Kratos/Anna Multipart, Chapter 7
Aug. 4th, 2006 10:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
seikilosTitle: Currently untitled
Fandom: Tales of Symphonia
Genre: Angst/Romance
Rating: PG-13; later chapters may hit R.
Summary: One woman's take on the untold love story between Kratos and Anna.
Chapter Title: 7 - Complications
Chapter Rating: PG
Words in Chapter: 1887
Disclaimer: I don't own Tales of Symphonia.
Author's Notes: Told you the rate at which I was updating would slow down. ^^;; At least I have Chapter 8 about 75% complete; I should have it up in a few days, though after that, my update rate will probably slow even further. Sorry, everyone.
Kratos stood in front of a mirror in his room in the Vinheim castle. He took a few moments to clear his mind.
Then his image flickered and was replaced by another, completely different one.
Kratos took a moment to get used to the different stride his new, shorter, and slenderer body had. He tried not to trip over the legs of his suddenly too-long pants and too-large boots.
Although he had long known angels could change their form at will, this was the first time he had ever created a second body for himself. He had done so because it was a needed part of his plan to rescue Anna.
The plan itself had taken less than two days to create, from start to finish. The problem was collecting the supplies he needed to carry it out.
His first step had been to create a new body to use while executing his plan. Virtually every Desian at Asgard Human Ranch knew him by sight; in his own form, it would be impossible for him to move around unnoticed. Therefore, he had created a new body for himself, the way Mithos had done. Kratos’ new form, instead of being tall, red-haired and moderately muscled, was a handful of inches shorter and slim. It had unremarkable brown hair and blue eyes and was plain of face. The sole interesting feature his disguise possessed was a scar that trailed from cheek to temple; Kratos hoped the soldiers would initially waste time looking for a man with a scar, once Anna’s escape became known.
Immediately after that, Kratos had taken an angel-level Cruxis Crystal from their supplies. It would not be enough to completely halt the progress of Anna’s Exsphere, but it would slow it.
Next, Kratos had obtained a Desian uniform. It had been remarkably simple. He had opened a supply closet when no one was around, taken out the necessary clothing and helmet, and had teleported directly outside one of his diary rooms, entered the room, and left the uniform. No one else had the necessary password, and so he felt confident his theft would go undiscovered.
After that, from Derris-Kharlan’s computer system, Kratos had checked to see in which cell Anna was being confined so he could be fast and efficient, and also so he could learn the correct code for opening the cell. He had had a moment’s trouble, as he had forgotten her assigned number. However, a quick check of his notes rectified that problem—and brought back a few interesting memories. He had almost smiled at them. “Bastard” indeed.
He had also stopped in at Luin again, this time to purchase clothing for Anna. Allowing her to travel about in her prison uniform was asking for the two of them to be turned in as fugitives. Therefore, he had bought her a green top, boots, and a cream skirt and pants for riding. He had also bought a pair of white gloves to cover the Exsphere on her hand. He hoped his guess at her size was correct—and that she would like the clothes he brought her.
Now, Kratos was on the final step. He needed to create a photo id for his assumed persona, and he could not do that alone. It was time for him to test out his disguise’s efficacy.
Kratos teleported to outside his diary room—there was an interference pattern that prevented him from teleporting directly inside—and typed in the code to unlock the door. He walked straight in, then used the interior keypad to lock the door from the inside. There, he stripped and changed into the Desian uniform, his initial clumsiness with a completely new and smaller body wearing off as he dressed. Then, he unlocked the door, stepped outside, locked the door behind him, and teleported to one of the empty rooms in Asgard Human Ranch.
No one was there to observe him walk out of a room he had not walked into in the first place, and so Kratos was able to enter the more heavily-trafficked areas of the ranch with no difficulty. He walked with purpose so no one would question his errand, only stumbling a few times as he grew more and more accustomed to a different style of walk. Soon, he arrived at his destination: a moderate-sized waiting area with a few chairs, a counter behind which stood a Desian soldier, and a curtained-off area.
