-Chapter one-
Introduction/ New appearances.
It has been three years since the events in which the Vangard was desolved and peace was restored once again to the world. The two seperate countries joined and became as one- in order to fix the impending problem of rulership.
It was then decreed that a chosen person of Tethe'alla and a chosen person of Sylvarant would take hands in marriage, and rule the two countries together. This then provided a new age where everything was peaceful and no conflics took place.
Although there were still people in the world with bad intentions, they often stayed in the shadows away from everyone- planning. Who knows what they could be up too?
Three years have passed since the joining, which took place a few months after the Mana was restored completely to everything by Ratatosk. But something lurks in the shadows...
And now...
Mana will enter a crisis yet again, and it's up to a certain group to stop it. But what is the cause? What could have made the Mana control fail even though Ratatosk was keeping it in order?
They were going to find out- but that's getting ahead of ourselves-
Lets focus on a few new additions. A few new appearances.
And a new enemy. Stronger than ever before...
It was just a normal day in the city of Palmacosta. The sun was shining; the birds were chirping, metal working and contruction was happening all around. A lone teenager, about the age of 16, glanced up towards the sky.
It sure was beautiful, wasn't it? Ever since three years ago, the Mana wasn't disturbed and there was peace. Even the monsters that used to threaten human life were slowly vanishing from the world.
It truly was beautiful-
"Jade, you're zoning out again." another person spoke up. She was a female, long Alburn hair and a soft gaze. Jade himself had short messy like hair that was black, and his gaze was anything but soft.
"Sorry, I couldn't help myself." he said, pointing out the window of their classroom. School was currently out at the moment, but it was the only location that the two could hang out without people teasing them. Not to mention it was quiet-
The girl's name was Lilicia, and she continued to follow where his figure was pointed, till she looked out the window as well. "Hmm. It is quite amazing, isn't it?"
He nodded. This was perfect- ever since the Vanguard vanished, their lives have been much easier. His own mom was involved with the Vanguard, so he was often ostrictized and hated by the general public.
Normally, he didn't think much about he's old situation. After they vanished, people started to trust him a bit more, and about a year ago, he was finally accepted as a official town resident.
It was a hard ride, but it was completely worth it.
She leaned on her hand, before gazing longingly at the sky. "I can't wait until we finally leave this place." she said, closing her eyes slowly. The sun was still high in the sky, which is why she wasn't intending on falling asleep.
He nodded slowly. A few months ago, they made the resolution that when they turned 18, they would leave Palmacosta and travel the world. Like the Chosen of Regeneration and her group did.
"Yeah, only two years left."
A groan came from his side. "That's way too long from now..." she said, slowly opening her eyes.
"Aeh, you can handle the wait."
"Doesn't mean I have to like it."
"Nope, it doesn't."
This was normally how their conversations went while they stayed in here. Jade's mom was currently MIA. She hasn't been seen since the Vanguard disbanded. Lilicia's own mom? Well, that in itself was a long story...
Jade never met his biological father, and he was living with just his mom for as long as he has. He never had a father like figure to show him how to handle life. Lilicia did, so she was often better off than he was.
That was mostly because her father didn't trust the Vanguard, so she didn't go through what he did. Although the two have been friends since they were still little kids.
Nothing was out of the norm today, which was great for the two. Their little plan on sneaking out of Palmacosta tomorrow and heading to the forbidden cave just south of Palmacosta wasn't going to be hidered because of any issues today.
They were so high on their class that they already finished all their homework for the next few days! Preparing in advance was always sweet.
But what would happen while they went and did that tomorrow-?
Jade shrugged, then looked away from the window. "It's nearing the time I have to get you home, Lilicia." he said, in which said person looked up and sighed.
"Ugh...fine." she said, and got up from her comfort position on her desk.
"Remember, bright and early tomorrow morning!" Jade said, while Lilicia just rolled her eyes and smiled. "Yeah, yeah."
And the two proceeded out of the classroom, and continued on to leave the school building-
In an area known to only a certain few, a lone figure stood in front of a gate, holding his hand while mana flowed out of him and into the gate.
