Lyn: Thank you Vampwriter, Riku Uchiha, and Elonie Kyle for Reviewing. Remember folks, please R&R! (Read and Review!)
Lea: Alright. I was bored and so this is the longest chapter. No lets get started. Spotlight to Raine!
Raine: What? Oh! Lea Andrews dose not own Tales of Symphonia, but she dose own Lyn/ Mira!
Lea: Yay! Now let's start!
Lyn woke up with an uncomfortable feeling within her. She rubbed her temples.
"Are you ok Lyn?" Kratos asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I just kind of feel odd. It's like my whole body stopped. It feel familiar and odd, yet everything's working better then normal. Kratos!"
"What?" He asked. She didn't say anything, but got up, and walked over to him.
"What are you…" Kratos stopped when Lyn looked at his blue wings, then back at him. He slapped his forehead and put back his wings. She asked, staring at the ground.
"That's why you don't sleep or eat. You don't need to. You're and angel!"
"Yes. I am an angel, but I can not explain it to you. No one is supposed to know. If word reaches Cruxis, I might as well be dead. Promise you won't tell them." Kratos said looking strait at her with his piercing eyes.
"Kratos… I promise. After all, we've been together for quite some time, though, to you, it could be hardly any time at all… I don't know what to think, but it makes since. It's like you're not the same, being an angel." Lyn sighed.
"If you can't accept me as an angel, accept me as you did before." He sighed. The sky started to grow dark, and the sun started to set. He stared out the window with his red eyes illuminating. Lyn wanted to ask him so many things, but she couldn't make herself. He seemed… on a higher level then she was. It was almost as if she was a serf who fell in love with a king.
"Kratos… I know we never talked often, but I think I want to know you better." Lyn sighed with a slight smile of relief.
"The truth is, I don't know anything about you either, except of what I've seen, and that you're an orphan." Kratos stated.
"Actually, yeah." Lyn said sweating, "That's pretty much all about me. I was the loneliest person there. It's actually kind of funny. People just would avoid me like I had some disease. It was so weird. And you?"
"I am an angel of Cruxis, who was sent to guard the Chosen. I'm acting as a mercenary. That's pretty much all I can say." Kratos sighed, concealing his memories of his childhood as a prince. Then sun had nearly set.
"So you're really an angel… You know, that's kind of cool. I mean, you get wings and holy powers and what not." Lyn said allowed trying to lighten up his mood. Kratos sighed.
"It's getting late. You should get your sleep."
"But I just woke up…" Lyn protested. "I don't think I could sleep either, even if I wanted to."
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Yuan was walking out when all of the sudden, Raine walked by. "Miss, wait up!" Yuan called, walking towards her. "You dropped this earlier, but you ran off before I could return it." He smiled.
"Oh. I was looking everywhere for that!" Raine thanked him.
"Do you like ruins? I do, but my friends think I'm weird." Yuan asked.
"Yes!Ohmygosh!InevermetanyoneelsewholikesruinslikeIdo!Canwetalk?!!"
"Sure! I'd love to!" Yuan smiled. "What's your name."
"Professor Raine."
"Raine? I'm Professor Yuan." He lied, trying to make himself sound more interesting. "Do you live around here?"
"No. I'm traveling with a group, but I seemed to have lost them." Raine replied.
"It's dangerous to be traveling alone around here. I'll stay with you until you find them. Chances are that they will be at the festival tonight."
"Festival?"
"Yes, the Moonlight Festival. Legend has it that noblemen and ladies of the court in the old kingdom met at Palmacosta to find their match. Once they find their match, they kiss under the full moon, and their love was said to last for eternity. It's a custom here for lovers to kiss, but I've never tried it. Anyway, your friends will most likely be there."
"Most likely. Thank you very much." Raine told Yuan.
"Anytime. Well, while we're here, are you hungry? I'll buy!" Yuan smiled.
"Sure. I haven't eaten since breakfast."
"That's not good. I'll treat you to anything you want." Yuan stated as they walked into a nearby restaurant.
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The sun had finally set, a firework had been shot up, and music started playing.
"What was that?" Lyn asked with interest.
"Fireworks. It must be the moonlight festival. I can't believe I forgot about it." Kratos sighed.
"What's a festival?" Lyn asked. Kratos looked at her in slight puzzlement over her words.
"It's a celebration. Mostly dancing, music, food and jewelry shops, small mini games, and firework shows. Want to go?"
"Yes, please… That is if you don't mind." Lyn stuttered, blushing slightly. Kratos changed into his Cruxis outfit and put on a masquerade mask.
"Well, let's go…" He grabbed his sword and attached it to his belt. "Stay close. Lloyd will be looking for us." Kratos grabbed Lyn with one hand under her knees and the other supporting her back. He then pulled out his wings and jumped out the window, soaring into the night. Lyn wanted to scream, but held her breath. "It's alright." Kratos assured her, "I'm not going to let you fall." Kratos landed in an ally and pulled in his wings. "Now this isn't so bad, now is it." He said, still carrying her.
