Disclaimer: I do not own Tales of Symphonia
Slowly, a small rowboat drifted on the current, guided only by the soft rowing of two oars. Mark stared up at the stars, rechecking his bearings and slightly changing the angle in which the vessel drifted among the smoldering wreckage all around him. Night had spread its mantle upon the world and only the swishing of the waves and the dull creaking of the oars broke the barrenness of the silence.
Kratos was asleep, tired from two consecutive days with no sleep followed by an intense battle against the deadly kraken. His breathing was soft and silent, barely reaching Mark's amplified hearing from behind him. In front of the half-elf slept Martel and Mithos. The young boy had regained consciousness and had then fallen into a deep sleep, his body snuggled comfortably against his dear sister's.
Mark brought his eyes down from the open sky, his gaze falling upon Martel, who slept in the front of the rowboat. He had been having a hard time keeping his eyes away since the time she had fallen asleep, mere seconds after arriving on the craft. Mithos was lying with his head on her shoulder, and one of her arms encircled him protectively. The other was lying across her lap. Her head was turned away to the side, as she had shyly moved it the moment Mark had taken his place in the center. A slight redness still tinged her usually pale cheeks even in her slumber. Mark stared at her calm figure, outlined in the night by the shimmering light of the stars. Her green hair seemed to glow with the serene energy of her mana.
Sleep. It was such a blessing that those three enjoyed. Mark felt jealous of them; he had been robbed of that gift six years ago. Though it allowed him to exert his body for hours on end without any sense of fatigue, it brought a different sort of weariness that was beginning to pull at his very soul. He pulled off the glove from his right hand and stared at the glistening crystal on the back of his palm. Its dark blue mount was bathed in a light red glow that it emitted. His eyes grew weary simply glancing at it, but Mark held his gaze for a long time before drawing it away. He pulled his glove back on, his fingers sticking out of the holes made for them and grabbed the oars once more. His eyes came up and rested once again on the face of Martel. The sight of the half-elven girl dispelled the lethargy that the crystal seemed to induce in him. Silently, Mark continued rowing.
Kratos shook his head groggily, irritated by the sudden brightness streaming into his sleepy eyes. Waking up a bit more, he fully opened his eyes with his head turned away from the rising sun. Once his eyes had begun to adjust to the light of day, he turned back to find Mark sitting facing him, rowing one of the oars. The other wooden stick was being sluggishly paddled by a sleepy Mithos, who sat with his back to Kratos. Martel was sitting at the front of the ship, eyes turned down towards the bottom of the boat. Her hands clenched her stomach as she tried her best to ignore the swaying of the rowboat.
"I see you've finally decided to join us, Kratos," Mark broke into a grin. "Now you can take Mithos' place and we can start going a bit faster."
Gingerly, Kratos and Mithos both rose and switched positions, careful not to unbalance the vessel. Having taken his seat, Kratos turned to Mark and asked what had been going on while he slept.
"Not much," Mark chuckled. "Mithos and Martel didn't wake up much earlier than you. Mithos asked that he be allowed to take one oar and help me out because it would help him strengthen his arms while Martel insisted that I turn around and face the other way 'in case something was behind us'."
"I see," Kratos replied, his mind finally roused from his deep sleep. "You mentioned yesterday that the monster we were attacked by was after you. What was that about, Mark?"
The half-elf bent his blue-haired head to the side and gazed pensively at the horizon. "I let that slip, didn't I? Well then, I suppose I do owe you a story. Besides, we don't have much else to do until we can reach the shore. I think we'll be hitting the sandy beaches north of Palmacosta."
Mark looked up at the pale sky for a long time before bringing his head back down. "It starts a long time back…
"I was born twenty-six years ago. My parents, I never knew. Yuan. I was called Yuan back then, for that was the name that my mother gave me. However, I was a half-elf, born into the kingdom of Sylvarant, and I was at the bottom of the caste system, along with all the others of my race. My mana was… unique. It was far more resilient than that of others. I could take wounds that would mortally injure grown men and survive when I was only a child. This, they used. The government of Sylvarant, led by the governor-general of Palmacosta decided that I could be useful to them.
"At that time, the Aonis-infused mages of Tethealla had just emerged. They wreaked utter annihilation upon the armies of Sylvarant. The government desperately needed something to counter the sudden change in power, and because of this, even the newborns in the nation were being observed for any abnormal abilities that could provide even a glimmer of hope. I was thus found and experimented upon.