"There, that should keep things going for a while." Ratatosk said, turning around swiftly and walking away from the gate. These past three years were going by so slow. And the New Law was still being created.
Three out of nine-hundred and ninety seven years. This was going to take a while...
Ratatosk continued walking down from where the gate was, before spotting Richter alone sitting down with his arms crossed.
"Say, how long was this going to take again?" he said, looking over at Ratatosk. He simply shrugged and went to sit down next to him.
"There is still almost one-thousand years left till it's complete."
"Ugh...you're killing me." he said, looking away from Ratatosk for a moment, before slowly gazing back over at him.
"Hows...you know...e-"
"Emil's progression is going fine. He hasn't encountered any issues as far as I can tell."
With a sigh of relief, Richter leaned back more. "That's good."
All he got was a 'Uh-huh.' before the whole room was silent. This was typically how their days went now- They'd both use their mana to keep the Ginnungagap closed, then just hung around doing nothing.
This was going to be a long one-thousand years... Though if they didn't already realize that, what were they doing?
Ratatosk slowly got back up, and walked slightly off to the side. "We haven't sparred in a while." he said, knowing that Richter knew what he meant. Richter looked up at Ratatosk, before grinning and pulling out his sword and axe.
"You're on."
And they did that some times too...
So it seemed it was even peaceful where the Ginnungagap was located as well.
"It's still dark out..." Jade said, walking around the central plaza of Palmacosta. He woke up due to a bad dream, and he wasn't able to go back to sleep because of it. So he just sneaked out of his house to wander around. It was another...hour before he had to meet up with Lilicia.
"What to do in that spare time?" he asked no one inparticlear, kicking at any stone that was unlucky enough to be in the way of his path. He reached the weapon shop, and remembered that the owner opened at around this hour.
" 'If you ever need a weapon, visit whenever.' Huh." he said, and started to walk towards the shop and he soon entered it. A metalic 'ring' was heard as he opened the door, alerting any employee working there. Thank goodness that it was the owner.
His name was a mystery, but Jade knew he was a kind man based on the fact that he basically treats Jade like he was his father. So he was the closest person to a father for Jade.
The blacksmith turned away from his work, and upon realizing who walked in, he smiled and walked up to the counter. "Hey there Jade. You've been a stranger for the past few months." he said, continuing to smile.
Jade waved, walking in and checking his surroundings. The walls had swords, shields, axes, bows, spears, any kind of weapon you could think of. He was truly one of the best blacksmiths around.
"Hey. I was wondering if you had a weapon that was cheap that I could buy?" Jade asked, a bit nervous. If Granch began to wonder why Jade wanted a weapon-
"Aeh! I do in fact. What kind of weapon are you looking for?" he asked. His voice deep, but his tone was cheerful.
Thank goodness he didn't ask why...
"Uh, a sword will do." Jade said, smiling back at the blacksmith. He has some training with a sword, so he wouldn't be completely useless. Lilicia herself has her own weapon that she trains with, so he knew that she could defend herself if it ever came to that.
Granch nodded, before looking through his counter like he was searching for something, before pulling out a piece of paper with a whole bunch of stuff and important information.
"When dealing with weapons, and selling them to people under the age of 17, we have to sign an agreement form." he said, turning his gaze back to Jade.
"Please sign with your name." he said, gesturing towards a line on the paper. Jade took a look at it, before fetching a pen off of the counter and writing down his name. Granch then took the pen and wrote his own name.
"I am now to blame if anything bad happens while you use this sword." Granch said, before smiling. "Though I know you aren't stupid enough to hurt yourself using it."
Jade chuckled, before glancing around. "What's this sword going to look like?"
"Oh, just a standard short sword. No big deal'o." he said, and Jade slightly frowned. He supposed it'd do though...
"I'll be right back, you just wait here." Granch said, leaving the counter and heading into the back room.
One of these days, Jade might ask Granch if he could work at the shop for a while, just until him and Lilicia go on their own adventure. Maybe that'd work out in the long run...?
