Disclaimer: I do not own Tales of Symphonia or any of the characters contained therein.

"Fish?" Kratos Aurion inquired.

"Thunder," Mithos replied.

"Woods Worm?" came the next question.

"Ice, I think," answered Mithos.

"Yup, it's ice," Martel reassured him.

Yuan looked back at hearing Martel's voice. He was leading the group onward towards Palmacosta while the rest of them were following behind. Kratos had decided to quiz Mithos on the weaknesses of the enemies in the nearby area in order to make the boy a more efficient magic-user. After awhile, Martel had decided to listen in and help check Mithos' answers using a notebook that she'd had Mithos compile for her about the abilities of any monsters they encountered.

"Archer?" Kratos queried, the shadow of a smile playing across his lips.

"Thunder?" Mithos answered, unsure.

"Wrong," Martel informed her brother with a wide smile as she watched her brother get struck by a "Lightning" spell from Kratos as punishment for his incorrect answer. "Try again, Mithos," she encouraged the boy, patting down his standing hair.

"Is it fire?" Mithos tried, still unsure. "No, wait! They don't have a weakness, do they?"

"Nope," Martel patted her brother on his back, "they don't."

"Grasshopper?" Kratos continued on with his testing.

"Fire," Mithos answered almost immediately. "Oh, and Ice, too."

"You're still forgetting one," Martel giggled. "Yay! I get to see your hair standing up again," she cheered.

"And Thunder!" Mithos hastily added, catching the clue that his sister had given him.

"…" Kratos considered whether to accept Mithos' answer. He decided that he'd let the boy go and continued on: "Sea Jelly?"

Yuan turned back to face forward. He smiled and continued walking. It wouldn't take long now. The sun was nearly down, and judging by what he remembered of the land from when he last crossed over it, Yuan figured that they'd arrive at Palmacosta sometime near noon if they spent the entire night camping. He took a peek into the pack he carried, then multiplied the supplies he found in there by three, since Kratos' pack was the same size and Mithos and Martel both carried half-sized packs. They could easily afford to rest for the night, he decided.

Mithos stood in front of a large pane of glass. The floor beneath his feet was made of gold, as was the entire tower that he stood on the topmost floor of. He looked down from the tall window he stood before and stared down at a view of the vast world spread below him.

It was his. The thought filled his head and overwhelmed him. He stood higher than anyone else. There was no one to stand up to him. He owned it all. The whole world was his. He looked at his own shadowed reflection in the window and saw that his body had changed. No longer did he wear his old tattered white shirt and green trousers; now he wore a long, regal white suit that covered his body. His hair wasn't a messy pile of straw that was always sticking at odd angles due to being shocked too often; now it cascaded down as a sheet of gold.

Mithos smiled and turned around. His face softened and his smile became sincere. There, standing before him was his sister. He had everything he could possibly want.

Then, everything before him began to fade. He panicked and reached out, trying to grab onto his sister. However, before he could reach her, she seemed to fade back, away from him. A green aura appeared around her, forming in the shape of a semi-blossoming flower. Mithos stared in horror as the last remaining person from his family seemed to leave him. A silent scream tore from his throat as he lunged forward, reaching out with his right arm. Then suddenly, everything went black.

Mithos gasped in air. He was breathing heavily and sweat soaked his face. He was sitting up with his hand stretched out in front of him. He slowly let his hand fall to his side. He looked around and found that everything was okay. He was sitting in his tent where he had been since the start of the night. His sister was sleeping soundly at the other side of the tent. He wiped his face with his hand and slowly lay back down.

D+

Kratos stood outside of the Yggdrasill siblings' tent. He was about to rush in when Mithos' screaming suddenly stopped and was replaced by shallow breathing. He stopped himself and stood still, just outside the opening. Soon, the half-elf's breathing deepened as he relaxed.

"Only a nightmare," Yuan commented.

"Yes," Kratos replied. "It seems that was all that it was."

"I'm surprised Martel didn't wake up."

"She's a very heavy sleeper."

"I see." After a short silence, Yuan spoke again while walking away from the siblings' tent. "Kratos, how about a little sparring match between us right now?"

"…" Kratos turned and stared at his friend.

"It's been awhile since we traveled together. You've gotten stronger. I want to see how much."

"Very well, then."

The human and half-elf walked away from the tents. Kratos stopped once they were out of hearing distance while Yuan walked on a little further before turning around to face his friend. He pulled his double-sword off of his back as Kratos drew his Crystal sword out of its sheathe. They held their weapons loosely, both staring at each other, prepared.

