Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from Tales of Graces. All rights are given to those who created the game. I do, however, own the plot of this story and the made up people and creations.
Summary: The worlds run on the source of Eleth; that's a fact. But where did it come from? Had it been created by other people? A certain Amarcian girl wants to find out, especially after their little trip from Fodra.
"Character Speaking"
'Character Thinking'
A/N: I don't know if I will continue this. This was just a little idea that came to me after beating Tales of Graces and finishing up the Future arc portion of the game. If you enjoyed, please do leave a review and let me know! Thank you!
Eleth. It is the source of all life. Many people tried to manipulate it for their own benefits, but all of them met failure or death.
For the people on Ephinea, there were three main sources of Eleth: wind, water, and fire.
Wind Eleth gave the gentle breezes throughout the land. Water Eleth provided the source of life for all plants and humanity. Fire Eleth gave the lands structure and the gentle warmth that filled most areas.
But unknowingly to our heroes, they weren't the only sources of Eleth. There were more, but they were hidden and scattered among their world.
Pascal was sitting in the center of large piles of books. "I just can't find it anywhere!" she inwardly groaned. Letting out a heavy sigh she fell onto her back and stared at the ceiling. Her trip to Fodra brought on so many questions.
How come there was only three types of Eleth here while there were more on Fodra? What functions did the other types of Eleth have? Were there possible hidden sources of this same Eleth on their planet? Could they help function human life?
It was making her irritable not knowing the answers. She pouted and flopped onto her stomach. Then an idea struck her. Maybe the Overseer or Poisson knew something! She scrambled to her feet and wasted no time in finding the two girls.
"Oh, good morning Pascal." Poisson smiled and nodded in greeting. The Overseer was sitting in the corner of the room with her eyes glued on their visitor. "Is there something I can help you with?"
"Yeah!" Pascal greeted with a big smile of her own. "I'm looking into the different types of Eleth!"
Poisson looked confused. "The different types of Eleth?"
"Uh-huh! Can I go into the Archive of Wisdom?!" Poisson frowned. "But Pascal, theres only three. You should already know that."
"Actually, I think that's debatable! You see, on Fodra, there were other types of Eleth. There were crystallized forms of it, but it far too dangerous to take a sample!" Pascal wandered past Poisson and towards the entrance of the Archive of Wisdom. Poisson was following behind her with a curious look.
"Different types of Eleth? What kinds did you see?"
"Well, there was a yellow, red, green, purple, and grey I think…"
Poisson frowned and tapped her foot while she thought about it. "Are you sure they were Eleth sources?"
"Yeah," Pascal murmured as she hastily typed down her thoughts. "they were affecting the area much like our normal Eleth does. The only difference was that they were small crystallized forms of it. They were easily neutralized with some form of liquid we found in some of the monsters we fought."
She stopped typing and thought about what she had just said. "Ooh, what if I were to re-create those liquids and try them on our Eleth?"
"I wouldn't do that if I were you. The Eleth sources aren't just something you can toy around with." Poisson put her hands on her hip in minor annoyance. "I don't have to remind you of your first attempt with messing with the Valkines Cryas, do I?"
Pascal gave her a toothy grin. "It's just an idea!"
Poisson sighed as she shook her head. Pascal stared at the computer monitor waiting for some form of answers to pop up. "Ah ha!"
"What is it?"
"Well, those different forms of Eleth I told you about? Apparently there are different sources of Eleth." Poisson tilted her head in surprise.
Pascal, on the other hand, was reading over the content provided. It amazed her that she didn't know about this! She did have a good idea of facts concerning the Eleth around their world, but to know that there was more was simply astonishing!
She frowned and tapped her foot. The computer informed her of the Eleth and its source of power, but it hadn't enlisted her the locations! A sly grin appeared on her face. Perhaps Hubert had an idea!
Pulling out her communicator, she typed in the coordinates and a message asking for Hubert. She wanted to talk with him and see if the two of them could dig anything up!
Once her communicator rushed off towards its location she turned around with a big smile. "Who was that for?"
