Chapter 13

Here we go.

I do not own the characters or the locations of Tales of Symphonia.

Breathing was getting harder and harder. Every breath hurt. The air she inhaled didn't feel cool and fresh like it should have been. No, it burnt in her lungs. The wound on her back, however, hurt far more. Anna had no idea how deep it was, but the woman could clearly feel how the blood was running down her back. She was losing much blood, pretty fast. She knew that she would lose consciousness in about 20 minutes if the cut stayed untreated and as things were now, it would definitely stay untreated. The situation she was in was indeed painful, but fortunately it wasn't unbearable. She could handle pain. She had had the best training for that at the Asgard ranch. But the fact that she had felt worse didn't soothe the pain.

Anna was all alone with a Seraph, who would most likely kill her, unable to run away or to cry for help. Yes, she was without doubt screwed.

She was lying on the ground and tried to stay as calm as possible. Panicking would only make it worse. Yeah, like that would be possible. Even if she couldn't scream (she was too busy with getting enough air in her lungs), she was at least able to look into the half-elf's face. It didn't exactly help her to stay calm, but it kept her from panicking. It helped her to focus on the here and now.

Lord Yuan looked at her half interested half bored, like he wasn't sure if she was worth taking a closer look or not. "It is truly amazing" he said still observing her. He frowned for a second. Eventually he shook his head. "It seems like I don't know him as well as I thought I would." "Wha..What…the hell…are…you….ta-talking about?" Anna asked silently gasping for air. Talking was more exhausting than she had expected.

Despite her expectations she got an answer. "It is incredible, but you seem to be quite special for him. To think that he takes such risks only to be able to stay in your company." There was a faint smile on his lips, like he was smiling about a joke. "I never thought it possible."

Anna was slowly getting what he was implying and the fact that he did imply something frightened her. If Yuan knew something about her and Kratos, then…she didn't even want to think about what could happen.

"You…are…go-going to…kill me, …right?" she asked weakly. Yuan looked at her. "That depends on the further development of this situation. But eventually you will die. If not by my hands…" Anna interrupted him. "If not by you…Pronyma will…take care of me. Yeah…that sounds…logical." She took a deep breath. Her lungs ached.

"If I'm going…to die…either way, then…let me…a-ask you a question. Why didn't you…kill me…right away, instead of letting me bleed…to death?" Yuan remained silent. The woman kept looking at him. The half-elf looked quite relaxed, but he seemed to be waiting for something. His weapon (Anna had no idea how to describe it, but it was big and quite intimidating) was still pointed at her. She wasn't really disappointed that he hadn't answered her question. Actually she was more surprised about the fact that he had talked to her at all.

Still…why was she still alive? Then her eyes widened. "No…No!" and for a second her voice sounded strong "I'm the…bait." She stared at him. No, that was impossible! No, Yuan couldn't believe that she was this important for him. He couldn't. He simply couldn't.

Without wasting a look at her the half-elf answered "Yes, unfortunately I need you to put pressure on him. Inconvenient, but I hope effective." Shit!

"And…why…do…you think that this is…going to work?"

"Because I have seen you two together. A rather interesting sight" he replied. Yuan sounded impatient.

"Seen us together? What…do you mean?"

"I have seen how you interact with each other. I must admit I was more than just surprised."

"What? W-When?" Anna couldn't think of an occasion where they could have been watched.

Annoyed by her constant questions he said impatient "Two days ago rather late in the evening. He was amazingly careless; otherwise I would have never gotten so close to you. But I assume that spending time with a human makes you careless."

Anna had stopped listening after he had said "Two days ago". With horror she realized that Yuan had been this close to them. And she clenched her fists, when she remembered what the half-elf had seen in the said evening.

…

"So Noishe was a bird?" Anna asked surprised and looked at the Protozoan, who was lying on the ground enjoying the last warm rays of the sun. After her question he lifted his head a bit curious, but decided that dozing was more interesting and closed his eyes again.

