Mr.Who2123: Well, now that Kratos and Anna are married, we are officially almost done!
Kratos: Well, Tales of Symphonia does not belong to Mr.Who2123, but you guys already know that.
Mr.Who2123: Then why are you saying this?
Kratos: Because you're forcing me to…
Mr.Who2123: Oh…yeah…well, let's begin!
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The new couple, each now as happy as can be, were now getting ready to end their objective that had taken a year or two reach. However, there was one slight tension between them as Kratos shouldered his pack and Anna united the belt around her waist, letting the sides click into each other. They both knew Kratos had an eighty percent chance of dying when releasing the seal with Origin, and from there, Sanaro would need to make the next pact with Origin, since he was the only other companion that could wield a sword properly. Yuan had a giant, double sided blade, which made him incompatible, and Anna didn't fight at all, so it was then up to the former spy to reunite the worlds.
Therefore, because of the circumstances, Sanaro was feeling a bit of tension as well. He became more isolated, wondering about the future battle that would take place. Currently, the group was in the sky, flying on the newly named Rhieards towards Heimdall. The former spy gripped the steering bars, his knuckles white under his armored gloves. It would have been just to say he was just as worried about his success as Kratos' possible death.
"Sanaro, you need to relax," a voice said from his right. It took most of the former spy's wits to not jump and grab the handle of his blade that he was so accustomed to when being surprised. He looked up to see Kratos himself, his wedding band on his left hand glinting in the sunlight as it gripped the steering bars as well. Sanaro sighed, merely nodding as an answer.
"How are you so calm?" he finally asked, looking up at him. Kratos looked forward a moment. His eyes were narrowed and filled with a fire that he had never seen before. His auburn hair was pushed back, showing the Seraph's full face, which was in a contented manner; not too stressed, but not relaxed either.
"I'm not quite sure, myself, but I believe it's because I know I have to do this, and it cannot be avoided," he replied slowly. Sanaro looked down at his own hands, holding onto the bars. Upon his middle finger was the pact ring, the diamond stud glistening brightly just like Kratos'.
"Yeah…I guess," he finally voiced, but the former spy wasn't even sure that the Seraph had heard him. It was a minute or two after that the thick forests of the Ymir Forest came into sight, and the slight tension had become tenfold. It seemed even the rushing winds and loud engines couldn't have blocked the deadly silence that made their ears ring with nothingness and their hearts pound harshly, yet noiselessly in their chests.
The group found a clearing in the middle of the forest, and finding it big enough, they slowed their machines and lost altitude. The engines spluttered, suddenly losing most of their power when the power was turned down. Although there was the unceremonious noise of the engine, the Rhieards landed quite steadily, and the group jumped off of their machines. Yuan pulled out his wing pack, and upon opening it, the four Rhieards disappeared in a flash of smoke, and the wing pack was full. Closing it once more, Yuan pocketed the small container with a frown.
"It looks like we get to begin our journey to the end of our long adventure," he remarked. Everyone agreed silently with the nods of their heads, all of them anxious. But with all their worry for Sanaro and Kratos, the Seraphim lost their guards, and failed to notice a few spies flying by…
One was Pronyma, hiding behind a bush with an intercom and camera in her hand. She lifted the surprisingly slim camera, and took a picture of the companions, oblivious to her and three spies backing her up.
I'll get them back for making a fool of me, she muttered in her thoughts. Clenching her fist, she waited for a reply when she sent the picture to her leader very, VERY far away.
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Yggdrasil was at a computer, eagerly awaiting the pictures his subordinate had sent. In the next instant, a picture of the three betrayers and the ranch escapee came on his screen, each of them talking, but facing away from the bush in which the picture was taken. Smiling deviously, he lifted the intercom to his mouth and spoke.
"Pronyma, go take a break. I'll take care of them myself," he said through it. The spluttering answer was expected, as Yggdrasil's smile became even more evil.
"S-Sir! Thank you, sir!" was the response, and the Desian leader signed out.
"You will all pay dearly for your crimes…especially Sanaro," he muttered, making a glare at the picture before disappearing in a flash of light and feathers, a symbol of holiness, though he was completely opposite.
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Sanaro stopped, dead cold in the middle of the forest path. The abrupt movement made everyone become tense as they focused on the former spy. Without a word, Sanaro put a finger to his lips, and the group responded efficiently, waiting for whatever the former spy had noticed. Suddenly, Kratos and Yuan felt a considerable amount of mana welling behind them, and whirled around to see Yggdrasil floating there with a smirk on his face.
