Disclaimer: I do not own Tales of Symphonia.
Mithos gurgled as water entered his mouth and nose. He felt his senses fading away, yet his mind refused to give up. He knew that his sister was on this ship, and that if this monster wasn't stopped, her life would be in grave danger. With this thought, he opened his mouth to begin chanting another spell, despite the tentacle wrapped tightly around his ribs.
No voice emerged from his throat. Instead, a stream of water came gushing in. The young boy berated himself for stupidly attempting to cast a spell underwater. As he finally gave up struggling, he noticed that as his arms relaxed, so too did the tentacle grabbing him. He used a sudden burst of energy as he pushed in a desperate attempt to break free, and to his surprise, he found the tentacle unwrapping easily. Quickly, Mithos swam to the surface, gulping down huge amounts of air and water both as he broke out of the ocean. Having regained his breath, he dazedly looked around.
The ship seemed to be in very bad shape with multiple holes poked through its hull. Most of the railing had been torn off of the deck. The only part of the ship still fully intact was it's metal skeleton. A lot of the wooden covering had been broken and thrown aside by the giant kraken. Swiftly floating away from the wreck were a bunch of small rowboats. He gazed, frozen in horror as one of the kraken's giant tentacles raised itself, ready to slam down and crush the tiny escapees. However, just before it struck, the tentacle jerked skyward and then fell to the ocean, limp. Mithos noticed a small figure with brown hair standing atop the stump that was all that remained of the tentacle before his own body was viciously dragged into the sea.
The half-elf struggled, violently flailing his arms in an attempt to swim aside. He had been pulled under not by the sea monster, but by a sudden shift in the water current. He knew what the cause was; the ship was passing by him, and he was too close to the mana-powered turbines that drove the vessel forward. An almost inaudible splash reached his ears as his strength began to wane. Closing his eyes, Mithos concentrated on the lessons Kratos had given him. He tensed himself, diverting his entire body's mana into the limbs that he would be using. His arms and legs were tired, but he closed his mind to all thoughts of fatigue. With great determination, he struck out, swimming away from the ever-growing current. His senses were blurred from being buffeted around in the ocean, and he could not even tell if he was headed away from danger or straight into it. Either way, he didn't have the time or the energy to check. His mana was running out and his mind was all but unconscious. He felt as if he was in a dream as he continued to swim out of sheer determination. His thoughts turned to his sister as he finally gave up. Martel… He hoped she was alright. His senses faded as a loud clanging sound rang somewhere in the back of his head.
Kratos leapt off of the severed tentacle and landed on the deck of the ship, only to fall through two levels lower as it crumbled under him. He quickly climbed back up and steadied himself on one of the metal beams that held the hull together. Mark appeared beside him, raising his double-blade into the cloud-covered sky and unleashing a "Spark Wave" upon the giant creature.
"Where is Mithos?" Kratos inquired, his voice tinged ever-so-slightly with emotion. "I cut off the tentacle holding him, but I haven't seen him surface."
"He's right there," Mark allayed Kratos' fears, pointing down into the water adjacent to the ship. "He seems to be keeping himself afloat just fine. Those cowardly seamen don't seem to be having the same luck, though." Mark indifferently looked off to the escaping crew of the ship. The kraken was poised to strike at them. "Don't tell me you're…" Mark was cut off as Kratos jumped onto a nearby tentacle and raced toward the kraken, leaping onto its half-submerged head. From there, the swordsman leapt at his target, severing it in one slice and landing upon the writhing stump that remained.
He turned and saw Mithos silently floating beside the wrecked ship. Directly above him, Martel clung to the metal beam that Mark had left her on, telling her to wait for him. The double-saber wielding swordsman himself was currently standing on one of the last stable pieces of the deck, chanting the mighty "Indignation" spell. As Kratos held on for dear life while they kraken flung him around, he noticed that Mithos seemed to be getting too close to the ship's propellers. He cried out to Mark, trying to get his attention only to find that Mithos was already in the grip of the wildly flowing water and was already pulled under the half-wrecked ship.
As a last resort, Kratos sent off three blasts from a "Fireball" spell. The first ball of flame came straight at Mark, distracting him from his spell. The second was sent straight into the sky, catching his attention. The third came to a sizzling halt on the surface of the ocean, telling the half-elf where to go. Without a word, Mark rushed to the edge of the ship and jumped off, drawing his weapon as he splashed into the churning water.