“You a new recruit?” the man behind the desk asked.
Kratos saluted briefly. “Yes, sir.” He made a conscious effort to sound respectful.
It must have worked, for the man only went on to ask, “Name?”
“Jerry Dobson, sir.”
He had picked a human name and appearance. Though human soldiers were rare, Kratos knew the change of mana that accompanied a change in body was limited. He would not be able to alter his mana enough to pass for a half-elf, something he regretted but was unable to change.
“Right. An inferior being, hmm?” the half-elf said, sounding surprisingly good-natured as he scribbled down the information. “Rank would be private, I assume?”
“Yes, sir.”
“And you’re working under . . . ?” the Desian looked up at him.
Kratos had his answer ready. “Major Mintal, sir.”
The man laughed. “Good luck with that, then. He’s a tartar.” He leaned forward over the counter and yelled in the general direction of the curtain, “Anyone getting their pictures snapped in there?”
There was a crash. “No, and thank Martel for that, because you would’ve startled me into wrecking them, Innel!” a woman yelled back.
“You know you love me,” Innel replied. He looked back at Kratos, who had listened to the exchange with a slightly bemused expression. “Go on in, Dobson. Polty will look after you.”
“Yes, sir.” Kratos saluted once more and walked behind the curtain. The woman—presumably Polty—pointed to a chair in the corner.
“Sit in that, sit straight, and look serious. Wreck the photo by being a goof and I wreck you.” She walked over to stand behind a small, compact camera on a tripod without waiting to see if he had obeyed.
Kratos did so, waiting for Polty to get things lined up to her satisfaction.
“Helmet off,” she snapped. “Martel, your photo id will be useless if half your face is covered, greenie.”
Kratos blinked, unused to being insulted—by anyone other than Anna, that was. After a moment, he pulled off his helmet and set it in his lap.
“Good. Now just hold it and don’t blink.” Polty snapped the picture, catching Kratos in mid-blink. She examined the back of the camera, where there was presumably a small preview image. “You’ve got your eyes half-shut, but it’ll do. These aren’t photos for a beauty contest after all.” Her eyes traced his scar. “You’d sure as hell not qualify, even if it was and you had a perfect picture.”
Kratos was pleased at the way Polty focused on his scar but kept it off his face. “Dobson” no doubt would be weary of any jokes made about his disfigurement, and so he put that expression on his face instead.
Polty removed the camera from its tripod and glanced back at him. “You still here? Hop it, greenie, before I report you to your superior for loitering.”
Kratos left the back area quickly to find the man behind the counter, Innel, grinning at him.
“A real dragon, our Polty is,” Innel commented to Kratos, not bothering to lower his voice. “But good at her work. It makes up for the personality.”
“I heard that, Innel, you inferior being!” Polty yelled from the back room.
Innel made a face at Kratos. “Better beat it before she breathes fire and barbecues you for lunch. Come back tomorrow and we’ll have your id done for you. Got it?”
Kratos saluted confusedly, feigning uncertainty. “Y-yes, sir.”
Then he left.
Walking back to the same empty room he had arrived in to depart for Derris-Kharlan, Kratos found himself thinking over his encounter with the two Desians. He had no doubt that despite their innocuous exteriors, were Innel and Polty assigned to oversee the prisoners, neither would have any qualms about whipping the “inferior beings” half to death.
Even to one who had lived four thousand years, people were still odd at times.
* * *
It was a little more than a week after Kratos had made his promise to Anna. He was almost a bit late to their meeting, having been spending most of his spare time accustoming himself to his new second form.
As soon as the door slid shut behind him, Anna wrapped her arms around him and kissed him. Kratos held her close and returned the kiss, feeling something he could even call exhilaration. He must be in love. There was no other explanation for the feelings Anna, and Anna alone, could elicit.
When they broke apart, they walked over to Kratos’ chair, where he sat and Anna sat on his lap.
“How are your plans coming?” she asked him as she threaded a hand through his hair. She did not ask for the specifics; the one time she had, Kratos had told her what he was planning would work better if she was unaware of the details.