Her other companion sat next to her. Like always rested his elbows on his knees and the shadows of the oncoming night made him look gloomier than he already was. "Yes. When I met him he was still a bird. He later transformed into this form" Kratos explained. His look rested on her.

Anna tilted her head. "And his next form is going to be…?" she asked. "A human" was the simple answer. The young woman looked quite surprised. "A human?" she looked at Noishe "Wow! That's quite amazing that a sole being can transform that many times in a single life." She smiled, but there was a hint of sadness in her eyes. "Hard to imagine that something can live for such a long time. All the things you can experience in a life this long."

"It's not as desirable as it sounds" the Seraph answered. All the sadness in her eyes was gone when she replied "Yeah, you're right. I would probably die because of boredom. I'm really not made for that." She moved some strands out of her face.

"May I ask you something?" the young woman asked. "If you wish to" he simply replied.

"How old are you? Without counting the four thousand years of course."

"Why do you want to know?"

Anna jerked her shoulders. "I just would like to know. I mean you said you stopped aging back then and I would like to know at what age you stopped. You know how old I am."

"28."

"28?"

He nodded. She looked at him surprised. Then she said "And you are not lying to me?" "I have no reason to." She raised her eyebrows. Eventually she said shaking her head "Eight years! You are eight years older than me! Oh dear! I don't wanna know what my mother would say to this. I bet she would yell at me till I go deaf. Eight years!" She looked at him unbelieving. "You don't look like 28. Seriously! You look…younger."

His look made her stop talking. She blushed slightly. "Ähm…sorry! I was just surprised that's all. And since you're four thousands years older than me anyway…" She looked at him and narrowed her eyes. "Eight years…" Eventually she sighed, but smiled again. "At least one more thing I know about you. Slowly the list is getting longer" now Anna looked quite pleased "Still…there are so many things about you that don't make any sense."

"For example?" he asked. The young woman rolled her eyes. "No, I'm not going to answer that. I know how such a conversation ends between us. I say something wrong, you stop talking and the mood is ruined." She came closer to him. "And today you are unusually talkative" Anna smiled "Well, you still talk less than any other person I know, but at least you answer my questions."

"Simply answering your questions makes me talkative?"

"When I think about how you were at the start, yes. I mean our conversation back then were basically me babbling all day long." Then suddenly she pressed her lips against his. Briefly, but that was enough for her heart to jump. "And of course I couldn't do that at the beginning either" she said smiling.

…

Anna hissed some swear words in the ground. This …Seraph knew basically everything that was important. He knew about them and that she knew about Cruxis. She couldn't think of words to express her desperation and anger.

Buy some time! "How…how low must…someone sink to do…what you're doing?" she said to him "How…desperate you must be!" Perhaps it was just her imagination, but she thought that Yuan had glanced at her briefly. However, he didn't say anything.

"You know you…should have done it…dif…differently. You should have made me scream…or something. Like I am now…it is…going…to take a while till…he gets here" Anna said and felt how the blood loss slowly took its prize.

"You are forgetting something, woman" Yuan suddenly answered. "And that would….would be?"

He sighed. "Even if you don't scream, your blood will lead them here." It took her some moments to get it. Noishe! "You ba…" she wanted to hiss, but she was cut off by a burning inside her chest. Anna had forgotten about the Crystal. The pain she felt and the fear were more than enough to satisfy its hunger. She felt how the Crystal pulled on her soul. And with a scream (although she had try to suppress it) a part of her soul was absorbed into the Cruxis Crystal.

"I have never seen that someone reacts this strong to an Exspere" Yuan commented and looked at the now glowing Crystal on her chest. Anna, however, didn't hear what he said. She was too exhausted. The blood loss and now the Crystal had been too much. She barely registered that Yuan turned his head to his left and smiled. Then she lost consciousness.

Anna was confused by several things after she had woken up. Firstly, she looked at a wooden ceiling. Secondly, she was lying in a bed. Thirdly, someone had bandaged her and she wore clothes that weren't hers. But what confused her the most (and even startled her) was the fact that she looking at a blond woman with blue eyes.

