Disclaimer: PoM and ToS do not belong to me.
"A cursed weapon. It's background is a mystery."
There was nothing different with that morning. Training, breakfast, the usual. But Private had a bad feeling, accompanied by a splitting headache. He usually didn't feel this type of foreboding. The last time he did was the time the baboons had stolen the 'groove' of King Julian. The queasy feeling in his stomach that informed him that something was off with the universe.
The splitting headache didn't help matters either.
So that morning, he wasn't completely surprised when Marlene infiltrated the HQ -getting an earful from Skipper in the process- and informed them that one of the baboons wanted to speak with her, the penguins, and the lemurs. Skipper smirked, agreeing, and signaled the four penguins to take off. At that moment, Private realized something was about to happen. But being young and untrained in spiritual comprehension, he didn't know just why or how or even if it was bad. All he knew was that by the end of the day, they would be involved with something they probably should have said 'no' to.
But, being the young, obedient soldier he is, he kept these thoughts to himself as the penguin team arrived in the habitat of the baboons. The lemurs were already there, and they didn't seem too happy to be. Or at least, Julian didn't.
"Why am I to be wasting my time here anyway?"
Maurice sighed. "Because, your majesty, the baboon girl promised us a reward for doing what she asked. Whatever that is." The lemur king's attitude shifted, going from bored and generally disappointed with life to excited and pleased.
"Oh yes! Where is she, anyways?"
Maurice shrugged. The penguins approached their lemur rivals, Skipper and Julian glaring at each other as they passed. Just the usual. Private sat on the grass, not sure how long they'd have to wait. As it turns out, not that long.
The baboon, with her gray fur, swung through the trees with no trouble and landed perfectly in the middle of the group. They took a moment to watch at her as she swung, flipped in mid-air, and landed on her feet. The entirety of the group gaped, Skipper whispering to Kowalski to add that move to their roster. The baboon smiled kindly at the beings surrounding her.
"Well, I'm assuming y'all know why y'all is here?" She asked in the same accent Darla has. The shook their heads; no, they had no idea. She shook her head. "Of course you don't. I'll let y'all in on a secret, so long as y'all promise to do me a lil favor." Skipper frowned.
"I don't like this. Kowalski." He turned to his strategist, who scribbled down things quickly on a white board.
"Well, it depends, sir," the tallest penguin stated. "You could accept. That would mean adventure, excitement ending in a lesson on the importance of balance in the universe, or you could decline, and we can go home."
The shorter penguin rubbed the bottom of his beak. "Hmm, tempting. What do you think, Rico?"
The crazy penguin with a mohawk gave him the penguin equivalent of a thumbs up. Apparently, he liked the idea of an adventure. Skipper nodded, turning to his youngest teammate. "Private? What do you think?"
The young penguin, moments before lost in thought, suddenly snapped out of it and turned to Skipper. "Wha? Oh, sorry, sir. If you think it's a good idea, I'll be right by your side." Private didn't mean to sidestep the question, but he still didn't know how to react to the mission. On one hand, the others seemed interested. On the other, his gut instinct told him something bad was going to happen. Skipper frowned, obviously not satisfied with his answer, but turned back to the baboon lady.
"Is that a yes?" She asked. The leader nodded. She turned to Marlene and Julian, who also nodded in consent. She smiled. "Good. Now pay close attention.
"For years, my family has been plagued by a curse. Ya see, years ago there was an evil being called Nebilim whom had learned to master the aura of darkness. He sealed this power into nine weapons, became the lord of darkness, and tried to take over the world. Luckily, my ancestors stopped him. But victory came with a price that day.
"He cursed us. When we reach a current age, the weapons would inflict illness upon us. My family all fell to this disease. I alone have alluded it's grasp, but I can feel it now. It's in me; trying to devour me whole. All this week I've felt it. No, it's not contagious, but it will kill me. Which is why I need your help.
"The weapons that inflicted this curse can be used to undo it. It's taken years of research, but I finally believe I have it. I can perform the ritual, but I still need the ancient weapons. And before you go doubting me, know that they contain mass power. When I finish uncursing myself, the ultimate power of the weapons will be yours to control. All you've gotta do, is collect them."
The eight animals sat in silence, contemplating what this meant. The baboon sneered. "What, you don't believe me? Well, I'll prove it to ya!" Her hands pulled something out from behind her back, presenting it to the group.
Twin blades. One of them was purple, with a silver hilt, and an eye on it, along with spikes placed close to the hilt. The fact that it seemed to be wiggling didn't calm Private's foreboding feeling. It's twin was no more appealing. It was designed to look like a horn, brownish with ridges all through it. The hilt, however, was bright red and had a mouth on it. It may have just been his imagination, but Private found the weapon scary and fearsome. Just seeing it increased his headache tenfold.
Skipper frowned, obviously freaked out by the swords. "And... just what are they?"
"These," The baboon explained, "Are the twin swords, Phobos and Phrike. Together they make Nebilim, one of the nine Devil's Arms. Devil's Arms, by the way, are the weapons I told you about. They carry immense power. Merely holding them gives you a sense of control and power over other living beings." She offered the weapon to Skipper, who took them into his grip.
"Along with Nebilim's Key," She handed Kowalski a strange looking key. "You should be more than able to collect the Devil's Arms. Once I'm through with them, they're all yours. Whataya say?" Skipper looked to Kowalski and Rico, who nodded ascent. He then turned to Private.
Something inside of Private screamed at him to talk the others out of this, to inform them that this was a bad idea. But the look on their faces... he couldn't. He just couldn't. Instead, he swallowed his doubts and fears and gave a shaky thumbs up -or at least the penguin equivalent to it- to Skipper.
"We're in." The leader grinned. Soon enough, the lemurs and Marlene were in, too. Private swallowed down his fears and followed his team home, where they would keep Nebilim until tomorrow. After all, what's the worse thing that could happen? Private wondered. Just then, an eerie sound echoed through the HQ. Not just a sound, a cold, dark voice. It whispered in his ear, getting louder as he drew closer to Rico, who carried the ancient weapon.
Join us...
He was already regretting agreeing to this.
Hello there! Alright, some things I wanna point out.
For those who have played ToS, you'll have noticed that I changed a few things. This is because A) I can't remember every detail of a side-quest I've only played twice and B) It fits better with this universe. The math just fits, don't ask me how.
For those who haven't played ToS... WHAT? You've never played ToS? Well, you need to, as it's the best video game since Legend of Zelda went 3D! By the way, ToS stands for Tales of Symphonia, in case you didn't know. Also, you don't need to know a thing about it to follow this story, as I'll fill you in on the necessary stuff. And this is just a recommendation and my opinion.
By the way, Phobos is the Greek spirit of fear and Phrike is the Greek spirit of horror. True story, you can look it up. I have no idea if the individual swords have names, so I just made them up using a little bit of research.