Author Note: I recently got the muse to write something... a little darker. After I finished I looked back at it and thought "How could I do that?!" But at the same time felt a strange sort of satisfation. Is it... weird that I enjoy writing stuff like this?! But I enjoyed writing the end the most. So I'm not completely evil... right?! It'll all make sense when you read it.

Disclaimer: I don't own Tales of Symphonia in any way at all. If I did, *this* would probably happen to everyone. I seem to like messing people's lives up pretty badly...

A note, this is meant to happen some time when Emil is "still in the dark" about his true identity. Heh, I wrote this all in one day, thought that was pretty awesome, considering how lazy I am. And thanks to my Beta, Crow T R0bot. Oh, and warning: GORE! So now, please read, enjoy and review.

Always Protect You
A Tales of Symphonia Dawn of the New World Fanfic

Where am I?

Emil surveyed the unfamiliar landscape around him. It was hard to see. There were many dark shapes, he assumed they were trees, but it was difficult to tell. There seemed to be little or no light here, and the air seemed strained and tense.

The surroundings confused and unnerved him. They were eerily bland and uniform. How had he gotten here? Eyeing the strange trees again, he took a wary step forward, then another.

I should find Marta. he told himself. Navigating was like walking around with a blanket over his head, he could barely see anything and it was hard to breath. How was it so dark? Looking up he expected to see some sort of a leafy canopy, but instead saw only unbroken darkness. Where's the moon?

The dark columns that he'd pegged as trees towered around him, making him feel so small and insignificant. His palms began to sweat as his breathing quickened. Trying to get the proper amount of oxygen seemed impossible with this thin air.

He entertained the thought of what Tenebrae might say if he were here with him. This was probably the sort of "absolute darkness" he would always rant about. The smile on Emil's face dimmed when he realized just how alone he really was right now.

Or was he?

Soon his ears picked up a faint, rhythmic echo. Footsteps. He was being followed.

Emil's own footsteps slowed until he stopped, the sound behind him consuming all of his attention. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end as the sound gradually got louder, closer.

He stiffly reached for the sword at his lower back. When his fingers could find nothing but thin air, he felt a cold sweat break, traveling from his collar bone to the rest of his extremities.

Without thinking, Emil whirled around. He shouted as he brought his hands up in some sort of defensive maneuver, bracing himself for the pain that was sure to come.

"Emil. What are you doing here?"

Emil opened his eyes to find that the monster standing before him was in fact not a monster at all.

"Richter?"

The vein in his neck was pounding, making him feel slightly light-headed. Only then did he realize how panicked he had actually been. He was grateful for Richter's presence. He looked up at the older man's the familiar features. Somehow, he always felt better with him around.

He snorted. "If you were attempting to scare me off, you're doing a pretty lousy job."

"Huh? Oh." Emil let his arms drop to his sides, his eyes traveling to the ground, the strange, dirt-less, grass-less ground. It seemed smooth somehow, and definitely unnatural.

"Do you know where we are?" he asked, looking back up at the half-elf.

He just shrugged.

"Oh…" A little bit of the unease had crept back into Emil. But not as much as before, Richter was with him after all. Then something occurred to him.

"Hey, what were you doing here?"

Richter's gaze wandered. He folded his arms nonchalantly but remained silent. Closing his eyes, he seemed to be deep in thought, contemplating something.

Emil studied him for a long while. Just when he had given up that Richter would tell him anything, he spoke up. "I've been following you."

"Following me?" Emil frowned. "What for?"

Richter was silent once more, looking down before reclaiming eye contact, they seemed so intense now. "I've decided," he began, "that who you are no longer matters to me." His arms un-snaked and came to rest on the hilts of his weapons "I will take Ratatosk's core from you!"

"Me?!" was all Emil was able to squeak out before Richter made a mortal swing. Emil stumbled and fell back to avoid the twin slashes. He gaped up at him from the ground. "Richter! What are you--?!" But when he looked up, he saw a completely different Richter than before. He seemed so distorted now. His fiery hair flared out behind him wildly. He had somehow seemed to grow taller, or perhaps Emil just smaller. His weapons too, seemed to be larger and more savage looking, their edges gleamed even though there was no light. His eyes had narrowed and their jade green irises had been replaced with nothing but a cold, soulless white.

But most disturbingly of all was a grin that seemed so out of place, even with this new distorted appearance. It was marked by a what appeared to be a fang.

As Emil took this all in, the Richter-creature stalked forward, weapons bared. Emil scrambled to his feet and tore in the other direction. It pursued.

It felt as though there were electric sparks in the base of his spine; he couldn't get away fast enough. The cool air rushing against him dried the sweat that was gathering on his forehead, but he could almost feel its hot breath on his neck. He didn't dare look back.

His sword was gone, he wouldn't be able to outrun this thing, he had to find a place to hide, but what about Marta, but what about Ratatosk's core on her forehead, but what about--?

The dark trees passed around him, soon being replaced by more. They were all the same; there was nothing to navigate by. He felt that he hadn't even moved at all!

"Ratatosk!" the creature behind him roared.

He began hyperventilating, but the air seemed to be getting thinner. His vision began to haze, his legs ached. He had been running so long…

Soon, a combination of exhaustion and lack of oxygen caused Emil's pace to slow. A moment later he screamed as pain wracked his body. He staggered forward onto his hands and knees, feeling the warm blood trickle down. He had been slashed in the back. It burned…

He cried out again as he was kicked hard in the ribs, knocking the wind out of him. He rolled defensively onto his back, shrieking as the pressure seared through his spine.