Once he had entered the dark world beneath the water, he immediately noticed Mithos. The young boy was trying to swim against the current in an attempt to keep his life from being grated to a painful halt upon the spiraling propellers. Mark would rather not risk his own life, but from what Kratos had told him, this was Yersil's son, and he needed him to live. Without waiting for his mind to waver into hesitancy, Mark paddled his feet furiously, making his way towards the exact place Mithos was trying to escape. He used only one hand to swim, the other being occupied with holding onto the double-blade. Noticing the boy's pace dwindle, Mark put in more energy as he sped up. The current grabbed him and pulled him along as well. He saw Mithos' body go limp just as he jammed his long weapon between the propellers. One side of it stuck into the whirling blade on the starboard side of the ship while the other lodged itself and stopped the spinning blade on the port side. The turbines of the ship whined as they tried to force blades to start rotating again, but Mark's weapon was jammed in too hard. With a loud but muffled wrenching noise, the propellers broke and began to float away. The turbines began to groan louder and louder.
Kratos landed heavily upon the ship once again. He jumped through the holes and arrived beside Martel. The girl was leaning heavily against a long metal beam, still weak due to her affliction from the day before. Seeing that she wasn't in any immediate danger, Kratos raced along a different metal plank and jumped through an opening in the side of the ship, entering the fray once more. However, as he landed onto a wooden plank floating on the water, his attention was taken away from the kraken looming over him by a loud whining that came from behind him. He turned and noticed that the ship seemed to have lost its speed, and as it slowed down, it also rapidly sank.
"Kratos!" Mark's cry reached the human's ear. "The ship's turbines have overloaded. They can't contain the mana for much longer!"
Grasping the full extent of what his friend was saying, Kratos immediately turned around and jumped back into the ship. He raced down along the metal shaft and came up along Martel. Wordlessly, he grabbed the girl and used a gaping fissure in the deck to jump out of. Looking around, he spotted a single rowboat left on the side of the ship. Hurriedly, he placed Martel in it and then turned around, looking for Mithos and Mark. He spotted the pair swimming quickly towards him, Mark holding onto the unconscious Mithos.
"Kratos, even if we try to use this rowboat, the kraken will kill us!" Mark yelled.
"It might decide to stay with the ship."
"No. It's after me, so it'll come to us and leave the ship alone. We have to do something about it."
Kratos was confused about why the kraken would target Mark, but he chose not to comment on his friend's words; he would trust him. Suddenly, he jumped back onto the ship, getting an inspirational idea.
"Mark, come on! Follow me."
Mark stared at the human. Why should he go back towards a giant and crazy sea monster that was just dieing to pound him into mush? However, he decided not to question Kratos' logic and followed suit, dropping Mithos into the rowboat and leaping back onto the sinking derelict. He came and stood beside the human.
Kratos was concentrating very hard on the ship's engines. They had been made with magitechnology and ran on mana. He used this fact to hold them with his own magic in order to delay their explosion.
"Mark, draw the kraken to us!" Kratos commanded.
"No need. It's already striking," the half-elf hysterically retorted. "Now we're dead! We should've tried escaping while we could."
"Divert its tentacles and get it to wrap around the ship."
"Oh," Mark was finally calming down as he began to grasp Kratos' plan. "I'll try."
With a dash, Mark raced ahead and raised his double saber. He jumped aside and slashed at the left side of the tentacle that was trying to smash them. Jerking away from the sudden pain, the giant creature whipped the ship beside the two warriors rather then on them. It grabbed hold and pulled itself closer as it prepared to strike again. Mark stood in front, confidence regained, and prepared to repeat the process.
Meanwhile, Kratos continued holding onto the engine's mana, barely able to keep it from blowing. As time went by, it became harder and harder for him. Worse, his own energy was running out. Knowing that he couldn't hold on for much longer, Kratos called for Mark to abandon ship. Both of them leapt off and landed in the rowboat as the kraken finally wrapped its sixth and last remaining tentacle around the broken and half-sunken derelict. They both turned around and set up their defenses; Kratos activated a "Guardian" technique while Mark used his "Force Field" spell.
A loud bang rang through the air as the ship came apart. Stray pieces of wood and metal soared through the air. Burning scraps rained down. Utter destruction and chaos ruled for a few seconds. Then, the air calmed down as the final ashes hit the water. Wood softly smouldered and was promptly drenched in brackish water. Everything that had flown so boldly into the sky now came back down to the ocean. Within a few moments everything was still. A certain creature, a giant kraken, slowly and painfully swam under the water. It's tentacles had all been seared off and a great scar marked its face. The one it sought for had escaped. It had not gotten the blue-haired half-elf that exuded the mana of Volt and absorbed the energy of Undine.
Finally done with another chapter. That didn't take too long (compared with my last one). I'll try and get another chapter out within a week, although I might take longer since I'm gonna be very busy this weekend.
Anyway, read, enjoy, and review! Make sure to let me know how the chapter is, what you think can be improved, and even give me suggestions of what you think might happen next. I know how I want this fanfiction to go, but maybe I'll include your ideas as well. Also, once again, chapter names are most welcome. Even for those that already have a name, if you can come up with one that you think is better, send it. I'll take a look at it and see how I feel.
Until next chapter!