Disclaimer: I do not own Tales of Symphonia, or any of its themes or characters. If I did, I wouldn't be writing this. I would be making the sequel.
A/N: Draco Blade is back, Baby! Apparently my crisis was shorter than planned. Alright...
Now, as I said in my farewell in "Together Forever", this story takes place ten years after "Together Forever" ends. However, this prologue takes place SIX years after "Together Forever." Understand? Good... Now for quick reference, here is what the group has been doing in the past six years:
Lloyd and Sheena: married and living with children in Luin. Read further to find their occupations.
Colette and Zelos: married and living in Iselia with one child. They both work as teahers.
Regal: President of Lazareno company. Still single. Has helped re-build and create six new towns.
Kratos: Still on Derris-Kharlan. Has visited Symponia multiple times due to new warping technology manufactured by Lazareno
Genis and Raine: Continued their journey to stop half-elf discrimination
Presea: journeyed with Genis and Raine for years, then left to work with Regal recently.
Now, a big thank you to everyone who reviewed in my farewell. I love you guys! Thank you soooo much for understanding. I honestly thought I would lose my fans. Thanks again for understanding. Now on to the story you have all been waiting for: "Heart of Darkness"
Prologue: A Heart Darkens
It had been six years since Destron's defeat. Six years without another world-ending disaster. Six years without any evil or danger whatsoever. That was all about to change. For, while seven of the Great Symphonian Nine completed their journeys, two did not. Two failed in their dream. And for one of them, that consequence was death. For the other, it cost him his sanity. This story is a tale of broken dreams, of loss, and of discrimination. A tale that tells of the weaknesses and the strengths of the human heart. Even if your only half-human...
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It was raining heavily. The clouds completely covered the sun as they rained water down upon the inhabitants of a small, isolated village. Iselia. The town people were imitating the rain. Thick tears ran down their faces as well. The bad weather was almost welcome today of all days. One of the Great Symphonian Nine had died. Today was the funeral. The funeral for Raine Sage.
Genis looked up as he heard a pounding on the doors of the Martel Temple. He was alone in the temple, mourning for his sister. The funeral began would begin in a few hours, and he was in no way prepared to accept his sister's death. Still, the nineteen year-old boy stood from his praying position to answer the door. As the door creaked open, two figures entered the building, soaked with rain.
The first figure was a male, wearing what appeared to be a blue naval jacket. It had two rows of buttons down its front. Below, he wore a pair of thick black pants, and blue boots. His hands were un-gloved, and he wore a red cape on his back, showing his authority. The man's spiky brown hair was covered in water, giving it a certain shine. Genis recognized him as the newly appointed Governor-General of Luin.
Standing next to the Governor-General was his wife. She had long, black hair pulled back into a ponytail. She wore a traditional Mizuho successor kimono, only this one was purple. She had on a sad face, and she was hugging herself from the cold. Her husband noticed and wrapped his arm around her.
Genis smiled at this. He knew the Governor-General and his wife better than anyone. To him, they were best friends. To him, they weren't Governor-General and wife. They were just Lloyd and Sheena. (For those of you wondering, Sheena is wearing her "Successor" costume, only this one is purple.)
"I am so sorry we're late," Lloyd said, shaking himself of the rain. "If I knew, I swear I would have come ahead of time!"
"It's okay," Genis said, his face returning to that of a mourning brother. "Where're the kids?" he asked, noticing that their three children were obviously absent.
"In Mizuho for the weekend," Sheena said, smiling. "We didn't think they would want to see this."
"Good idea," Genis said, taking a nearby seat in the Temple. "I'M not sure I want to see this."
"I'm sorry," Lloyd said, placing his hand on his best friend's shoulder. Surprisingly, Genis shoved him off, angered.
"Don't touch me," he said. "I don't need your pity. I've enough of that out there..." He finished his sentence referring to the people outside with spite.
"We don't mean to offend you, Genis," Sheena said, looking at him with woeful eyes. The twenty-six year-old woman knew exactly what he was going through. She had gone through it more times than anyone should have to. Corrine, Yuan, Igaguri... All had died when she was his age.
"We are truly sorry about this, Genis," Lloyd said.
