True Pain

Mr.Who2123: YAY! I got a review!

Alaia Skyhawk: Thanks for the review, it made my day. I didn't think someone would review so quickly! Thanks!

Mr.Who2123: Alright, chapter two is up. I'll make this one longer. Disclaimer! Come, Cloud from FFVII!

Cloud: What the…?

Mr.Who2123: Here, read this

(hands over paper)

Cloud: Fine. Mr.Who2123 does not own Tales of Symphonia or any of its characters because if she did, you would know what Anna looks like.

Mr.Who2123: Thanks Cloud. Now on with the story!

The escapee from the ranch cursed for tripping, and making herself known to her pursuers. They were after her again, but this time, the woman was too tired to outrun them. It was morning, and the gentle rays of early sun were turning into harsh beatings of sunlight, and the wind was calm, furthering the heat of the summer day. She collapsed on the grassy floor, and perspiration covered her body. She tried to get up, but the men surrounded her, freezing her on the spot.

"We've got you now, host body A012!" one sneered, and roughly lifted her up. "My name is Anna, you filthy desians!" she yelled defiantly. The desian gritted his teeth in frustration, and shoved her towards the ranch with no kindness.

"Be lucky Kavar wants you alive or I'd whip you until your whole body is red with blood." They replied as they slowly made their way back to the Asgard Ranch.

Anna and her slavers were only yards away from the prison until a blaring siren sounded from it. Anna covered her ears to evade the piercing noise, but the desians kept her moving, except much faster.

"People are escaping!" a desian screamed as he ran from the ranch, chasing a group of captives that had been lucky enough to outrun them out of the ranch. Anna watched in horror as one of the desians that clutched her catch the captives and whip them until they fell to the floor defenseless. One other desian still held onto her and pushed her along further to the ranch, unyielding to her squirming and cries to help the captives even if he was a half elf.

One other captive sped off from the ranch with exceeding speed and passed Anna without looking back. Her captor grunted and let go of Anna's arm to chase the captive which didn't last long. The desian armed himself with a bolt and loaded it into his crossbow and struck the running captive in the neck. The escapee abruptly stopped and fell over, dead and with blood bubbling from the wound.

"I'm out of bolts, agh, dang it," he muttered to himself, slinging his bow over his shoulder. Anna spotted the small knife that hung sheathed on his belt, then developed a desparate plan.

She mustered all her strength, and kicked the Desian in the knee as hard as she could. He howled in pain as he held his knee, and hopped on his other foot, bouncing and streaming curses. Anna plucked the dagger from the desian's belt, and made to attack, but hesitated. The desian finished his yelps and dropped his leg.

"You'll pay for that, you little-" his rage was stunted with a dagger deep in his throat. Anna held it there for several seconds, keeping her eyes tightly closed. Blood flowed frrely from the wound, and when the warm liquid met Anna, she recoiled in shock and the corpse fell over. She shook violently and gasped at her red fingers. I killed a living person, were the words that attacked her mind as she barely stifled a scream. Fortunately, no one noticed the now free captive as she bounded off without another thought, tears welling up in her eyes.

Towering in the sky, Anna spotted a column shaped building that reached high into the clouds. Instantly, she remembered the Tower of Mana which praised Martel and the Tower of Salvation. Anna knew safety would be sure once inside the holy place, and bounded off towards it, trying to keep the blood and desians far from her mind.

Kratos landed in a yellow and green field with trees sparsely covering the area. Judging from the heat, it was in the middle of summer, which explained the lack of travellers and mercenaries trying to find jobs. Noishe began to pant from just standing in the heat of the sun, and whined in impatience. Kratos inclined his head slightly to contemplate his destination. I see the lakes of Luin and the sun is rising in the east, so I'm north of it. Where do I start? Asgard Ranch is closeby as well, but they don't have anything I'm sure. The Tower of Mana could be a helpful resource and it's not too far. He set his sights on the Tower that was North-west, and began a walking pace towards it with Noishe trudging slowly behind.