He shook his head. Best think about the here and now.
"I can't wait!" he said.
Ratatosk stood over a very exhusted Richter, his sword pointed towards the air.
"I win yet again, Richter."
"Well, if you weren't a summon spirit..." he managed to get out, before Ratatosk slowly backed up and sheathed his sword. Richter got up from the ground and sheathed his own weapons.
"You've gotten better without the aid of the demons of the evil dimension." Ratatosk stated, crossing his arms and giving Richter a look of approval.
Richter shrugged. "Tch. And you have monsters helping you."
"Who ever said it had to be fair?"
"Good point."
The two were silent again. What else was there to do? The day was nearly starting, and they've been sparring for hours on end.
"If only we had board games."
"I think Emil rubbed off on you."
"Heh. Well, when the time comes and I meet him again, I'll be sure to kick his ass for giving me useless ideas." Ratatosk said, smirking.
"We could always try to create artes-"
"We're already keeping a large army of angry demons at bay and you want to practice creating artes?"
"Well, yeah."
"Fine then."
And just as they were about to draw their weapons, a sound of a door opening caught the attention of both of them, which just made them draw their weapons quicker.
All the way at the other end of the room, stood a single form. It looked to be a male, although not a very tall one. His clothes weren't exactly normal, and he had a sword sheathed on his back.
"Who're you?" Richter spoke up, while Ratatosk remained silent, keeping his weapon up in case this new comer decided to start something.
"Just a passing bystander." He responded casually, like the two didn't even pose a threat at all. That's when Ratatosk decided to speak up-
"How'd you get in here? This was supposed to be a sealed area that no one can enter, or leave from." he said, and this just got the new comers attention.
"Oh really? Well then I guess I'm not just anyone."
Richter made a noise, it sounded like he swore, but the two couldn't quite catch it. "Not just anyone huh?" he said, talking a step forward. "Well, in any case you are trespassing on our terf, you'd better turn back." he said, entering a battle stance.
The man simply laughed, and continued on further into the room. "I have no desire to speak or interact with you, my business is with Ratatosk." he said, slowly unsheathing his weapon on his back.
Ratatosk tensed up, while Richter remained unmoving. "Heh, well you have to get through me first-"
And their fight was over just like that. Before Richter even finished his sentence the new comer had already charged him, landing a direct hit with the blunt end of his sword, and actually launching Richter right into the gate. Richter just dropped down and hit the ground hard with a grunt.
Ratatosk turned around to face Richter's downed body. "Richter!" he shouted, running up to him and sliding on the ground to reach him faster. As soon as he got to his body, Richter was already showing signs of getting back up.
"Lucky bastard got a good hit in..." he said, spitting out some blood from his mouth, then wipping it away with his hand. Ratatosk laid his hand on Richter's shoulder, before sighing in relief.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
"I'll be...fine." he said, ignoring Ratatosk's help and slowly getting to his feet. By this point the new person was already crossing the short bridge leading to the gate section of the Ginnungagap.
"My, I thought you were better than that." he said, laughing slightly. "I wasn't even putting force into that attack." he said, then started laughing again. Richter fell slightly to one knee after a second, in which Ratatosk let go of him and turned to face the mysterious new arrival.
"You'll pay for that..." he said, gripping his sword tighter. This just made the man laugh again, before keeping his gaze trained on Ratatosk.
"Right I will. Now- 'Sleep - Eternal Eclipse-' " -*
After what felt like an eternity, Richter finally came too, but he didn't move. What he was looking at caused him not too-
"Now, all we have to do is create a life sized bomb made completely out of Mana to rid this world from the universe." The man said to who appeared to be Ratatosk. But Richter noticed that his eyes were dull, and void of any life.
"Yes." was all he responded with, and Richter watched as they both slowly walked over to the gate containing the Centurion's Cores. Upon arrival, Ratatosk raised his hand.
"My servants-"
Richter didn't need to hear any more to understand what was happening. He was planning on using all the Mana from the Centurion's in order to create a big enough bomb to destroy the world.