"Not bad at all." Lyn muttered, blushing when she realized her hand was flat on his chest. Kratos finally let her down, and she admired all of the beautiful lights. Lloyd must have that expression on his face to. I don't believe he has seen something like this. If only I was there to share it with him. If only he knew…
"Oh wow. They're so graceful! I wish I could dance like that!" Lyn smiled. Kratos quickly snapped back to reality and pushed the thought to the back of his head.
"I'm sure you could be more graceful if you tried. Would you like to now?" he asked.
"But… But I don't know how." Lyn protested, flushing red.
"Don't think about it. Let the music guide you. Just like in drills. Besides, you may not get another chance."
"But. But. But…" Lyn tried to say something, but couldn't.
"Just think of it like sword practice. I will lead you through it." Kratos assured her. What am I thinking? I haven't danced since I was forced to 4015 years ago. What the hell had gotten into me anyway. Playing the "game", swiping her away on Noishe, making bets with Yuan, and now dancing? I think either I'm acting like a teenager again, or Lloyd's personality is starting to rub off on me. Kratos thought, trying not to let Lyn come close to guessing what he was thinking. Well, at least I have a mask on. No one will recognize… "Wait! Is that Yuan?" Kratos asked Lyn in slight shock.
"Where? Oh, I see them. I didn't know Yuan knew Raine. They sure do make a good couple though." Lyn smiled, watching Yuan talking to Raine in front of an Antique shop and occasionally pointing at things to explain the meaning behind them. Raine looked fascinated and extremely happy. The music stopped and Kratos led Lyn on the dance floor. When the waltz started, Lyn danced perfectly.
"Kratos, it's working. I don't know how, but I feel like I've already known it this whole time."
"I knew you could. You tend to do the same thing at practice."
"It seems to strange though. Ever since I've met you, it's as if I was 1,000 years older, yet I'm the same me. As if time stops for me."
"That's strange. I've never heard of something like that for a normal girl. But you shouldn't let those things bother you when you're supposed to be graceful." Kratos muttered, dipping her, spinning her out, and holding her hands from behind her as everyone else did when the waltz was near an end. He could smell the sent of strawberries and fresh spring flowers in her hair, even though he tried to ignore them. She felt his breath crawling down her spine, and she was slightly scarred.
The music was softening, and the moon was full the stars shining like delicate fireflies floating like mana. He spun her again slowly, and she rested her head on his chest at the end of the song. The passion he held within him for 15 years finally gave way as he slightly lifted her delicate chin, but he resisted and kissed her forehead instead. Slowly, he pulled away and glanced at her face. She looked slightly confused, thinking for a slight second he was actually going to kiss her. The song was over and he escorted her off the dance floor.
"Kra… Kratos? My head feel a little funny?" she smiled. He glanced at her and said nothing.
I can't believe what I almost did! I'm such an idiot! Didn't I learn my lesson? No. You heard what Mithos said! I can't believe myself. Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! I'm not aloud to love. Never again! He thought, almost killing himself on the spot. Never again! He repeated in his mind. A sadness appeared in his eyes that he kept in for so long. Flashbacks he never wished to remember crawled back to him…
A glimpse of Mira's face before she died appeared. Next came the death of Anna, his wife who turned into a monster and he killed. He could remember going to look for Lloyd, but Mithos wouldn't have it. He denied Mithos's orders and searched for him, but Mithos stunned him and threatened to kill young, three year old Lloyd if he ever found him. Kratos gave up.
"Kratos, are you ok?" Lyn asked.
"Yeah. I'm fine." He sighed. Lyn took his hand and dragged him around to look at things, slowly realizing how much his face had softened. She then spotted Lloyd who had won Collette a teddy bare. Collette blushed, accepted the bare, and the two ran off to play more mini games. "Wow. It looks like they are enjoying themselves!" Suddenly, someone announced.
"Ladys and Gentleman. Here is the worlds fastest and strongest swordfighter. The winner will receive this beautiful diamond sword!" said the announcer. "Given by the fighter himself."
"My God. That's my old sword! I thought those thieves would have it."
"He must have taken them out and taken it." Kratos replied. "I didn't know you had an encounter with…"
"I'll explain later." Lyn smiled sweating.
"Ok. Want me to win it for you?" He asked.
"No. I'll do it. If you enter, Lloyd will notice you and interrupt the fight. Besides, it's my honor. Just watch. I'll win!" Lyn smiled, running towards the stage.
"Honor?... Be careful Mira…" He sighed, walking behind her.
"Will anyone challenge him?" The announcer asked.
"I will! I will!" Lyn shouted.
