Mr.Who2123: Chapter 23! Let's go!
Kratos: She owns nothing…amazingly. She can manipulate anyone.
Mr.Who2123: Make me a cheeseburger! (She is yelling at a snake)
(Snake comes back with a cheeseburger)
Mr.Who2123: Mwahahaha! Oh, let's start!
-.-.-.-.-
The three walked silently back to their inn room. Yuan, finding the bed still on the floor and a mess, eyed Kratos.
"You said you helped Anna with the bed," he stated. Kratos remained silent. "What were you doing?" Knowing Kratos had kissed Anna was not enough for Yuan. He had to hear it out of the stubborn Seraphim's mouth.
"Well…" he stopped. Caught like a mouse in a trap. Ah, stupid cliché phrases. Anna spoke for her love.
"He was helping me when I fell. I was hurt so he checked to make sure I was okay," she said. A formidable excuse, but a lie. "That wouldn't have hurt. First of all, you have a cruxis crystal, and second, you got up just fine without a scratch. Do you guys mistrust me that much?" Yuan mocked being hurt. Kratos took the bait and cast his eyes down.
"Well, we…" he glanced at Anna. Hehehe, this is going to be a big emotional blow. Yuan thought. He always loved to tease Kratos and this was no exception. "We…' he mumbled the word kissed, but Yuan didn't hear it.
"What?" Yuan replied. "I didn't hear the last word." Kratos was having an emotional breakdown. He closed his eyes. "We kissed." He muttered again, audible this time.
Yuan tried to hold in his laughter. He bit his lip, and soon enough, he was on the floor laughing.
"Kissed! Hahahaha!" he gasped. Kratos was red with singular rage.
"Yuan, shut up," he yelled. Anna was red with embarrassment and hid behind Kratos as he folded his arms. Yuan subsided his laughs and dusted himself off in a formal manner.
"Sorry, but that was too funny," he giggled from his words, but quickly straightened his face again. "There is one problem though. Kratos, you are one of the Seraphim, Yggdrasil would kill her if he knew that you love her." Kratos froze and Anna gasped.
"This cannot happen. I'm sorry," Kratos said softly. "Anna, fate was cruel to make you love someone who is bound to such evil." Anna looked down at her feet. This is so horrible, she thought agonized. I can't love him? Right when he accepts me… Her eyes brimmed with tears.
"I hate this fake goddess!" she screamed. She kicked a bed and it cracked, nearly falling down like the one next to it. "I hate cruxis! Why does this have to happen!" Anna continued to bang her arms into walls, acting desperately while Kratos and Yuan watched her lost for words.
"Kratos, you idiot," Yuan hissed. Kratos sighed and walked up to the one he loved, who was in the middle of crying on one of the beds. The Seraphim did what he did not expect. Kratos hugged her while she sobbed onto his shoulder. He held her close, nearly crying himself.
"I don't know what to do," she sobbed into his ear. Kratos only held her tighter. Yuan watched the scene with sadness. The two held to each other for a little longer until Kratos loosened his grip on her, but planted a quick kiss on her head.
"I don't know what to do, either, but we have to save the worlds and protect everyone. I need you with me Anna," Anna smiled at his reply and wiped her tears with a sleeve.
"Thank you." She buried her head into his chest, holding tight. Kratos waited a few minutes, keeping his eyes closed until he stood up and helped Anna to her feet.
Yuan smiled warmly at his friends and pat Kratos on the back.
"Never knew you had it in you," Yuan whispered to him. Kratos smiled and returned Yuan's gesture.
-.-.-.-.-
Later that night, all three of them had put the blankets on the floor to sleep safe against the weak beds that would break if someone sat on one.
"…and when they finished dancing, Yuan tripped in front of Martel, making a complete fool of himself," Kratos said. Anna burst out laughing and Yuan reddened. The three were telling stories of past times, and Yuan was the victim. Kratos chuckled at the memory and Yuan let out a few nervous laughs.
Then, a memory came to Yuan, and it became a weapon.
"Well, I have a story about Kratos that is more embarrassing than any of my stories. Do you know what I am saying, Kratos?" Yuan sneered maliciously. Kratos immediately paled and hid his face in his hand.
"Yuan please don't," he pleaded. Pleaded! Anna giggled and urged Yuan to continue.
"Well, it all started about when Kratos and I were about nineteen…" he began. Kratos listened as he desperately prayed for a meteor to crash onto Yuan that second.
-.-.-.-.-
Yuan and Kratos were walking down the main street of Palmacosta. Salt filled the air and the waves crashing against docks were music to the seraphim' keen ears.
"So are you ready for the party?" Kratos asked casually. They both wore dark colored suits each with a white undershirt to flatter the formal wear. Yuan loosened his collar and sighed.
"Yeah, I'm proposing on Martel's birthday. I have the ring," he replied, fishing a small box in his pocket. Kratos nodded and clasped Yuan on the back.
"Just say what you feel and it'll go well," Kratos reassured.
Inside the hall of the mansion where the party was held, Yuan split with Kratos to find Martel. Kratos was walking around nonchalantly, observing the many things around him. The mansion was packed and Kratos was shoulder to shoulder with others as he went wherever the hall took him.
Suddenly, a young woman stops him.
"Hey, want a drink?" she suggested, holding a glass of beer. Kratos, being nineteen and not 4,036, took the beer with thanks and downed the glass with one swig. The woman offered another, and Kratos, being the happy go lucky at the time, downed it too. By now, his mind fogged up and he asked for more, except, he accidentally took the alcohol. He drank it with speed and he completely lost character.
-.-.-.-.-
Kratos held his head down in deep embarrassment. Yuan was laughing out loud and Anna laughing with the same vigor. Yuan held out his hand and stopped laughing.
"Hold on, this is the best part," he said and Anna listened intently while Kratos groaned. Anna would never live it down…
-.-.-.-.-
Kratos grabbed the pitcher of alcohol and poured it down his throat, groping constantly for more fuel. The woman gaped at him. She just wanted to get him drunk enough to get a kiss or two, but she lost her taste in him and left. Kratos threw the pitcher on the floor, completely drunk and out of sorts. He stumbled through the mansion and found Yuan, kneeling in front of Martel.
"Martel, I-," Yuan began, and then noticed Kratos. "Hey, what are you doing?" Kratos staggered into the empty room and smiled carelessly. Yuan knew something was strange.
"Hey guys," Kratos said dumbly, leaning from side to side. Yuan knew at that second that his friend had been having a drink or two.
"Kratos, why are you drunk?" Yuan asked sharply, standing up. And when I propose, too, he thought. Kratos put a hand to the wall to steady himself and then walked right in between Martel and Yuan.
"Hey, Marty. Guess what? You have a nice rack, you lucky duck! You should use them!" he yelled, laughed, and then fell to the floor unconscious. Martel gasped, and suddenly felt weak and dizzy. Yuan, just blankly stared at his unconscious friend.
"I can't believe him," he whispered. Martel looked at Yuan with horror.
"What was wrong with him?" she whispered. Yuan shook his head.
"That is why I never drink," he muttered to himself.
-.-.-.-.-
Kratos had left the room by the time Yuan was done, and the two were laughing so hysterically, it rang through the whole town. Kratos could hear their laughing even outside and tried to not focus on it.
"I was drunk, it wasn't me, I was drunk, it wasn't me," he kept saying to himself. Anna would mock him for the rest of their lives.
-.-.-.-.-
Mr.Who2123: HAHAHAHAHAHA! Poor Kratos! HAHAHAHA!
Kratos: (Groans) Just review…