“Well,” he replied, savouring the feeling. “Everything is set. All that remains is for me to practice as much as I can.”
“Good.” She gave him a wide smile.
He loved it when she smiled at him like that. “Will you give a quick report?”
“I might as well.” She kissed him again, briefly, before getting off his lap and moving over to her chair to make it easier for him to write.
It did not take long for him to record what was necessary, which allowed Kratos and Anna more time together. It was only with the utmost reluctance that, at the end, they parted. Kratos forced himself to remember that soon they would be able to spend as much time as they liked with one another.
However, when the Desian soldiers came to escort Anna back to her cell, Kratos found Kvar had accompanied them.
“Lord Kratos.” Kvar bowed. “I thought it wise to inform you of a decision Lord Yggdrasill made concerning the host body you are observing.”
“Yes, Kvar?” Kratos asked shortly, making certain to keep his eyes on Kvar and not on Anna’s departure.
Kvar seemed not to notice Kratos’ slight distraction. “Lord Yggdrasill, after his most recent examination of the notes you submitted, has deemed it prudent to re-transfer the host body to the isolation cells. It seems growth of the inferior being’s Exsphere has stagnated.”
Kratos felt his stomach drop. “Are you certain that would be wise? The conditions may be too harsh for the—host body, and may well eliminate her. A perfect match like hers is too rare to risk.”
“It is not my place to question the decisions of my lord Yggdrasill,” Kvar said, his tone implying it was not Kratos’ place, either.
“I see. Goodbye, Kvar.” Kratos nodded once, turned on his heel, and left.
There were many peripheral thoughts chasing one other through his mind, but one stood out with stone-like certainty:
He would have to begin his rescue efforts at once.
Fandom: Tales of Symphonia
Genre: Angst/Romance
Rating: PG-13; later chapters may hit R.
Summary: One woman's take on the untold love story between Kratos and Anna.
Chapter Title: 7 - Complications
Chapter Rating: PG
Words in Chapter: 1887
Disclaimer: I don't own Tales of Symphonia.
Author's Notes: Told you the rate at which I was updating would slow down. ^^;; At least I have Chapter 8 about 75% complete; I should have it up in a few days, though after that, my update rate will probably slow even further. Sorry, everyone.
Kratos stood in front of a mirror in his room in the Vinheim castle. He took a few moments to clear his mind.
Then his image flickered and was replaced by another, completely different one.
Kratos took a moment to get used to the different stride his new, shorter, and slenderer body had. He tried not to trip over the legs of his suddenly too-long pants and too-large boots.
Although he had long known angels could change their form at will, this was the first time he had ever created a second body for himself. He had done so because it was a needed part of his plan to rescue Anna.
The plan itself had taken less than two days to create, from start to finish. The problem was collecting the supplies he needed to carry it out.
His first step had been to create a new body to use while executing his plan. Virtually every Desian at Asgard Human Ranch knew him by sight; in his own form, it would be impossible for him to move around unnoticed. Therefore, he had created a new body for himself, the way Mithos had done. Kratos’ new form, instead of being tall, red-haired and moderately muscled, was a handful of inches shorter and slim. It had unremarkable brown hair and blue eyes and was plain of face. The sole interesting feature his disguise possessed was a scar that trailed from cheek to temple; Kratos hoped the soldiers would initially waste time looking for a man with a scar, once Anna’s escape became known.
Immediately after that, Kratos had taken an angel-level Cruxis Crystal from their supplies. It would not be enough to completely halt the progress of Anna’s Exsphere, but it would slow it.
Next, Kratos had obtained a Desian uniform. It had been remarkably simple. He had opened a supply closet when no one was around, taken out the necessary clothing and helmet, and had teleported directly outside one of his diary rooms, entered the room, and left the uniform. No one else had the necessary password, and so he felt confident his theft would go undiscovered.