"It's so lovely to see all of my greatest friends after so long," he voiced, his grin twisted into a malicious hate mixed with the grief that his friends had inflicted upon him. The three Seraphim drew their weapons; Kratos and Sanaro their swords while Yuan his giant, double sided blade. Anna moved backwards, led by Noishe and Annule who ushered her out of harms way.
"Leave, Mithos, and we won't have to kill you," Kratos growled fiercely, his flamberge glowing bright.
"Now, now, Kratos, all I wanted to do was bring you back to Derris-Kharlan so we can negotiate something," he responded. None of the Seraphim took it, as they stayed there, weapons poised for battle. There was a moment of silence before Yggdrasil unfolded his arms, and let light mana charge in his fists. "Hm, well, I guess can all perish in HELL instead!" The Cruxis leader knelt on the floor quickly, punching the ground with all his might. The floor cracked as tremors were sent through the ground, and tremendous light mana was sent towards the three Seraphim. Immediately, they dodged the blow, releasing their wings to move out of the trees and out of the way quickly enough.
Yuan, seeing the blow had about ended, raised his blade, and flew straight towards his former friend, thrusting his weapon hard against him. Thunder mixed with light as Yggdrasil made a temporary light sword, and swung it at Yuan as soon as the attack ended. The blue haired Seraph dodged it, but didn't attack again as both Sanaro and Kratos came spiraling from either side. Their swords held surges of power as they both yelled their unison attack.
"LIGHT SPEAR JUDGMENT!" they both yelled. They collided into Yggdrasil with a huge force, larger than the outburst that Yggdrasil had made as his starting attack. As they hit their target, one giant ray of light came straight from the heavens and fell on top of the Cruxis Leader. Screaming in pain, he fell to one knee, his body barely taking the sheer amounts of combined power.
Yuan frowned however, upon seeing the image.
"He shouldn't be this easy…," he said. Suddenly, two more Yggdrasils appeared out of nowhere, and the hurt one became fully rejuvenated in an instance. "Me and my big mouth." Instantly, each Seraph fought of a splitting image of Yggdrasil. Kratos exchanged sword blows with his, and ducked under a wind thrust quickly created by his attacker. Making his own spell, Kratos made a brown magic circle, quickly releasing a Grave attack. Sharp spires were thrust up from the ground, and the Yggdrasil was hit perfectly.
The pointed edges hit his back, and constantly made deep wounds in his back as they kept shooting from the ground. Taking a moment to make a sigh, Kratos looked at the Faerie Ring that Anna had given him so long ago. He smiled at it, and then looked back at his defeated image of Yggdrasil. The form turned into one of a dead angel instead of Yggdrasil, and the Seraph sighed. I wonder which one of us has the real Yggdrasil, he wondered, and left the dead corpse.
Yuan was faring just as easily as Kratos. He thrust his double sided blade against Yggdrasil's head, making a huge dent in his face from the crushing blow. The fatal crush on his head instantly killed Yggdrasil, but the form turned into one of an angel, the head of a soulless half elf who accepted Yggdrasil's plan. Sighing, he looked to the right, where Sanaro was fighting off Yggdrasil…the real one.
The former spy jumped away from a Prism Sword spell, watching the sword send bursts of fatal light energy into an entrapped circle that he was not, fortunately, in. Lifting his blade once more, Sanaro made a feigned slash, tricking Yggdrasil and lightly ripping his side. The Cruxis leader grunted, feeling the blood trickle down his white clothes. Rage intensified, Yggdrasil disappeared, and reappeared behind the expecting warrior. He turned around and parried the blow of the light sword which Yggdrasil had created. However, Sanaro did not expect Yggdrasil to let his weapon disappear and create a magic circle that had been charged already. Too late to notice, Sanaro was stuck in Yggdrasil's strongest move: Indignation Judgment.
Sanaro lifted his blade, ready to cast a Guardian at the right moment, though he knew it would do little. Quickly, and before Sanaro even knew it, giant bolts of thunder had come down on the edge of the circle, and kept shooting down, but intensified with each moment. As the final and strongest blow came down on the already stricken warrior, Sanaro sent a Guardian around himself. As he expected, it did little, and Sanaro was struck nearly full force by Yggdrasil's rage. It was surprising and disappointing to Yggdrasil when Sanaro did not scream, but merely fell to one knee, gasping for breath.
