Well, I wish beware irregular nouns had an email to reply with, cause I wanted to say thank you so much for the compliment! …and suggesting to keep the onesided LloydXKratos? Hmm…
But then, The Amazing Chris said he wasn't a big fan to that pairing, and they both wrote such nice reviews…
So…I think I'll…do this!
But, before that…I don't own Tales of Symphonia. If I did, instead of a second play through…you could unlock the hidden game of the Ancient War with Kratos as the main character!!! (squeals)
When Kratos had first met Yuan, Martel, and Mithos, there was an uncomfortable silence among them. Who would talk first? What would they say? The hushed environment had more or less suffocated the only human in the area.
Four thousand and seventeen years later, Kratos still kept to the belief that silences with normally talkative people were terrible indeed.
Ten days. Ten days of awkward silence was all the auburn haired man could stand before he had confronted Lloyd about the 'near kiss'. The twin swordsman had apologized pathetically and loudly, before Kratos nearly shoved a sharp steel sword down his throat to quiet him.
The two swordsmen talked it out like reasonable people in the end; in actuality though, Kratos lectured on "how there are times when you want to be closer to a person, but you mistaken it for love", and Lloyd agreed without a second thought.
Sad to say, the twin swordsman hadn't completely listened to the older swordsman. Love knew no boundaries, right? Oh how wrong and right he was.
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"Take this! Light Spear!" a certain auburn haired man smirked as he saw that his slashes from his 'new found technique' were too much for the enemy. The giant sapphire rooster(?) squawked shrilly as it fell to its side, the stench of its death quickly polluting the air.
Kratos scrunched his nose at the appalling scent, but he quickly recovered, sheathing his steel sword and murmuring, "Never stood a chance…" He observed with a hint of relief that the remaining members had finished off what was left of the monsters. I don't think I have enough ma—
"Sis!"
"Professor!"
Damn.
The cries of Genis, Lloyd, and Collette were fairly justified, because said teacher collapsed from her stance on the battlefield. She gave the impression of being half dead, although Kratos assumed that Ranie was being faintly overdramatic.
"Kratos, heal her!!" Genis blubbered pitifully, obviously believing that his sister would truly die. "We don't have any life bottles left!" Collette and Lloyd nodded passionately in agreement; they were evidently worried about her as the young mage was.
Despite the loud cries of protest from the children, the purple clad swordsman casually walked in their direction, more irritated than concerned for his ally. Raine, Lloyd, Raine, Lloyd…at least my son (He recently refused to call Lloyd by any other title) has an excuse; he can't use magic... but she can heal herself! He silently seethed at the woman's foolishness as he approached the teacher.
What Kratos saw rendered him speechless.
Raine had a gapping hole in her chest, from Martel knew what, and her lifeblood was slowly seeping away, through her crimson tainted orange clothes and onto the grass. Although she must have been in great pain, the professor almost seemed calm, as if she accepted it…
"No!" Kratos knew that expression; he saw it through himself when he had almost been killed by Mithos after his betrayal seventeen years ago. If it wasn't for Yuan reminding Mithos that he was Origin's seal…"I won't let you die!" Kratos knew he shouldn't perform such an advanced healing technique, he was well aware that he would raise everyone's suspicions about him…but…
"Healing Stream!" He slammed both of his gloved hands palms down into the grass next to the silver haired woman.
A bright green circle that came from the ground practically blinded the three surrounding children as the magic ensnared the two adults, the sound of rushing water flowing freely through the area.
"W-what's that??" Lloyd shielded his eyes from the dazzling manifestation of mana.
"It's an extremely complex healing spell!" Genis informed, still shocked over the sight of Kratos, a simple mercenary, knowing such a difficult mantra.
"Will it save the Professor?" Collette smiled brightly, already knowing the answer. If the unmoving swordsman took his time to heal her, she will be fine.
As soon as the magic dissipated, Raine opened her sapphire eyes with a shot. She sat up, oblivious to the shouts of delight from the children.
Or the hidden glare of a swordsman.
"You," Kratos began icily, his face abnormally strained with anger, "You need to heal. If you wish to burden us further, I suggest you leave and go back home."
The former teacher sputtered a few incoherent words before simply crossing her arms over her chest and huffed. "It's not like I asked you to heal me…"
When had she begun to be like this? Kratos held back a growl, studying the woman before him with repugnance. She never was so childish, nor this irresponsible…
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Nothing was discussed or even mentioned about Kratos's outburst of mana; who would worry about such small details when they are trying to regenerate the world?
Raine, however, was not so easily pacified.
"How do you know that tech? Why haven't you used it before, we certainly needed it! And why--"
"Quiet, woman." The mercenary felt his eyes narrow once again, his voice surprisingly no more than a whisper, "The others are sleeping."
Another campout in the wilderness, but this time, Raine wouldn't stop pestering him. Kratos was taking the night watch, but the professor rejected the idea of slumbering without answers from the swordsman.
"At least time me where you learned it."
"What," Kratos couldn't stop the venom creeping out of his voice, "so you can NOT heal anybody?"
The silver haired woman became silent after that. Without anything but a mumbled, "G'night.", Raine sat next to her little brother and dozed off, leaving the swordsman feeling quite responsible.
And a little alone.
85 hits for the last chapter...and two reviews. I think I'll go cry in a corner now. Nooo, I don't need reviews, oh Martel forbid! Noooooo...