After that, from Derris-Kharlan’s computer system, Kratos had checked to see in which cell Anna was being confined so he could be fast and efficient, and also so he could learn the correct code for opening the cell. He had had a moment’s trouble, as he had forgotten her assigned number. However, a quick check of his notes rectified that problem—and brought back a few interesting memories. He had almost smiled at them. “Bastard” indeed.
He had also stopped in at Luin again, this time to purchase clothing for Anna. Allowing her to travel about in her prison uniform was asking for the two of them to be turned in as fugitives. Therefore, he had bought her a green top, boots, and a cream skirt and pants for riding. He had also bought a pair of white gloves to cover the Exsphere on her hand. He hoped his guess at her size was correct—and that she would like the clothes he brought her.
Now, Kratos was on the final step. He needed to create a photo id for his assumed persona, and he could not do that alone. It was time for him to test out his disguise’s efficacy.
Kratos teleported to outside his diary room—there was an interference pattern that prevented him from teleporting directly inside—and typed in the code to unlock the door. He walked straight in, then used the interior keypad to lock the door from the inside. There, he stripped and changed into the Desian uniform, his initial clumsiness with a completely new and smaller body wearing off as he dressed. Then, he unlocked the door, stepped outside, locked the door behind him, and teleported to one of the empty rooms in Asgard Human Ranch.
No one was there to observe him walk out of a room he had not walked into in the first place, and so Kratos was able to enter the more heavily-trafficked areas of the ranch with no difficulty. He walked with purpose so no one would question his errand, only stumbling a few times as he grew more and more accustomed to a different style of walk. Soon, he arrived at his destination: a moderate-sized waiting area with a few chairs, a counter behind which stood a Desian soldier, and a curtained-off area.
“You a new recruit?” the man behind the desk asked.
Kratos saluted briefly. “Yes, sir.” He made a conscious effort to sound respectful.
It must have worked, for the man only went on to ask, “Name?”
“Jerry Dobson, sir.”
He had picked a human name and appearance. Though human soldiers were rare, Kratos knew the change of mana that accompanied a change in body was limited. He would not be able to alter his mana enough to pass for a half-elf, something he regretted but was unable to change.
“Right. An inferior being, hmm?” the half-elf said, sounding surprisingly good-natured as he scribbled down the information. “Rank would be private, I assume?”
“Yes, sir.”
“And you’re working under . . . ?” the Desian looked up at him.
Kratos had his answer ready. “Major Mintal, sir.”
The man laughed. “Good luck with that, then. He’s a tartar.” He leaned forward over the counter and yelled in the general direction of the curtain, “Anyone getting their pictures snapped in there?”
There was a crash. “No, and thank Martel for that, because you would’ve startled me into wrecking them, Innel!” a woman yelled back.
“You know you love me,” Innel replied. He looked back at Kratos, who had listened to the exchange with a slightly bemused expression. “Go on in, Dobson. Polty will look after you.”
“Yes, sir.” Kratos saluted once more and walked behind the curtain. The woman—presumably Polty—pointed to a chair in the corner.
“Sit in that, sit straight, and look serious. Wreck the photo by being a goof and I wreck you.” She walked over to stand behind a small, compact camera on a tripod without waiting to see if he had obeyed.
Kratos did so, waiting for Polty to get things lined up to her satisfaction.
“Helmet off,” she snapped. “Martel, your photo id will be useless if half your face is covered, greenie.”
Kratos blinked, unused to being insulted—by anyone other than Anna, that was. After a moment, he pulled off his helmet and set it in his lap.
“Good. Now just hold it and don’t blink.” Polty snapped the picture, catching Kratos in mid-blink. She examined the back of the camera, where there was presumably a small preview image. “You’ve got your eyes half-shut, but it’ll do. These aren’t photos for a beauty contest after all.” Her eyes traced his scar. “You’d sure as hell not qualify, even if it was and you had a perfect picture.”
Kratos was pleased at the way Polty focused on his scar but kept it off his face. “Dobson” no doubt would be weary of any jokes made about his disfigurement, and so he put that expression on his face instead.
Polty removed the camera from its tripod and glanced back at him. “You still here? Hop it, greenie, before I report you to your superior for loitering.”
