Mez's welsh phase for today: Beth bunnag, dydw i ddim yn meddu Tales o Symphonia.

Anyway, I don't own Tales of Symphonia. (Just in case Welsh lawyers are after me! Okay, now I know why Ross calls me paranoid…but I call him depressed, so I was asking for it. Oh, look, I'm rambling!)

I wasn't looking forward to facing the Seraph, but I couldn't honestly say that I was dreading it – you need some warning, if only a second, to dread something. I didn't have the luxury of that second before Mithos attacked.

My brain normally had a good endurance for controlling my elements, but right now I was brain-dead, and knew I could make some fatal mistakes if I tried anymore wind control. I moved in to fight short-range. Not the best idea, but at least this way, if I made a mistake, it would only kill me.

Wait…did I really think that? I must be more tired than I thought! I moved further away, trying to give my brain time to recuperate.

The battle seemed to be taking a turn for the worse. Everyone was badly hurt and Raine didn't have the time or mana to heal them all.

"Raine, here." I said, and handed her a Melange Gel.

That took care of the mana problem. Now, if only Mithos would stop casting spells…

It must be said that I don't always like my own ideas. "Hey, Mithos! Over here!" To be honest, I wasn't expecting it not to work, as the idea was so clichéd. I guess evil villains don't have time to watch pathetically predictable movies, though.

For my shout, I earned a Photon. Still, it had distracted him. I carried on the clichéd hero's calls.

"Is that all you've got?"

Holy Lance.

Pulling myself to my feet once again…"You weakling!"

Ray.

I ran out of clichéd things to say, when… "Nurse!"

Raine had managed to heal everyone. Battles went on as normal.

There was one brilliant part where Yggdrasil used Outburst to knock everyone nearby into the air. Stephen and I took advantage of this to send a blast of fire and water at him, then as Lloyd was landing, he slashed down with one blade.

Again, it was Lloyd's blow that ended the battle. Mithos, after all this time, was dead.

Kratos cut any celebrations short. "What exactly did this battle change? You must still form the pact with Origin. I shall wait for you in Torrent forest, beyond Heimdall."

Kratos walked away. Acting on an impulse, I crept away behind him.

I didn't manage to get ten meters away when… "I can hear you perfectly well, Nia."

"It wasn't you I was trying to stay hidden from." I retorted.

"You shouldn't come with me."

"You shouldn't be on your own at a time like this."

"You're not coming with me." Kratos tried using his adult authority.

Like it was going to work on someone who knew Tales of Symphonia inside out!

"Fine, I'll just follow you on my own." I said. "And you have Lloyd to thank for giving me that line."

Kratos gave that weird snort. I followed him regardless.

When Kratos took out his wings to fly to Heimdall, I hesitated. Despite the words he said earlier, he stopped.

"What are you thinking about?"

"Which bird I'll be. I could be a buzzard, or a red kite, or a peregrine falcon, or a kestrel, or a…"

"How long does this list go for?"

"Alright, I think I'll be…a golden eagle, for a change."

Random fact time: The golden eagle is Britain's largest raptor with a wingspan of 190-250cm. In flight the silhouette has quite straight wings and a long tail.

I took off, with a couple of powerful wing beats. Once aloft, I caught a thermal to soar upwards.

Kratos drew alongside me, then shot forward.

I smiled mentally. It almost seemed like Kratos wanted a race.

I swooped down in what would normally be a killing move, gabbing Kratos' arm in my talons, but not squeezing as hard as I would have, if I were a hungry bird killing a mouse.

"What would have happened if you'd missed?" Kratos asked.

'I would have collided with you, maybe crippled a wing and fell.' I didn't sound put off at all, mainly because I wasn't. The air was my home and nothing could go wrong.

'There's Heimdall.' I noticed.

The village was easily recognisable from the air due to the large ring of water around it.

'Wait, will the elves even let me in? Me being a half-elf and all…' I asked.

"You are with me." I didn't get another word from him as we landed just out side Heimdall.

Random fact: In Norse mythology Heimdall is the guardian of a rainbow bridge that linked the world of the humans (Midguard) with the world of the warrior gods (Asguard). Moving on…

"Kratos!" The guards obviously recognised our purple swordsman. Did I mention that purple's a really cool colour?

"Can I see the elder?" Kratos asked.

"Sure, you know where he lives. Just a question, but what is that bird doing on your shoulder? In fact, what is that bird?" The nosy guard asked.

'That 'bird' is non-of-his-business!' I thought aloud.

Kratos was smiling at my pert, yet honest response.

"I am told that the bird is a golden eagle and as for what it's doing on my shoulder, I suggest you ask her yourself." Kratos left some very confused guards behind him when we left for the elder's house.

I was half-tempted to stay behind and creep out the guards, but I knew I needed to listen to what the elder would say.

I swear, the first words out of the elder's mouth were, "What is that bird doing on your shoulder?"

I got slightly annoyed. 'I have a name you know. Nia! N-I-A!'

The elder wore a bemused expression, and I knew he'd heard me. He turned to Kratos for explanation.

"You aren't the first person to ask." He explained. Changing subjects, he asked, "May I enter Torrent Forest?"

"You know you need not ask permission to enter, Kratos."

'Wait, what makes you so special, Kratos?' I asked.

"You know Mithos used to live in Heimdall, don't you? Then, when the Kharlan War started he got thrown out.

Once he'd split the worlds with the Eternal Sword he wanted revenge. It was only because I was Origin's seal that Mithos actually listened to me." Kratos explained.

'But that must have been generations ago.'

"It was, but the elves never forgot. After all, if their ancestors had died, they wouldn't be here now."

"I assume Lloyd will come through here soon." The elder said.

'Kratos, explain about Genis, Raine and Stephen. Otherwise they may have a hard time.'

"Lloyd is currently travelling with three half-elves. Would it be possible to show them the same hospitality as you no doubt will do for the humans?"

"For you, we shall try." The elder was sincere.

"Then, I'd better depart."

We left. Well, Kratos left, I just hung on for dear life from my comfortable perch.

"Would you mind not squeezing that hard? That is my sword arm." Kratos muttered.

I relaxed my grip slightly and the red flush that had come up in his hand faded.

Kratos drew out his turquoise wings (Nia's note: I want!) and flew to Origins shrine.

I'm leaving you there for two reasons.

1. It means I can do a double update.

2. More importantly, I want the next chapter to be completely separate from this one.

Review! Obviously I can't mention people who reviewed last chapter, because I'm putting them up at the same time, but thanks go to everyone who does review.

And I want people to start telling me whether they'd prefer me to do the sequel to this, or the Kranna fic next. I know I said they were the same fic, but I decided to separate them. Please tell me, because right now, I'm thinking a lot about the sequel.