"One of the scientists came up with an idea that branched off of the Tetheallan one concerning aonis. The stone contains the essence of every elemental spirit, and its injection delivers this mana into a person's blood flow. The scientist decided that instead of providing a warrior with every element, if only one was used, it would allow for much stronger magic, even if it would cancel out the use of any other element. He decided to utilize the openness of a person's mana at young ages and to infuse the essence of a summon spirit. I, because of my chances of survival, was chosen.
"The warriors of Tethealla were trained to resist the elements of Undine, Sylph, Efreet, and Luna because these were the spirits residing upon Sylvarant land, and it was their mana that was used in the production of weapons in that nation. However, the aonis mages were very vulnerable to the elements that their own kingdom held sway over. An expedition was sent into the Tetheallan temple closest to Sylvarant land: Volt's Temple of Lightning.
"Tethealla was not expecting such a bold attack from the retreating armies of Sylvarant and they were overwhelmed. For two days, the temple was occupied by Sylvarant, and in that time, I was constantly exposed to Volt's mana. The machines that Tethealla had set up to draw upon the spirit's powers were all rerouted to send all of that energy into me. Although I have few clear memories of that time period, I can often recall the searing pain that the process involved.
Here, Yuan stopped, turning again to face the sea. He faced away from Mithos and Kratos, not wanting the two to see the moisture rising in his eyes. Though she was adamantly staring at the floor of the boat in an effort to overcome her seasickness, Martel happened to glance up and noticed the forming tears mere seconds before they were blinked away.
"For the next four years, I was trained in the arts of war," Yuan continued his tale. "I was trained as an assassin, as an army commander, as a double-bladed swordsman, and as a magic-user. I was made to kill prisoners, and to watch others kill prisoners. I was emptied of all emotion other than the desire to kill. I was made into a tool of war.
"At the age of four, I was sent to my first battle. I didn't know the location. All I was told was to make sure that none of the Tetheallans survived. An army of two hundred warriors followed me, sent out to fight off an army of over a thousand aonis-infused mages. There was no equality in the match. My magic, as a half-elf, far overpowered that of the Tetheallans. On top of that, my infusion with Volt's mana allowed me to strike out with such force and power that I did not need any help from those sent with me. Alone, I killed every mage that had come to fight on that day.
"From then on, I was regularly sent to battle, often with only a handful of soldiers. The tide began to shift away from Tethealla and the war was even. However, the land of Kharlan, the center of the world, the location containing the most mana, was still neutral. Neither side could manage to conquer it, for the both were obstinate upon keeping each other out and would spare no amount of resources in doing so. Tethealla had come very close to taking the land and assuring its victory in the war, but all of its hopes had been snatched away.
"Sylvarant realized that it was still not strong enough to take over the holy grounds either, and in an attempt to keep itself safe in the case of a sudden change in the war, it entered into a treaty with Tethealla. Instead of trying to take over the Kharlan area, Sylvarant turned its attention to a different source of power.
"I was sent on a mission to the elven village of Heimdall. Because I was half-elf, Sylvarant knew that I would be looked down upon. They used the elves' discrimination to ascertain that I would be sorely underestimated. While a large army of the obsidian-covered knights attacked Ymir from outside, distracting the elves, I struck from the inside. My mission was to break into Torent Forest, locate the Flameberg and Vorpal Sword, and escape with the legendary blades. I managed to acquire the first, but the elves defended the second well enough to keep me away.
"From that moment on, Sylvarant had a true advantage in the war. They won almost every battle waged. For two years, they reigned supreme as their General Cruxis 'Odin' Aurion led the armies wielding the blade of flames. Tethealla fell all over, but somehow managed to hold onto every key point. They retained control over every one of their temples and did not allow even a single major city to be destroyed. Just when their defense was weakening, Seraphim Yggdrasill of Ozette developed the Key Crest. With this new invention, the exspheres that Tethealla had developed long ago were now usable. With them, they managed to regain much of the land they had lost.
"In response to the sudden surge in Tethealla's might, Sylvarant began to push for more research. In a stroke of luck, Triet's newly opened research center developed an improved version of the exsphere. However, because its creation had been unintended, the process hadn't been noted down; only one such crystalline battle enhancer was made. In order to assure its safety as it was sent to Cruxis Aurion in Iselia, I was chosen to carry it.