Mithos silently sat back up as he heard noises outside his tent. He peeked out of his tent and noticed Kratos and Yuan walking away together. He watched as they drew their weapons and faced each other.

Kratos rushed forward and struck first. He ran at Yuan with his sword held overhead and brought it slamming down as he arrived at him only to have it meet with one side of the double-saber. Yuan let Kratos' strike hit through his weapon, using the downward force on one side to aid in quickly raising the other up to slash at the human's neck.

Kratos jumped back and then quickly darted forward, stabbing with a "Super Lightning Blade" attack. Yuan blocked the Crystal sword with one side of his weapon and stuck the other side in the air, catching the falling bolt of lightning and absorbing it through his hand. He jumped back and began chanting as a purple symbol appeared around his feet.

Seeing the half-elf start a spell, Kratos struck his sword at the ground and struck up a wave of energy using his "Demon Fang" technique. Yuan bent forward from the force of the blow as his spell was broken.

Yuan and Kratos both stood facing each other, slowly circling.

"Good, Kratos. You managed to get the first hit. Let's see who gets the second!" Yuan rushed in and stabbed forward with his double-blade. Kratos sidestepped and slashed sideways with his sword. Yuan ducked under the slash and spun his own weapon only to have it blocked by Kratos' shield. The human took advantage of his friend's mistake and slashed down with his own weapon. Yuan quickly rolled to the side and stood up. With speed rivaling that of his favorite element, he stabbed forward and struck through Kratos, scoring a clean hit. As the human doubled up in pain, Yuan spun around, slicing through him twice using both blades of his weapon.

Kratos fell forward, pain firing through his body. He lay on the floor, chanting a quick spell. A white circle flashed around him and a soothing energy filled his body as he completed the "First Aid" spell. He stood up and faced Yuan again.

The half-elf began chanting and a purple field appeared around him. Kratos ran at him and slashed diagonally. However, just before Kratos managed to get his blow to connect, Yuan managed to cause an electrified sword to pierce through the human with his "Thunder Blade" spell.

Standing up, Kratos shrugged off a few stray sparks of electricity that ran across his body and began to chant a spell of his own. Yuan followed his lead and began chanting as well. A blue circular symbol appeared beneath Kratos while a purple one appeared beneath Yuan.

Kratos had decided to choose a quick, low-level spell, and soon, he unleashed an "Aqua Edge." However, despite the fact that his spell was of the intermediate level, Yuan managed to call forth a "Thunder Blade" at the same exact time.

After being struck through with the giant sword, Kratos forced himself to ignore the pain and stand up again before his opponent could strike again. He found himself staring at Yuan's double-blade sitting with its tip between his eyes.

"Not bad, Kratos," Yuan chuckled, "but you're not at the same level as me."

"Indeed," Kratos responded, sheathing his Crystal Sword. He stood and chanted a "First Aid" spell as Yuan put away his own weapon.

Quietly, both of them returned to camp. Yuan went back to his post and resumed his duty as watchman while Kratos headed off to his tent. Mithos had snuck back into his tent and was nearly asleep. Entering his tent, Kratos dug through his pack and took out three crystals that he had received from Seraphim. He stared at them. Cruxis Crystals. He had heard how much these crystals enhanced one's performance in battle, but now he had witnessed it firsthand. He had seen how Yuan fought in the past, and if he had tested his strength against that Yuan, he was sure he would have won. However, the Yuan he fought now had utterly defeated him. Furthermore, he could sense from the way the half-elf had fought, that he had been suppressing all but a fraction of his powers.

Kratos stared deeply into the crystal. It seemed to glow with its strength and also with… loneliness, Kratos noted with surprise. He gently placed them back into his bag and lay down on his back. He stared up at the roof of his tent. Cruxis Crystals. With them filling his thoughts, Kratos fell into sleep.

Finally done with another chapter!! Well, I know it's a little short, and it did take a lot of time, but hey, at least I got done with it!

Anyway, please review. Once again, chapter names will be appreciated. It looks like I'm lacking quite a few at the moment. Also, please let me know what you think of the Kratos/Yuan battle. I had a pretty hard time managing that and I'm not sure if I did it right. I tried to give a good idea of the superiority that Yuan acheived due to his Cruxis Crystal while also maintaining the suppressing of his abilities.

Well... I hope you enjoyed.