"I...I know," Genis said, feeling tears form in his eyes yet again. "I just can't accept that she's gone. She was always there, she was always..." The young man broke off as another sob escaped his throat. "Why did it have to be her!"
"It was because she was brave," Sheena said, placing her arm around the Half-elf. He didn't nudge her away this time. He actually welcomed it this time. "Because she was willing to stand up for what she believed in."
"What exactly did happen?" Lloyd asked. Sheena gave him a look that said 'not-now-cant-you-see-hes-upset?'
"Not now, Lloyd," she said to her husband.
"No...no, it's okay," Genis said, wiping his eyes. He took a deep breath and blew his nose. "You were her friends. You deserve to know what happened. We were traveling around the world, together. We were trying to stop half-elf discrimination. In some places, we succeeded. In others, though, we only mad it worse. One day, we were chased out of Sybak. They still refuse to accept their prejudice. We ran until the village was out of sight, then we set up camp. That night, they came..." he trailed off as another sob ripped through him.
"It was a gang of humans, they attacked our camp. I defeated most them, but one got through. He...he stabbed Raine in the heart. She was dead before I got to her. I killed that one. The others I just knocked unconscious, but that one, I...I..."
"It's okay," Lloyd said, placing his hand on Genis again. Once again, Genis pulled away, and stood up, facing both of them.
"Don't touch me, you human filth!" he cried, punching Lloyd in the gut. Lloyd didn't even flinch. As Governor-General, he was quite strong enough to take a single punch. Especially one from Genis. Even so, he took a step back to show surprise.
"Genis, what's wrong with you!" he cried. "I'm not the one that did it! I'm your best friend!"
"I have no friends!" Genis exclaimed. "Where were my friends when we were chased out of villages? Where were my friends when I was forced to fight for my life? Where were my friends when my sister died!"
With that, the half-elf stormed out of the room, into the raining world of loss. He left his two best friends staring out at him, both feeling horrible.
"Please, do not worry," a quiet voice said behind them. Lloyd and Sheena turned to see a girl standing before them. She was, too, was nineteen, but she had wisdom well into her thirties. She was still rather short. Her pink hair fell to her waist, and she wore a black dress for mourning. The only thing unusual was that she kept a large axe tied to her back, even though she was in a dress. It was Presea.
"Please, do not worry," she repeated. "He will recover in time. I am sorry you had to see him in this condition. He is in denial, he refuses to accept his sister's loss. He does not mean what he said, he is only venting."
"Presea, is that you?" Sheena said, looking at the girl. She had grown quite a lot since they last saw her. Lloyd and Sheena still held constant contact with Colette, Zelos, Regal, and even Kratos, but were unable to do so with the other three. Genis, Presea, and Raine had been constantly on the move for years, never staying in one place for too long. It had been hard to contact them, Because of this, Lloyd and Sheena had only seen the three about four times since Destron's defeat. And now they would never see Raine again...
"Yes, it is I," Presea said, her voice filled with sadness. "Please excuse Genis' behavior, he doesn't mean it."
"Yeah, we know," Lloyd said. "Were you with them when..."
"No, I was not," Presea answered. "I left them one year ago. I work for Lazareno now. I feel now that I should never have left."
"Why did you leave?" Lloyd asked.
"There were two reasons," Presea explained. "The first was that I sensed that their dream...was failing. I feared for them, told them to stop while they were ahead. They were already considered heroes in several cities, where many half-elves were fee from discrimination. I told them to take a break and wait. They did not, they continued on. And things got worse. More and more people were turning on us. In many cities, mostly in the Tethe'alla hemisphere, the roots of prejudice run far too deep. They refused to change their ways. In this way, we had freed the half-elves of Sylvarant, and made matters worse for the ones in Tethe'alla. And still, they continued on. Because of this, I begged them to stop, if only for a short while. I left the group shortly after to work for Regal."
"What was the other reason?" Sheena asked, afraid of the answer.
"Genis," Presea said. "The reason I had originally joined the group was to get closer to Genis. I loved Genis for years. But as time went on, he ignored me. He became so obsessed in his mission, I was left behind. Finally, I...proposed to him. And he said no."
"I'm sorry," Sheena said, looking down.
"Don't be," Presea said. "I suppose it was the way it was meant to be. I just hope that Genis can recover."