"Oh my God." Kratos sighed, putting his hand on his forehead.
"Well come on up." The announcer smiled. Lyn ran up in her blue dress. The announcer asked her, "Well young lady, we like your enthusiasm. Now, what will you wager? You know if you win, you get the sword. If you loose, what will you give?" Lyn thought for a second, smiled, and undid her corset, revealing her shirt and breaches under her dress. She picked it up and handed it to the announcer.
"If you win," she winked, "You get the beautiful lady's dress!" The fighter's eyes widened and everyone in the crowd was whistling and yelling with excitement at the surprising event. Lyn picked up a balanced dull sword with the other fighter, and saw Lloyd, Collette, Genis, Raine, and Yuan cheering her on. She looked a little for Kratos, then spotted him watching her from a rooftop. She smiled at him, but glanced back at the fighter so she wouldn't give away Kratos's position.
"Alright. Here are the rules. No killing or hacking limbs. This is for fun. The one who yields, starts bleeding, gets out of the arena, looses their weapon, or is put in mate is the looser. Now lets get started!" The announcer yelled, dropping down a red flag.
Lyn's opponent charged at her. She just quickly jumped to the side, making him almost fall off the arena. He tried to do several slow swings to scare her, but she just easily dodged with an innocent look on her face, hardly lifting her sword. He tried a triple thrust, but she just did three back hand springs and a flip at the end. He then tried to shoot fireballs at her, but she gently swiped them away with her sword.
"Man. I hoped I wouldn't have to do this. Especially against a girl" He sighed, placing an exphere in a key crest on his gauntlet. His eyes suddenly sharpened, and he was a lot faster. Unfortunately for him, she was swifter then he. He started to attack with sword rain, two feet away from her, but she held her position and dodged every single one of them. She then kicked him under his chin, shooting him strait up in the air. Lyn jumped back and started shifting hand signals extremely fast with light glowing beneath her feet and hair dancing from the powerful shifting pressure. The announcer walked over to him.
"I can't believe it. He's been knocked unconcerned. Lady, you win." Lyn canceled the spell in a brief second. The crown cheered and she blushed waving to the crowd. She even saw Kratos with a rare smile, slowly clapping for her. Lloyd and Collette jumped on the stage, tackling her. She just laughed.
"Wow! You did it. How did you get so good?" Lloyd asked. "I could hardly see your movements!"
"Really?" She asked, "Everything seemed so slow to me. It was weird. Oh well!" Lyn got up still smiling as she was awarded the sword and walked off the stage. Yuan walked up to her.
"Ah," He started, "So we meet again. Is that the sword you were talking about? Your prized possession?" Yuan asked. Kratos used his angel senses to hear the conversation.
"Yep. This is definitely it." She smiled drawing it. The sword started to shine with white light that illuminated the rainbow. "Yep! This is it. I missed you so much buddy!" She said hugging it, then placing it back in it's sheath. "I never want to loose you again!" She told it. She put her blue dress back on and hung her sword in her sash. Raine was happy that she was reunited with Lloyd, Genis, and Collette.
"Hay Lyn," Lloyd asked, "Where's Kratos? Didn't he come with you?"
"I'm not aloud to tell you where he is specially. That would be cheating, but he is somewhere around here." She smiled.
"If you say so…" Lloyd sighed.
"Raine, I'm glad to see you've found your group. I'm guessing this is the Chosen's group, right?"
"Yes, that is correct Yuan." Raine smiled. Lloyd remembered Yuan from the Triet ranch and was confused how he knew Raine and Lyn, but he knew better then to say something. No one would believe him anyway. Kratos suddenly appeared in the group in his purple outfit, but no one took notice of him.
"Professer Raine, we heard an interesting story about this festival and what it celebrates."
"Yeah. If you kiss under the full moon, your love will last forever." Lloyd smiled.
"Yep! Doesn't it sound romantic?" Collette smiled.
"Yes, I've heard it is a custom from the old days. Actually, Yuan told me." Everyone looked for Yuan, but he had vanished.
"Where'd he go?" Lloyd asked.
"Looks like Mira and Kratos are gone too…" Genis sighed.
"Kratos was here!?" Lloyd and Raine yelled in disbelief at the young half-elf.
"Oops. I forgot we were supposed to catch him. Yeah, he was here. Didn't you notice?" Genis responded. Everyone had teardrops over their head except Collette, who was whistling.
"So what now?" Lloyd asked "He's been popping up everywhere, but we can't find him! Hmm… If I were Kratos, where would I go?" He sighed.
"Yeah. We haven't put to much thought into this game. Where would he have to go?" Genis thought, "He would need food. That's a start."
"No. He could send Mira for that." Raine said. "It's a possibility though. If we did look though, he could be in one of thousands of places we don't know."