"Humph, you are strong, Sanaro, but can you survive this next attack?" the Cruxis leader asked rhetorically, and made another magic circle. Creating a Prism Sword, Yggdrasil sent it at the defenseless former spy. Sanaro closed his eyes, waiting for the impact.
The former spy felt a burst of wind and a grip around his torso, and opened his eyes immediately. He saw that Kratos was holding the wounded warrior, and had saved his life. Muttering a first aid, Kratos sent a surge of healing mana to Sanaro, and stopped moving. Silently, he put him down and left to finish off Yggdrasil with Yuan. Reclining his head, Sanaro sighed and cursed himself for being so weak.
I guess I still can't beat him…I keep holding back even after I hate his guts…, he thought pessimistically, looking to the area Kratos had left through. I need to finish him off. Slowly, the Seraph lifted himself, muttering a First Aid as well. He felt his power returning, but he was still relatively weak. Silently, Sanaro left the area where he had been safe, and made his way towards the fight.
Kratos and Yuan were faring well against Yggdrasil, each of them sending simultaneous blows to keep him on the defensive. Kratos sent a surge of energy in his sword, and spiraled up as he sliced Yggdrasil, landing perfectly while the Cruxis leader was sent high in the air. Quickly, he pointed his sword at the airborne Seraph and shot a blast of mana at him. Quickly, Yuan muttered a thunder spell, and it collided with the pure blast of mana.
"Thundering Spear Cannon!" they both yelled. The thunder blast hit Yggdrasil square in the torso, sending the electricity through his body. The cruxis leader grunted in pain, but broke free from the attack, and sent a spell himself.
"Indignation!" he yelled, casting the spell in an instant, and still airborne. Because of the long charge time of Indignation, Yuan and Kratos made it out quickly, but didn't know that Yggdrasil expected this. Another charged spell came from his hand as he balled it into a fist and sent the blow towards the Seraphim.
"Thunder Prism!" he yelled. This spell was almost exactly opposite from Indignation. Sure, it was still thunder, but it sent thousands of small jolts of thunder while Indignation used one, almighty blow to take out the enemy in one hit. Also, Thunder Prism had an incredibly quick rate of attack, and as soon as the Cruxis leader cast the deadly spell, it had already started its attack. Kratos and Yuan were struck with the powerful spell, both of them yelling in the pain. They shakily got up after the attack, though, and kept going.
"Thunder Blade!"
"Grave!"
This was a deadly combo, as Yggdrasil would have been caught by both sides of him, up and down. The Cruxis leader lithely disappeared and sent a tremor and a surge of mana into the floor just as he had done to start the fight. Quickly, Kratos and Yuan scattered away like rabbits upon seeing a deadly wolf. Using their wings once more to move deftly away from the blow, Kratos and Yuan breathed heavily as they formed their next plan with much haste. The surlier Seraph looked down to see the tremors beginning to end, and he put his hand to his chin to think.
"Kratos!" Yuan yelled, but was cut off by a hand over his mouth. The said man turned around and saw Yuan held by two angels, each of them holding a sword at his neck. He felt a presence behind him as well, but Kratos was too late. Three angels caught hold of Kratos; their heartless and merciless ways making it impossible for him to move. Slowly, Yggdrasil flew up from the forest canopy, chuckling at his captured friends.
"Wonderful…now I can make sure you never leave again, Kratos," he said. His mouth covered, Kratos had no choice but to glare at the leader with all the rage he held.
"And I'll make sure that you'll day this day!" a familiar voice yelled from behind the Cruxis leader. Sanaro was charging at Yggdrasil, his green wings flaring and his sword pointed at the leader. He disappeared, just like Yggdrasil could, and kicked the Cruxis leader high in the air. Throwing his sword after the completely stunned leader, he put his hands together, focusing his strongest attack.
"Spirit of Death, send this betrayer of life into a frozen hell, and may he feel the pain of those he has inflicted upon," he murmured, as he focused his energy.
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Annule felt a shiver of power leave the wolf as it suddenly collapsed to the floor, almost too weak to stand. Anna and Noishe, who had been running with him, immediately stopped in concern as they checked on the wolf. Annule was completely fine physically, but his energy had suddenly left him like it had been sucked from him in an instant.