Kratos was lucky he couldn't feel heat as much as others, although he did feel heat, but Noishe was in an unfortunate situation. He dashed from tree to tree, hunching in the shade, spilling a river of sweat from his tongue. Kratos had made pretty good time and was half way there when suddenly, he heard someone to the side in thick dead brush. "Give me all your Gald and I'll let you live," ordered a thief, who came out of the bush. He was sweating slightly, and by the looks of his especially old and torn clothes, he was left behind by his comapnions. His steel dagger flashed in the sunlight and his red bandana covered tightly around his nose and mouth. Kratos, however, just ignored the threat and continued to walk lazily with a dehydrated dog whimpering behind. The rogue watched after Kratos with deep contention, and gripped the knife in his sweaty hand even tighter.

"He'll pay with his life," whispered the thief and dashed straight for Kratos with his knife held out in front.

Just as he was about to strike, Kratos stepped back, unsheathed his blade, Flamberge, and sliced at the rogue's chest with lightning fast speed. Yells and curses, then screams, then nothing for Kratos sliced again, felling the thief. the screams pounded in the seraphims ears as he sheathed his blade. He never used to feel dizzy after killing a common thief. Had he gotten weaker...or more kind? Kratos never enjoyed ending lives with his blade, but this one thief had made him almost nauseas. "I wonder if two hundred years had made me a little rusty," he grumbled to himself, forgetting the feeling and walking once again.

Along the way, he encountered more thieves and monsters, and he slowly felt more and more sick. He had to stop once to end his horrible headache. When it pulsed, he could hear terrorized screams in the back of his head. Noishe licked Kratos on the head to earn his attention and whined.

After what seemed forever, Kratos made it to the Tower of Mana. He walked up the stone steps, and pushed the golden double doors open with a lazy push that usually exhausted others. Inside, books were all around and brown shelves with rusted iron designs on the borders filled the whole hall. It matched the size of a commoner's house and Kratos even noticed the oracle stone reacting to the cruxis crystal that lay on his hand.

The magic stone made Kratos remember his last journey with a chosen that ended in failure at the hands of the desians. He sighed, and walked to the shelf closest to him, starting his search. Kratos skimmed quickly for anything that has to do with Origin or the Eternal Sword, hoping to find some book that would be the answers to all his problems, but no avail. He looked to the shelf below, yet nothing seemed related to the summons besides the four in Sylverant: Undine, Efreet, Sylph, and Luna with Aska. If there was any writings about the other spirits, it would be vague and had no relevence to Origin.

After minutes of looking the whole room with no avail except for one small book that was older than the rest, Kratos found no books related to what he needed. Noishe, who had been laying down on the cold stone floor to cool himself, pricked his ears and sat up abruptly. Right after, Kratos could hear the sound as well and froze in midstep. Footsteps sounded outside, and Kratos had his hand to his blade in an instance. I cannot believe Mithos sent angels already, he thought briefly before the footsteps grew louder, and he could hear the harsh breathing of...a woman? Kratos stood up and called to Noishe who was close by. "If it is Mithos' men, then attack," he said calmly. Noishe bared his teeth, and his head dropped low. However, what opened the door was not an angel, but a young woman running with an exhausted pace into the room. She pushed the doors closed, and leaned on them, breathing harder than Noishe. When she saw Kratos, she nearly screamed.

"What are you doing here?" she demanded. Kratos sheathed his blade, folded his arms, and summed her up. The woman had long brown hair tied into a ponytail, and she was dressed in the common desian rags that had cuts and holes all over from the torture of the desians. If she weren't so dirty and bruised, she would have been comely. Wait, why I am thinking that? he wondered, befuddled with his own thoughts. Kratos finally replied. "I should be asking the same thing,"

"Well, I'm Anna, and I escaped from the ranch," she explained. Well, it's obvious to the eye, Kratos thought, but kept his thoughts inside. Noishe rose his head and closed his jaw, but it opened again to let his tongue hang freely. He padded over to Anna with curiosity and licked her hand that dangled to her side. Anna recoiled quickly and wiped her hand on her dirty clothes.