"True… I'm tired. It's passed midnight." Lloyd yawned, "Lets go to sleep and look for him tomorrow."
"That's it!" Raine yelled. "He has to sleep somewhere. If not him, Lyn dose at least. They would have to have stayed at a hotel somewhere."
"Good idea! Then we could get him while he was sleeping." Lloyd smirked. "Just got to find witch one."
"That's quite unhonorable of you, catching a man while he's sleeping." Kratos told the group at a distance with his sharp eyes staring strait at Lloyd.
"Kratos san!" Lloyd said a little frightened at his stare.
"What are you waiting for? Why are you hesitating? I thought you wanted to protect others? Was I mistaken?" Kratos said, taunting him. Lloyd charged at him. Kratos dodged and knocked him in the stomach with his sword hilt in a way he wasn't touching Kratos. Lloyd was forced back into Collette.
"Why… Why can't I even touch you!" Lloyd said.
"This is a test for see your full potential, and you to see mine. Once you've seen an enemy, you forget you have allies. Now that you have witnessed it, the game's over. We've spent enough time here. Tomorrow we must continue the world regeneration. Meet me tomorrow at noon at Thoda Dock." Kratos said boldly. Everyone nodded in agreement.
"No. I want to keep going." Lloyd yelled, getting up, barely holding onto his twin swords, and charging at him again. Kratos dodged him, and Lloyd tripped over and fell on his face. He tried to get up and face Kratos even still."
"Lloyd. That's enough. Get your sleep and prepare for tomorrow. The money I gave you will cover for your hotel, new equipment, and items. Until tomorrow…" He sighed, disappearing into the dark streets.
"No! No no no!! Why… why do you always keep…" Lloyd muttered, and then passed out.
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"Hello Yuan. Thank you for the ride." Kratos told him, hopping into the carriage. Lyn smiled when she saw him enter, but he just entered and acted like he didn't notice. "Before we go, I need to get a few things straightened out."
"Like what." Lyn asked.
"Yuan, can you watch Mira for me. We're going to the next seal tomorrow, and we can't take her along."
"I understand." Said Yuan, "I will place her in the best of care. Another thing what about our… agreement we established yesterday?"
"It will continue until the end of the world regeneration… Another thing, we've always been best friends since we found you. Yuan, I know what you're doing. I think you should stop before he finds out. Unlike with me, has no reason not to kill you."
"Stop! Why should I? You almost got killed because of him and you're asking why? I'm aware of the consequences, and he may be our friend, but he had no right to do that, or what he's doing!"
"So you won't yield... I will act as if I don't know what you're doing. I will not pursue this. I will drop Mira off at your house tomorrow morning before I head out. Because of the transformation, we will be back by nightfall a day from now. We'll meet at the governor's building." Kratos sighed.
"Here is your stop." Yuan said. "I will be waiting for your coming. Kratos. Mira." He gave a slight bow to the both of us.
"Yuan. Thanks."
"No problem, best friend. We will correct our mistakes. Everything will be fine in the end. I promise."
"Let us pray so." Kratos muttered. Yuan's carriage drove off. Kratos took out his wings and flew up to the room with Lyn in his arms. She had almost forgotten about his wings. Lyn slipped out of her blue dress, folded it, and placed it into her bag. Kratos threw off his sword onto his bed, and then continued his routine of staring at the stars. Lyn walked up to him.
"Kratos, good luck on your journey tomorrow." Lyn smiled.
"Alright, Mira." Kratos glanced up at the full moon. "What Yuan told you wasn't quite the real truth, though it is the correct reason for the festival."
"It wasn't at Palmacosta, it was at a place called Altamira, an island. It started because a king and queen were stranded on that island after an accident out at sea. They loved spending time together, even without the servants and luxury. They grew to an old age, happily on that island, and died on the full moon after their last kiss. Their bodies were taken by the waves, and ever since, if two people who really love each other kiss on the full moon of Altamira, then the two's love will never end. That's how the story goes." Kratos finished.
"Then why do they do it in Palmacosta?" Lyn asked.
"Because Altamira, which was near here, was gone. This is the closest place."
((side note: Altamira is the island Regal owns in Tethe'alla. For all who don't know what I'm talking about, play the game.))
"I see. I think if I did find someone like that, I would like to try it." Lyn smiled.
"Is that so?" Kratos replied, turning to her. He looked into her beautiful eyes, but his memories soared back. It was so overwhelming that he grabbed his chest and fell over unconscious.
"Kratos? Kratos!" Lyn yelled, but there was no response.
Lea: Ha ha! Another cliffhanger! Again, I wrote too much, therefore I had to put it into the next chapter. Resulting in thus.
Yuan: You know, you really shouldn't torture your readers like that.
Lea: Well, It keeps them interested. Anyway, Please Read and Review!
Yuan: Yes, please do! We love to hear from you.