Noishe felt the draining energy, and looked instinctively to the fight that the Seraphim were in. The protozoan whined, feeling a drastic amount of power welling in the area. Bringing his attention back to hic fellow canine, Noishe saw Annule wearily standing and making his way further, despite the sudden weakening.
Anna, as confused as anyone would be, merely followed the wolf slowly, placing a hand on Annule's head and rubbing it affectionately.
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The whole area in the sky became suddenly cold, as if the undead were coming back to haunt the evil Cruxis leader, and their cold bodies had made even the lifeless angels shiver. Air gushed from what seemed nowhere, keeping Yggdrasil in the high altitude. Sanaro's sword was floating as well, and glowing with a green and blue aura. Kratos took one glance at the blade, and knew that the sword was creating the immense elemental changes.
The gusts of winds turned fierce, circling around the sword. In no time, a huge tornado had formed, at least ten times larger than Yggdrasil, and kept the Cruxis leader swirling in circles in the air. Closing his eyes, Sanaro was finishing his attack as he prepared for the second phase, which would need to once more take as much energy as it had the first. The tornado took so much energy that it had weakened Annule to his defenseless and slow state, and Sanaro would need to find more of the energy to properly kill Yggdrasil.
Looking down, Sanaro saw the wide fields and trees, and found his source of mana. Closing his eyes once more, Sanaro sent the next stage of the spell at Yggdrasil. Small shards of ice appeared, mixing into the tornado quickly. Immediately, the shard and irregular pieces cut the Cruxis leader continuously, and the tornado seemed to downsize as the ice appeared. The magnitude of the storm, however, grew tenfold as Yggdrasil as helplessly thrown around.
Sanaro lifted a weary hand, his fingers stretched and palm facing towards the tornado. He began to finalize his attack as he slowly closed that fist, and the storm became smaller and smaller, yet stronger and stronger. Suddenly, the former spy closed his hand, and the storm disappeared altogether. However, it was replaced by a giant, ten meter wide block of ice, with many jagged edges, containing the thrown about and hurt Cruxis leader. In the instant that the ice had formed, it suddenly blew up, and ice went flying everywhere.
Yggdrasil fell, unconscious, down from the sky, finally released from the spell. The angels, seeing their dying leader, let go of Kratos and Yuan, and caught Yggdrasil. However, Kratos and Yuan had no time to cheer as Sanaro had also fallen out his consciousness, and his wings were disappearing as his strength left him. Quickly, the Seraphim caught the former spy, each holding a shoulder.
"Sanaro!" Kratos yelled, slightly shaking the warrior. Slowly, yet surely, the Seraph opened his eyes, looking about wearily. Noticing Kratos, he looked away from him as he bit his lip.
"Kratos…he…he broke the ring," he muttered as he sighed. Yuan stared wide eyed at Sanaro as he looked at the warrior's finger. Sure enough, the diamond had been sliced off, somewhere during the fight. "I…I couldn't beat him, either." Yuan looked down to see the angels had left the area to take care of the dying Cruxis leader, and had forgotten about the Seraphim.
"Sanaro…," Kratos murmured, seeing the tears in his friend's eyes forming.
"I messed all of this up…and now, we can't save the world," he continued to murmur. Kratos shook his head, with a reassuring smile on his face. Slowly, he and Yuan began to lose altitude as they dropped softly through the canopy of trees, and landed in a clearing of trees. They put Sanaro against a tree as the warrior recovered his energy.
"Sanaro, we can go see Altessa again," Kratos said. Suddenly, Yuan interjected with a shake of his blue head.
"No, Pronyma had spied on us, and found Altessa…so, there is currently no one who can make a Rune Crest at the moment," he said. Kratos looked in shock at his friend, and then cursed.
"We were so close!" he exclaimed. He threw a fist against a nearby tree, which suffered the full force of the Seraph. The tree gave in, and a huge crack was in that tree, displaying the Seraph's large amounts of power.
Sanaro sighed, looking about the forest. There was no longer anything living within a couple mile radius, due to his attack.
I took the mana from all the living creatures in a two mile radius, and killed them all…does that make me…as bad as Yggdrasil? He wondered. The sound of birdsong was gone from his ears as he let sleep take over him.
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Mr.Who2123: Yeah, there was a lot of events in the end that were but barely explained…sorry, but I felt this chapter was long enough, and didn't really need anything else.
Kratos: Please review.