"It was fifteen years ago when I arrived," Yuan paused and turned to Kratos. When next he spoke, it was directly to the human. "Kratos, you were only six at the time, and because of the object I brought, your father died. From then, I traveled with the Iselian refugees. I saw the pain that you bore, and the effort that you put into making sure that your mother did not meet a similar fate. You awoke emotions in me, emotions that I had never felt. When we arrived in Triet, I decided to keep my identity hidden from the government. I would not allow myself to be used as a mindless killer. You fought too, but you did so to protect those close to you. I decided to do the same.
Looking off to the horizon again, Yuan continued his story. "When you left for Heimdall, I chose to follow you. I felt responsible for your father's death and decided that by helping save your mother, I would be atoning for the pain I caused you. When we arrived at Ymir, you saw me struck down by one of the Sylvarant soldiers. Because of my ability to use magic, I managed to heal myself enough to live. However, the wound was very deep, and I fainted.
"When I came to consciousness again I was in Palmacosta, in the research facility. The Sylvarant government had recognized me and wanted me to continue fighting for them. However, I refused to do so, and I was locked up in prison for two years. During that time, Sylvarant had managed to develop another Cruxis Crystal, adopting the name that Tethealla had given to the advanced crystalline battle enhancers. They managed to also form a key crest, though it was a flawed one.
"The way a key crest works is by controlling the flow of mana that goes from a person's body into an exsphere or a Cruxis Crystal. This means that it has to equally control the flow of mana of every element. The ore that Tethealla uses is inhibitor ore, which can cut down equally on mana of each of the eight types. The one that Sylvarant had developed was flawed because it used too much of Volt's mana and did not absorb enough of Undine's mana from the body. To make up for the lack of water mana received and to counter the excessive electric mana, the Cruxis Crystal mounted upon this key crest would absorb water mana from the area surrounding it.
"My body already has an excess of electric mana and a deficiency of water mana, so it seemed to be a perfect match for me. The scientists of the Palmacosta research labs managed to convince the army to allow them to use me as a subject for their experiments. They equipped me with the Cruxis Crystal and the key crest.
"The power that I had before had been very strong. The power that I now felt was overwhelming. The experiment was a success. However, the scientists had failed to realize that I could use my newfound strength to escape, and that was just what I did.
"Once I had gotten out, I set sail for Izoold so that I could reach Heimdall and see what had happened to you. At sea, I was attacked by many monsters, and because of my presence, the ship I was on sank. It had not been long since we had left the harbor, and I managed to swim back to shore. I could feel that the assault at sea had been caused because my key crest absorbed the mana from the sea, and I decided to head to the elven village by land.
"On my journey, I had to pass the Hakonesia mountains, and there, I met a small group of elves that did not despise humans or half-elves. Their elder was very wise, and I came to trust him in the small amount of time that I spent there. He realized my predicament simply by feeling my mana and offered me a solution. He said that I should seek out Yersil Yggdrasill, a summoner. If I could get him to form a pact with Undine, he could infuse my key crest with enough water mana to cancel out the abnormality. He told me that he had heard of Yersil traveling back to his home in the elven village of Heimdall, and so I continued my journey.
"As I arrived close to Heimdall, I heard rumors of the death of the Yggdrasill family at the hands of Mystar Wilder. It was around that time when I ran into you and was relived to find that Yersil's son was alive. The reason I did not object to traveling by ship was that the bridge between Altimira and Hima was destroyed after I crossed over it, and the only path to Palmacosta was by crossing the sea. I tried my best to cloak my mana signature, but it seems that it was still felt by the creatures of the sea. I never imagined that the kraken itself would come to defend Undine's domain."
Yuan stopped and turned down, his eyes shadowed by the azure hair cascading down the side of his face. The sun was no longer peaking over the horizon; it was now shining down from the directly above. Yuan looked up and gazed at Kratos. "Those are the answers that I promised you to the questions you asked two nights ago. That is the story of all that has happened to me."
I noticed that a lot of people think that the previous two chapter's were very similar to Pirates of the Carribean 2. I want to tell everyone that I wrote and posted both chapters before I saw the movie. I just got to see it a couple of days ago, and now I see why the two seemed so similar to people. Well... all I can say is that it's just a coincidence.
Anyway, Mark's identity is revealed. This chapter contains a lot of information, and I don't know if I presented it in a very entertaining way. I'm not very good at having characters reveal things, so I'm not sure how good this chapter really is. Make sure to review and let me know how well (or not so well) I did.
I don't know if I'll be able to finish the next chapter by Sunday or not, but if it isn't up by Monday, it's probably going to take another four months since my college is going to be keeping me VERY busy (8 hours of classes a day -- and that doesn't have homework included).