And that was enough for Richter to finally turn tail and get out of this hell hole of a room. He got up slowly, not getting either of their attentions, before he slowly crossed the small bridge, and with one final look at Ratatosk, who had turned around in that moment-
He turned and ran out of the room before the mysterious person and Ratatosk could catch him.
He had to get back topside.
He had to get help, and he knew exactly the group of people to ask-
"About time you showed up, slowpoke." Jade said, watching as a very exhausted Lilicia ran up the mountain sloop.
"Maybe if you waited a bit longer-" she started, before sighing and standing up straight. "Honestly, you need to learn some manners." this caused Jade to laugh, before turning to look back up the mountain.
"Manners? Never heard of the word."
"Didn't think you ever had."
"That's just mean..." he said, and pouted. All the while Lilicia just sighed with a smile and walked up next to him. "Well, what are we waiting for? It's about seven o'clock right now, so we should hurry up before people start to wake up."
Jade nodded, and the two continued to head up the mountain trail. This trail was actually only discovered recently, with the forbidden cave at the end. Apparently, people vanished when they went in.
But the two were strong! They really were! Nevertheless, the two proceeded up the trail like they weren't afraid of anything that awaited them.
The path in itself was nice, because it was newly made and tracked so that it was nicer than a lot of other paths. They'd spot trees all over, and where they were currently they could look over all of Palmacosta.
Not that it was a particlearlly big town, but the sight was beautiful.
The two traveled in silence. Normally whenever they went on a walk together or went 'kid' adventuring, they'd talk the whole time through it. But this was a silent trip- reason one being they didn't want their voices echoing down the mountain and to Palmacosta. The other reason being that they didn't have anything to say.
But Jade's thoughts were racing. This wasn't the time or place, but he's secretly had a crush on her the whole time they've known each other. And he has done a pretty good job at not revealing that.
He was hoping that as soon as they started traveling when they were 18, that he'd gather the courage to ask her to marry him. The thought alone caused his face to turn red, and the only problem with that was that Lilicia noticed.
"Something wrong?" she asked.
His eyes went wide for a moment, before he looked away, trying to hide the blush on his face. "N-Nothing at all." he said. At this she just tilted her head, and continued walking forward.
Whew, that was close...
They continued on in silence after that, and walked for another hour before finally arriving at what seemed to be a cave entrance. Weird looking symbols were displayed along the cave's rim, and the inside seemed to stretch forever. That might be because it was pitch black inside.
They didn't know what dangers they might encounter inside the cave, but they came prepared. They had a small supply of cheap apple and orange gels. Lilicia was brandishing her spinner model blade. She took a liking to these types of weapons because of a heroine named Marta.
She was quite adapt with them already, so she didn't have an issue using them in battle.
Jade unsheathed his own short sword, and it didn't even look comparable to Lilicia's spinner. This might be because Lilicia had hers crafted by Granch, while Jade had gotten his cheap and made by most likely a lazy worker.
But that didn't mean he couldn't use it as well as Lilicia could use her spinner.
The two exchanged a look, before nodding.
"This is it!"
"Uh-huh! I'm excited!"
The two turned towards the cave, and headed on in-
It was about five minutes of walking through darkness, before the two finally reached a large cavern of some sort. From where they were, they could spot rail carts, and various other caves leading deeper into the cave.
"It actually doesn't look as bad as father made it out to be..." Lilicia said, still holding her spinner tightly in her hand. Jade nodded, and took a step closer to the edge. "And it doesn't look like we can reach any of those other path ways..." he said, looking down the...incredibly deep hole.
It appeared that it just dropped from this entrance. And it didn't look like there was a way across...
"Well, it appears out little expedition isn't going any further than this..." Lilicia said, gesturing towards the wide hole, before sighing. "And I was anticpating a longer and funner day." she said.
Jade continued looking down the whole, before he searched the small cliff they were on; it was then that he found a rope...and not just any rope-
"I found a ladder!" he exclaimed, looking back at Lilicia. They wanted to go further in, not deeper down the mountain...