"What is this?" she asked, nervously petting it.

"It's Noishe, a protozoan. He's friendly, so don't be afraid of his size," he replied. Anna nodded, though she didn't look to sure at all when she reluctantly patted his head. It was an amusing sight to Kratos considering Noishe wouldn't hurt a fly unless it was to defend, which wouldn't be anytime soon. Kratos took a quick look at the old book in his hand and placed it on a shelf, figuring it wouldn't have much.

"I'll be leaving now, Anna," Kratos said bluntly as he strided to the door. Anna had been running from desians after she had ran from the corpse and was spotted, and even though she had far outrun them, they could be at the tower

"No, there are desians out there, they'll kill you!" she yelled, but Kratos glanced briefly at her and put a hand on the doors. "Anna, I'm a mercenary, I've killed countless desians," he replied as he opened the doors. But as soon as the sunlight came into the room, five desians attacked simultaneously with their whips, expecting it to be their captive.

Kratos grunted in pain as he fell to one knee, clutching his chest. One of the desians noticed Anna. "There she is!" he yelled, but Kratos was up now, and his flamberge was in hand.

"Noishe, protect Anna!" he commanded, as his protozoan ran up to Anna and faced the desians in his "attack mode". Silently, he faced the desians and stabbed one of them in the stomach and spun away from a whip with an awesome grace and strength that only he could muster. Turning, Kratos sliced his attacker, and then stretched his left hand at another. A magic circle appeared under him, lifting his hair and his cloak slightly as the mana charged quickly.

"Grave!" he said as spikes of earth struck at the desian in all directions, deforming his body. Blood leaked all over the rocks, as they slowly went back into the earth. There were two desians left now, and he readied his blade for the attack. One of them charged, but that was a mistake. Kratos ducked from the whip, and stabbed him in the stomach, still crouched low.

With the felled desian body still on his blade, Kratos swung it at the last desian who toppled over from the weight of the armored corpse. Kratos walked next to the struggling desian who had the corpse over his mid-section. The desian paled as the shadow of his enemy covered him and screamed as the blade rose, and struck.

"Oh my…," Anna gasped as she witnessed this mercenary's true strength and defeated all the desians singel handedly, though Kratos felt a little more dizzy. Kratos wiped the blood off his flaming sword on the grass, dying it a brownish scarlett. Kratos sheathed his blade and folded his arms, staring at Anna who had her mouth open slightly.

Realization dawned on Anna when she thought of the desians. I'm FREE!! she exclaimed in her head. Without thinking, she bounded up and hugged her hero who took a step back in shock.

"Thank you, ummm-" Anna said as she drew back quickly in embarrassment. "Kratos Aurion, a mercenary," he answered, annoyed, as he turned to leave. As he finished walking down the steps with Noishe behind, Anna ran after him.

"Wait, bring me to Luin, please!" she asked, almost desparately. "It's my hometown and my mother lives there." Kratos took one look at the torture from the desians and pitied the woman. Nodding his head once, Kratos turned back to head to Luin and drop Anna off. And get rid of her for good, he added.

While trekking through the plains near Luin, Kratos was silent the entire time, and the monotonous footsteps drove Anna nuts.

"So, um...Kratos, where do you live?" she asked, hoping a conversation would come up.

"I travel across the world. Everywhere I go is my home," he replied, almost as emotionless as the footsteps. A long silence followed after until Anna tried again.

"Where are your parents?" Anna asked. The mercenary hesitated, trying to actually remember when his parents died.

"They died when I was very young," he replied, not a hint of enthusiasm in his deep voice. Anna didn't say anything and kept quiet for a long while again. The sun was now west of them, though it was still bright, and Anna tried several more conversations, each less responsive than the last. After Kratos gave no reply to Anna's last question, she had taken enough.

