gulped.

"You know, it is customary to face the person you're fighting." I pointed out.

Stephen turned, and saw Kratos in a fighting stance. He got his own daggers out.

"Begin."

Stephen thrust at Kratos with his right dagger. Kratos blocked the blow, moving his sword as little as he could. Kratos tried to return the blow, but Stephen teleported out of the way, emerging behind him. Stephen hit Kratos with the flat of his blades.

"I win!" Stephen triumphantly said.

"You cheated. Kratos could have easily cast Judgement if you were both using techs."

Stephen and I had a little 'debate' about who won, while Kratos swore never to teach again. (Don't all teachers do this once a day?)

A mechanical whir drew my attention upwards.

"Kratos, what is that?" I asked, pointing at a spot high up in the ceiling.

"Looks like an air vent." Stephen butted in.

"Quite. It is part of Derris-Kharlan's ventilation system."

"I feel a movie cliché coming on…"

Minutes later, I was crawling through the air vent, alone. Stephen flat out refused to come and Kratos stayed with him. I heard the Mission Impossible theme tune running through my mind.

I came to a slight problem. The shaft went straight up.

I changed into a bird, not realising what the strong air current would do. I was blown straight upwards, to Martel-knows-where, in Derris-Kharlan.

I stopped myself from being blown around by turning human again. I had conveniently stopped by an air vent opening, so I looked through. Voices drifted through from below.

"If you keep your end of our bargain, I'll keep mine." I identified the voice as Yggdrasil's.

From my viewpoint, I could see that he was talking to a screen, but his body obscured most of it, so I couldn't see who he was talking to.

"I just have to deliver Colette to you, and you'll make Seles the Chosen?" I recognised the voice, making my heart sink. The slightest movement from Yggdrasil earned me a glimpse of red hair.

I realised, unhappily, that I had witnessed the moment when Zelos betrays the group. Disgusted, I tried to find my way back to the training room. Although it took me a while, I firmly memorised my route, knowing that it could become handy.

Another short chapter. I am really sorry, and I have a lot of ideas for Derris-Kharlan and some miscellaneous ( Thank God for Word's spell check!) events, but there will be a jump in the timeline soon, because I really want to get to the sequel. I'm planning a Kranna fic (I'm a diehard Kranna fan!) and a Presea&OC fic (Pregal, yuck and Gesea can be all right…), but I don't trust myself to do anything with those because I know I'll abandon this fic, and betray the trust of you guys.

Sorry if this, and the last chapter, was a little bit Stephen bashing, but I'm going to make up for it. Just be patient.

I have been squeezing people I know for ideas and apart from Jana and 'the-real-Stephen' I haven't had anything but doom and gloom for Kratos! Any ideas anyone?

By the way, if you actually read all the way through this, please review.