Kratos left the back area quickly to find the man behind the counter, Innel, grinning at him.
“A real dragon, our Polty is,” Innel commented to Kratos, not bothering to lower his voice. “But good at her work. It makes up for the personality.”
“I heard that, Innel, you inferior being!” Polty yelled from the back room.
Innel made a face at Kratos. “Better beat it before she breathes fire and barbecues you for lunch. Come back tomorrow and we’ll have your id done for you. Got it?”
Kratos saluted confusedly, feigning uncertainty. “Y-yes, sir.”
Then he left.
Walking back to the same empty room he had arrived in to depart for Derris-Kharlan, Kratos found himself thinking over his encounter with the two Desians. He had no doubt that despite their innocuous exteriors, were Innel and Polty assigned to oversee the prisoners, neither would have any qualms about whipping the “inferior beings” half to death.
Even to one who had lived four thousand years, people were still odd at times.
It was a little more than a week after Kratos had made his promise to Anna. He was almost a bit late to their meeting, having been spending most of his spare time accustoming himself to his new second form.
As soon as the door slid shut behind him, Anna wrapped her arms around him and kissed him. Kratos held her close and returned the kiss, feeling something he could even call exhilaration. He must be in love. There was no other explanation for the feelings Anna, and Anna alone, could elicit.
When they broke apart, they walked over to Kratos’ chair, where he sat and Anna sat on his lap.
“How are your plans coming?” she asked him as she threaded a hand through his hair. She did not ask for the specifics; the one time she had, Kratos had told her what he was planning would work better if she was unaware of the details.
“Well,” he replied, savouring the feeling. “Everything is set. All that remains is for me to practice as much as I can.”
“Good.” She gave him a wide smile.
He loved it when she smiled at him like that. “Will you give a quick report?”
“I might as well.” She kissed him again, briefly, before getting off his lap and moving over to her chair to make it easier for him to write.
It did not take long for him to record what was necessary, which allowed Kratos and Anna more time together. It was only with the utmost reluctance that, at the end, they parted. Kratos forced himself to remember that soon they would be able to spend as much time as they liked with one another.
However, when the Desian soldiers came to escort Anna back to her cell, Kratos found Kvar had accompanied them.
“Lord Kratos.” Kvar bowed. “I thought it wise to inform you of a decision Lord Yggdrasill made concerning the host body you are observing.”
“Yes, Kvar?” Kratos asked shortly, making certain to keep his eyes on Kvar and not on Anna’s departure.
Kvar seemed not to notice Kratos’ slight distraction. “Lord Yggdrasill, after his most recent examination of the notes you submitted, has deemed it prudent to re-transfer the host body to the isolation cells. It seems growth of the inferior being’s Exsphere has stagnated.”
Kratos felt his stomach drop. “Are you certain that would be wise? The conditions may be too harsh for the—host body, and may well eliminate her. A perfect match like hers is too rare to risk.”
“It is not my place to question the decisions of my lord Yggdrasill,” Kvar said, his tone implying it was not Kratos’ place, either.
“I see. Goodbye, Kvar.” Kratos nodded once, turned on his heel, and left.
There were many peripheral thoughts chasing one other through his mind, but one stood out with stone-like certainty:
He would have to begin his rescue efforts at once.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2006-08-05 02:26 am (UTC)Great chapter, as usual. ♥!
no subject
Date: 2006-08-05 02:43 am (UTC)Thank you~! ♥
no subject
Date: 2006-08-05 02:41 am (UTC)And the shit thickens! Leave it to Yggy to mess around with things...
no subject
Date: 2006-08-05 02:47 am (UTC)Of course. It's his job. :P
no subject
Date: 2006-08-05 03:46 pm (UTC)Somehow, it seems like Mithos always screws things up without knowing he's doing it... but I can see why he would. If fear and danger heighten an exsphere's growth, all the love and attention Anna's recieving mustn't be helping at all! :D
Heh. I think Kratos/Anna's starting to grow on me... great chapter. ^_^