But she smiled anyway. "Well? What are we waiting for? Let's go!" she said, and Jade was about to head down first before-
"Uh...Jade..."
"What?"
"Can I go down first?"
"Wh-why?"
"I'm...wearing a skirt..." she admitted. Though it was completely noticeable. Jade's face turned red for a moment, before he gulped. "O-okay." he said. It was an awkward silence for a moment, before Lilicia started down the ladder.
He counted to five in his head, before heading down next. The ladder down seemed to go on forever though...maybe this was a bad idea after all? He shook his head, and continued climbing down the ladder.
It was another 10 minutes of climbing before they finally hit the ground. Were they at the bottom of the mountain? Wow, this hole really did go down far. They brushed themselves off, before looking towards a light.
It was another cave entrance, leading deeper in.
"Hey, we can get to the other side now." Jade said, and Lilicia looked in that direction. She thought about it, before looking back at Jade.
"Do you think we should head back now? We've been gone for a long while..."
Jade looked at her, then back at the hole in the wall. Eh, hole in the wall...
His face turned red for a moment, before he shook his body. "Well..." he rubbed his head. Lilicia just stared at him in confusion, before waiting for him to finish.
"Why don't we venture in a bit more, then if we find another issue we'll head back. Sound good?" he asked, but he got a grumble in protest. Lilicia then sighed and smiled. "I suppose only you would venture into the deep unknown."
Ha.
Jade held his hands behide his head, he had a grin plasterd over his face. "Well, you know me; a very energenic teen who loves adventure!" Lilicia just rolled her eyes, before tapping him on the head with her hand.
"Alright already. Let's just go then." she said, taking the lead again. The two ventured near the hole, but the walking just seemed endless.
It was another 2 minutes before they actually arrived at the hole. Was this cave this big on the outside? It didn't seem soo...maybe they were imagining things...?
Lilicia sighed, and hunched over. "Jeez, this place goes on forever..." she said, complaining a bit. Jade just laughed, before walking slightly inside the hole. There were torches on the walls every 10 or so feet. Which provided enough light for them to see.
Lilicia sighed. "And you know what scares me the most? We haven't encountered a monster yet."
Jade nodded. "Yeah. The only survivor who went in here said that the moment they entered they were attacked..." he highly doubted that if they were attacked down here, there would have been any survivors.
This was just becoming worse and worse by the minute...
"Well, let's just go further in. We haven't encountered a problem yet, so..." Jade said, trying to get Lilicia to agree to go further.
Gah! With what happened earlier, that thought was a whole lot worse...
He quickly shook away the blush appearing on his face.
Lilicia stretched her arms, before slugging Jade in the arm. "Fine already!"
Richter grunted as he landed on the ground, hard. Being ejected from a non-moving Rhiard was one thing, but from a moving one was a different matter entirely. He just barely managed to escape that 'person's' clutches.
He really thought that he would have gotten out of there without any more injuries, but when Ratatosk appears out of nowhere and slashes at you while you still have your weapons sheathed, yeah. It hurts.
Richter stared at a cave entrance on top of a random mountain somewhere. He wasn't sure exactly where he was, seeing how this cave didn't look familliar in the least-
"Well, nothing ventured nothing gained." he said, walking into the cave slowly.
The very same cave Jade and Lilicia walked in not that long ago.
After about the same amount of time it took Jade and Lilicia to get all the way in, Richter was left staring out and into the abyss that was this cave. "My life doesn't get any easier does it?" he asked no one, before instantly spotting the ladder, and a ton of foot prints.
He got down on one knee, analyzing the footprints. "Hmm...these are still fresh." he said, standing up and looking at the ladder, he nodded his head. "There's someone down there." he said, and proceeded to get on the ladder and head down.
But he decided to take the easier route- he let go of the ladder and fell down a ways, before grabbing onto it again. He did this till he was on the ground. And it only took him a minute or two.
When he landed on the ground, he looked across the cavern, and spotted the same entrance that Jade spotted earlier.