He thrashed about, feeling as though he were drowning in his own blood and sweat. Then the pain erupted though his right arm. He lost feeling, and wondered if it were still attached or not.

He could hear laughter. Deep, sadistic laughter. His lips tried in vain to form Richter's name, wanting to beg for mercy. Though at this point, mercy probably meant death.

So he laid there, in a bloody heap, awaiting it…

"Emil!"

His eyes shot open. Marta!

The laughter came to an abrupt stop. Footsteps and rustling fabric, it had turned around.

"No, Emil…" She had seen him. Her voice sounded so helpless and… scared. There was the sound of sliding metal. No! She was going to try to fight it! Emil wanted to warn her, tell her to run. But he could feel the strength leaving him, he could barely move now.

Rushed footsteps, clanging metal, heavy breathing, a cry, "Emil! Help me! Please!" the sharp intake of breath, a thudding noise as something hit the ground. Then silence.

"Marta!!!" Emil wanted to scream, but it came out as nothing more than a coarse whisper.

Footsteps slowly echoed towards him. He grimaced "Richt--" But then it grabbed hold of his neck and hoisted him in the air. It slammed him against something solid and held him there. He couldn't breath, it was choking him. His left hand clawed desperately at the hand clenched like a vise grip around his neck.

It was not Richter who spoke, it was something darker, more sinister. It was barely a whisper but it burned Emil's ears. "You couldn't even hope to protect her." The voice was so close to him, it hissed in amusement. "Just like now, how you can't even protect yourself."

Emil felt something stab through his gut. He let out a silent howl of pain as it drew horizontally across his stomach. He could feel the blood and viscera spill out like a water pitcher that was too full. The tension around his neck released and he crumpled to the wet ground

The pain was astronomical. There was no way any human could survive pain like this, he was sure of it. He drew one last shuddering breath and…

He was dead now, he knew it. But something was… The pain was gone! He opened his eyes. How could that be? He was supposed to be dead!

His perspective seemed so much closer to the ground now, as if he had become tiny. The colors in his vision seemed to be dominated by red, as well. What was going on…?

Emil gasped as he saw the Richter-demon entirely for the second time. The same grin was on its face as it poised its sword above Emil.

"Die!" it shouted, and thrust its sword down. It connected with Emil's form and the pain was spread throughout his entirety. He shrieked in pain; it felt as if he was breaking into millions of tiny pieces. Then all went black.

Emil jolted upright, letting loose a pitiful shout. His eyes were wide and his chest heaved. For the first time, full, rich air entered his lungs.

"Oh my God, that was a dream…" he breathed. "Just a dream…" He fell back onto his pillow, relieved.

He stared up at the sky through the leaves of the canopy above. Never had he been so glad to see the stars and moon. This darkness seemed like daylight compared to…

He couldn't bear to think about it again. His hand, his right hand, made its way up to his forehead, it was layered in sweat. He attempted to wipe it off with his hand, having to dry it several times on his pillow before actually getting most of it off.

His mind wandered as he sat up again. There was a twinge in his back. He grimaced.

How had that been a dream? It seemed so real… He still ached from the…

He spotted his dinner bowl several feet away, where it had been thrown off him when he awoke. It was cracked in two now.

He frowned. Looking over, he saw Marta and Tenebrae on the other side of the dying coals that was their campfire. They were both asleep. So he hadn't woken them. Good.

He settled back down and closed his eyes. But opened them immediately after. He could still see Richter's distorted form on the back of his eyelids. The dream terrified him, but he couldn't help but be baffled by it.

"Why would Richter attack me… if he wanted the core? Marta… has the core…" he whispered. He looked over to Marta again. She was sleeping so peacefully.

It may have only been a stupid dream, it may have had no meaning at all, but Emil still felt paranoid.

As quietly as possible, he picked up his pillow and crossed the campsite. He set it down next to Marta's bedroll. As he laid down, Tenebrae's tail twitched. Emil looked warily to where the Centurion was sleeping several feet away. His jackal-like head rose and looked inquisitively at him. Emil only managed an embarrassed smile. He expected some snide remark to follow, but Tenebrae only nodded drowsily, yawned, and rested his head on the ground once more. His tail curled around him soon after.

Emil watched him for a few seconds, perplexed. Then, shrugging, he laid he head down next to Marta.

Just in case. He told himself. I'll be here.

It stayed this way for several minutes, but Emil still couldn't fall asleep.

He heard Marta shift next to him. He froze, as if that would somehow cause her not to wake. But he wasn't expecting what she did next.

She shimmied closer to him, wrapping an arm around his shoulder and laying her head on his chest.

He sat there, tense, with a dumbfounded expression. What was he supposed to do? If he tried to move her she'd wake up. And he'd tried more than once to pry himself from her grip before. That wasn't happening. So he did the only other thing he could think of.

He carefully wrapped his arm around her in a sheltering embrace, though he scrunched up his nose when one of her flower barrettes tickled him. She'd forgotten to take them out again. He smiled in spite of it.

"I'll always be there Marta," he whispered. " I'll always protect you."

Then he fell asleep.