"Woah!" Anna sat up, but it was too fast for her body. Her head was spinning. "Easy, my dear!" the blond woman said. She was probably sixty and her blond hair had already started to turn white. Her eyes, however, had maintained a youthful expression. The woman looked sprightly and had a very kind face. "You shouldn't move so quickly. Your wounds haven't healed yet" she said softly.

"Where…where am I?" Anna asked still confused. She was in a small but very nice room. The bed she was lying in was next to a window. Anna could see wonderful, big trees and a blue sky above them. The elderly woman touched her shoulder to calm her down. "You are in Iselia, my dear. The town of the Oracle."

"Iselia?" Anna asked with a high pitched voice. How could that be? The thing with Yuan…They had been near Iselia, but not close. It would have taken them two or maybe three days to get there.

"What happened?" she asked. The blond woman explained with a soft voice "My husband found you alone in the woods, when he returned form a pilgrimage. He said that he thought it was a miracle that you were still alive. You had lost a lot of blood. He treated your wounds as well as possible and brought you here. Thanks to Martel, he traveled with a horse; otherwise you might not have made it. But you are alive and that is everything that counts."

"Alone? Your husband found me…alone? There was no one there?" Anna wanted to know and felt how panic started to develop in her chest. The woman tilted her head. "No, I'm afraid not. My husband said that you were alone in the wilderness. Should there have been someone? Did someone travel with you?"

The brown haired woman barely heard her. They had found her alone. Did that mean that Yuan…had taken him back to…Derris Kharlan? Did Yuan's plan work? Had the sight of her covered in her own blood been enough to force him back? Anna felt how tears ran down her cheeks. If Yuan's plan hadn't worked, he would have been there. Kratos would have been there! But she had been alone and that could only mean…

She started sobbing and buried her face in her hands. No. No. No. NO! He can't be gone! He can't be back in Derris Kharlan! He can't be! The elderly woman looked at her concerned. "What's wrong? Could it be…There was someone with you, right?" Anna managed to nod between her sobs. "My dear I hate to ask you this, but were you attacked by Desians?" The young woman lifted her head and looked at her. "Yes…" Anna lied, but her voice broke off.

Desians…If it only had been Desians! If it had been Kvar, Pronyma or any other Grand Cardinal then it would have never ended like this. But it had been Yuan. And now…she was alone.

"Could it be…" the elderly woman hesitated "…Could it be that this person was taken by the Desians?" Yes, if Anna had a normal life this could have happened, but she didn't have a normal life. Taken by the Desians sounded a bit ridiculous in this context, but well, in a weird and twisted way it was kind of true. The young woman nodded.

"I am sorry!" the blond woman said softly "Was it someone very important to you?" "Not…important. He was everything for me" she said silently. And now he was in a place as far away as the earth from the sky. The elderly woman touched her cheek gently. "I know how you feel. I've lost dear ones because of the Desians too. But the pain will go away eventually." "Doubt it" Anna mumbled through her last tears.

She still felt miserable when she wiped the tears off. "I'm sorry. I should have…asked for your name." The woman smiled. "Don't worry. You have every right to show your grief. My name is Phaidra." The young woman managed to return the smile. "I'm Anna. …Thank you, for saving me!"

Phaidra took Anna's hand and squeezed it softly. "You don't need to thank me. I'm glad that my husband saved you. With my children gone, it gets sometimes a bit lonely. So Anna…" she smiled at her "I'll get you something to eat and then we'll see what we can do for your injuries." Phaidra stoop up. Halfway through the room Anna said "Thank you! I really mean it! The kindness that you show me is not a matter of course." Phaidra only smiled and left the room. The last person that showed me this kind of kindness paid dearly for it.

It feels good to add a new person to the story. It's a nice change.

And yes Kratos will be gone for a while, but don't worry he's not as far away as Anna thinks.

Hope you liked it and please review!