"I guess whoever this is went that way..." he said. Currently, he was just hoping to get an idea of where he was. He needed to find Emil, and as fast as possible.
So he started off towards the cave, taking a heavy note that no monsters have shown up yet. Maybe this cave was already devoid of monsters? He wasn't going to take that chance. He drew his sword and axe before continuing further in.
When Jade and Lilicia reached the other end of the passageway, they came across an even bigger room. They instantly took note that the air seemed much more...dirtier than it was before they entered this large room.
"Jade...this room gives me a bad feeling."
"Same here." he said, but that didn't stop him from walking a bit further in, which caused Lilicia to be more alert.
He however noticed this, despite not looking back at her. "Hey, don't worry. Nothing can go wr-"
And he was wrong right then and there. A large grim reaper looking monster began to loom over him and his face went from excitement, to pure horror.
"Crap." was all he managed to get out, before the ghost swung it's scythe, and striking Jade right in the bottom part of his rib cage, he was send through the air for a second before he crashed onto the ground. Dirt was flung up everywhere as Lilicia stared in horror.
Jade was just thwacked with the handle of a large scythe.
And now he was currently laying on the ground, motionless.
"Jade-" she started to shout, before the ghost reached out to grab Lilicia forcibly, and yanking her in the air. She managed to get out a brief scream, before suddenly blacking out. At the scream, Jade's body finally begun to shift in place, before he slowly rose from where he was.
"Gack..." he spit out some blood. But he was otherwise intact. He was expecting that blow to be a one-shot kill. But he was apparently still alive. He was about to smile before he noticed that the scream was Lilicia, and she was currently having the life squeezed out of her.
"Lilicia!" he yelled, and he began to look for his sword. He wasn't sure where it was, as he was gripping it while he was approching the center of the room.
This was bad. Very bad.
Jade just stared lifelessly as Lilicia was still slowly being crushed. He couldn't help her...there wasn't even a rock in sight for him to chuck at the damn thing!
A light caught his attention, and he could tell it was coming from Lilicia. Just as he was about to say her name, his eyes widened in a more extreme version of horrorified.
Lilicia's body just shattered. Just like that. He could see shards of crystal float in the air.
What just happened?!
"Ahhhagahhh!" he yelled, running up to the ghost with the intent of killing it with his bare hands. He'd do it! He had to! He didn't have a choice-
"Gah!" he spit out more blood, realizing that the ghost had thrusted it's arm out, and impacting Jade right in the middle of his rib cage. Jade thought he could hear cracks of bone, before he was launched right into the wall.
That was about 50 feet away from where he just was.
He crashed into with an 'Oof,' before falling and hitting the ground hard. Through what appeared to be either amazing strength, or a ton of willpower, Jade still managed to slowly get up, though it hurt like hell because his ribs were most likely broken.
His breathing was ragged, and he was holding his ribs tightly. It appears some of his ribs did break. But it seemed he wasn't impaled in any of his organs so he wouldn't die instantly.
The Ghost started it's way slowly towards Jade, intent on finishing him off.
"Lilcia..." he whispered softly, falling slightly onto the ground with a tear falling from his eye.
"I'm...sorry..." he got it out. The last thing he remembered was the Ghost taking it's scythe, this time not intending to miss like before, and swinging it down on Jade's head. This was truly when he'd die, wasn't it?
He closed his eyes, and waited for the end-
Aei! What a way to leave the readers guess eh?
Hey! I guess I gotta give a slight summary and whatever about the story right? Okay then-
This is based off of Tales of Symphonia! It takes place three years after "The Dawn of a New World." It introduces three new characters to the story! Each with their own level of importance!
As you may have guessed this already- A mysterious being appeared in the Ginnungagap, and took control over Ratatosk's mind! His plan was revealed, but there is more than just creating a bomb made out of pure Mana...hehehe!
Richter isn't dead! Yay!
I have things planned for him, if you haven't guessed.
Now here is a question; is Lilicia dead? xD! Stay tuned for chapter two!
Next: A Savior- The fate of the world?