"Yeah," Lloyd said, looking out the window of the temple. It was still raining heavily. Rain. Raine. How ironic. "I hope so, too. I hope so too..."
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There was silence as they lowered the coffin into the ground. Lloyd held Sheena close as she sobbed into his chest. The other followers were likewise crying or stricken with grief as the body of Raine Sage was lowered into the ground. Lloyd looked over at Colette and Zelos.
The two were holding hands, and Colette was crying, sobbing very loudly. Zelos was too much in grief to cry, and was instead staring at the muddy ground beneath him. Colette slowly reached up and leaned on his shoulder, crying into his neck. Zelos just wrapped his arm around her absently, still staring at the ground.
Next, Lloyd looked at Regal. The man was almost exactly like Zelos. He was staring into the ground, tears rolling of his cheeks into the mud below. Lloyd knew that Raine had always been the closest to Regal, and her loss was terrible to him. Some had even believed that the two shared romantic feelings for each other. Now, they would never know.
PResea was the next one that Lloyd saw. She was much like Lloyd. She was staring into the distance, not crying, not focused. She had the look in her eyes that she had when she was controlled by the Cruxis Crystal. She didn't seem to be focused on the reality at hand.
Finally, Lloyd looked over to his right, where Genis was standing. The young man's expression was one that Lloyd couldn't quite interpret. The half-elf wasn't crying, or staring into the ground. Instead, his eyes looked...unfocused. Like he was in deep thought. His body was shaking slightly, rocking from side to side.
"Go to him," Sheena said, seeing that her husband was concerned for his best friend. "He needs you now, more than ever."
"Yes, you're right," Lloyd said, letting go of Sheena. The twenty-four year-old man headed towards the nineteen year-old. "Genis, are you okay?" he asked, concerned.
"No, of course I'm not okay," Genis replied with spite. "My only sister is dead, how do you think I feel? Okay? No."
"I'm sorry If I was harsh earlier," Lloyd said, apologetic.
"It's okay," Genis said. "I understand. You were doing it out of concern, not anything else. I was wrong to call you filth."
"Genis," Lloyd started. "I promise I will help you through this. I'm sorry I haven't always been there to help you, but I will be there for you now. I promise this to you."
"Don't bother," Genis said, turning to ace his friend. What Lloyd saw there frightened him. Genis' eyes glowed with something other than grief. "I will make sure this never happens again. I will make sure that the people that did this pay. I will have revenge for my sister's loss."
"Genis, that's not what Raine would have wanted," Lloyd replied.
"Once again, you're right. I'm sorry I said that," Genis said. "Now, if you don't mind, I need some time to myself."
"Of course," Lloyd replied, turning away and walking towards Sheena.
"Well, did you help?" she asked as he approached. He shook his head in reply.
"To be honest," Lloyd said, looking over his shoulder to see his half-elf friend walking away from the funeral. "To be honest, I think I made him worse."
The couple watched Genis go as the funeral continued on. The half-elf never stopped. In fact, he began to talk to himself.
"Pathetic humans will believe anything," he said, grinning madly. "Poor naive Lloyd. Does he truly think I don't plan on revenge? It is ALL I can plan. I will have vengeance for you sister, even if it means I have to destroy every human on this pathetic planet. I will make your dream a reality. The half-elves will be freed. The humans and elves will fall. And the half-elves will rule. Even if I have to do it myself..."
A/N: Creepy, no? Remember, this is only a prologue. The real chapters will take place ten years after "Together Forever" and four years after this prologue. In chapter one, you'll get a good look at Lloyd and Sheena's home life together.
I hope you all liked that I made Lloyd the Governor-General of Luin. I couldn't think of anyone else that deserved the title better! Just so you know: Sheena is not going to be the chief og Mizuho, even if Igaguri is dead in this story. I decided to make Orochi the chief instead, and allow Sheena to live her life married to Lloyd in Luin. She is currently a housewife, busy raising the children (who you will meet in the next chapter!)
Now, REVIEW PLEASE. You all know how much I love reviews! I love them more than taffy! And I'm a man that enjoys his taffy...
Keeps your eyes peeled (ouch!) for chapter 1: A New Threat
PEACE OUT!