"Alright, spit it out, why so quiet?" Anna demanded, and stopped. Kratos stopped as well and faced Anna with no apology. "Not everyone likes to talk," he replied, and continued towards Luin. That about was it. She lost all of her patience now. "Fine," she muttered stubbornly, and folded her arms. She hated this guy already, and it wasn't even a day with him.

No later than a few minutes, Kratos froze. He looked glanced quickly, as if trying to find something, and concern built in his eyes every passing second. Anna opened her mouth, but Kratos held a hand out to stop her from speaking. Noishe stopped as well and crouched low, smelling whatever they were looking for. The protozoan pointed his muzzle at a bush not far off.

"What?" she said, but Kratos suddenly tackled her and brought them both to the dirt floor. Her back ached from the impact and she didn't enjoy a merenary on top off her. "What the heck was that for, you…,"she stopped when she saw an arrow only a few feet away buried in the tall grass. She finally understood that he just saved her. "Oh," she nearly whispered, while Kratos got up and unsheathed his blade. His keen eyes found the Desian behind the bush Noishe pointed..

"Grrr, I missed because of you, stupid human," he yelled as he pulled out an arrow out of a pouch, not his quiver, that had a dark green tip. "Poison," muttered Kratos. The desian loaded and shot the arrow, but Kratos lifted his blade and deflected it just in time. He then dashed to the desian to finish him off, but three desians from the sides grabbed onto Kratos, and one even jumped on his back. Two now held his arms with strong hands and the last was still on his back, immobilizing him.

The Desians were laughing now. "Not so strong, eh?" one mocked as he kicked Kratos in the back. Kratos gritted his teeth in pain and didn't answer. The first desian grabbed another poison arrow, and loaded it into his crossbow. He aimed at Kratos' heart and struck. Kratos yelled in pain before fainting, and the desians promptly dropped him on the grass letting him die, to get Anna. Noishe padded to Kratos and kept whining in fear, and then growled at the desians who ignored him.

Anna, however, was in complete shock and didn't react when a desian pushed her harshly north. She fell and earned a bloody knee, but she didn't notice. It's all my fault. He died because of me. Oh, I'm so sorry! her thoughts screamed. Tears threatened to fall down her face as she obediently began to walk back to the ranch.

"Thunder Blade!" a voice rang from behind, and mana gathered to create a sword that fell upon the desians and killed three. Anna gasped and looked back to see Kratos!

The mercenary was standing, but with great difficulty. The arrow was in him, and blood leaked down his shirt and spread at his belts. The poison was already taking effect when he tried to focus for more magic. With most of his mana, he stretched his hand and summoned his attack.

"Grave!" he bellowed and the same spears of earth stabbed and sliced the last desian who fell to the floor with dimmed eyes and blood puddling around him. Anna screamed when Kratos finally closed his eyes and fell unconscious.

Mr.Who2123: Yay! Chapter 2 is done!

Cloud & Kratos: We're still here.

Mr.Who2123: Cloud and Kratos, why don't you be friends? You're both emotionless!

Cloud & Kratos: ...

Mr.Who2123: See! You'll get along well!

Cloud & Kratos: …please review so we can leave this crazy girl in her figment of imagination.

Mr.Who2123: fig...ment? (Another Lloyd moment! GASP)

Kratos: That reminds me of my stupid son whom I will see in chapter-

Mr.Who2123: Don't SPOIL IT! (Tackles Kratos and doesn't let go, she hugs him now o.O)

Cloud: The sight it burns! Mr.Who2123 has lost it!

Kratos casts Judgement and knocks out Mr.Who2123

Kratos: (gets on knees) Please! For every review, you save me from another day with that...THING!

NOTE 11/16/06 : I have revised this chapter, taking out words, adding descriptions, or even deleting paragraphs to write new ones. Please tell me how it is! Thanks!