"Hubert~"
"You seem to be attached to him. I've noticed an increase of the number of messages you sent to him recently. Are you perhaps infatuated with him?" Poisson tilted her head curiously.
Pascal felt her cheeks warm up in embarrassment. Did she like him? She enjoyed talking with him, yes, but did she have romantic feelings towards him? The very thought of him was enough to make her breathless.
He was rough around the edges, but he was very intelligent. It had taken him a while, but he eventually warmed up to her. Then that silly confession before they went to Fodra's core! She felt absolutely giddy when she thought about that conversation.
"Well, I enjoy talking with him." Pascal admitted. "But I don't know…" she lied. She wanted to investigate these 'romantic feelings' that plagued her, but she was far more interested in this interesting development.
Poisson was going to continue with her questions, but Pascal quickly interrupted her and dashed off. Before she informed anyone else about these strange feelings, she wanted to figure them out herself.
About two hours had passed before Hubert responded. He was delighted and told her that he was on his way. She was excited to have him come over. She gazed at her house and giggled lightly; it was a mess!
Touching her hair, she thought about how her sister and Cheria always scolded her and told her to get a bath. She was debating on whether or not she wanted a bath. She wanted to please him (though she didn't quite understand why) and make her home presentable. Boy, would he be surprised!
She did just that. She took a shower and cleaned herself up. With her remaining time she tidied up the place the best she could. She was wiping away some sweat that had formed on her forehead when hearing a knock on the door. Hubert was finally here!
"Come in!" she called out joyfully. She had approached the door as Hubert opened it. "Hello, Pascal. How are you?"
"I'm fine~ How about you? Find a girl you're gonna marry yet?"
She stood there with a big grin latched on her face. Her grin somewhat falter when she watched his normally expressionless face grow in surprise. Had she said or done something wrong? "What's the matter?"
"Your place… it's clean. And did you take a bath?"
Her smile returned. "Yep! I thought it would be nice to have a… tidy room to speak in."
He cleared his throat. He couldn't remove the look of surprise as they settled down. During the course of an hour and a half, the two of them engaged in small chat. Eventually, however, Hubert brought the matter up.
"You contacted me about these strange new sources of Eleth? What exactly did you find?"
She tapped her finger on the table absentmindedly. "Well, it bothered me after we left Fodra. But do you remember in the depths that there were crystallized forms of Eleth?"
"Yes, I do. It was a rather interesting sight."
"I did some more research on it. Obviously we only have three known sources of Eleth, or rather three well known Valkines Cryas. However, my research is leading me to believe that there are more Valkines Cryas hiding in our world."
She pulled out a piece of paper and began drawing four different symbols: poison, slow, paralysis, and weak. Hubert arched his brow in confusion.
"I don't know where they're located or what their proper names are, but I know they're somewhere in our world. The Archives of Wisdom prove this. Whether or not they're like the Valkines Cryas in Windor, Fendel, and Strahta, I don't know. I have a theory on why we were never able to see these Valkine Cryas in our world. I think, over the span of time when our lands grew and shifted their shape, they were lost to us. Or at least from a visual perspective. They could still be active, but we haven't seen nor experienced any of its effects."
She gazed at him and watched as he absorbed the information with a slight nod of understanding. "What do you think?"
"Well, I agree with the part on why they are hidden. They added some sickening power to the monsters in the surrounding areas and made them nearly impossible to defeat. If that power were to be contorted for human purposes who knows what kind of damage it would bring?" he fixed his glasses and gazed at her seriously.
"Even if the people did know of it, I don't think they could take any of its power with the modern day technology. Not unless people had an extensive knowledge on how to channel the energy with a machine." she leaned into her chair with a frown.
"What would you propose we do?" he asked. "I'm not sure, to be honest. I love having knowledge about things - to make sense of the world and its mysteries - but I know that if we can discover them, the chances are that someone else will too. The risk would be too high."
Hubert startled her when he abruptly stood. "Think of it this way," he began as he paced around her room with his head in his hands in deep thought, "someone had to have known about it if it was recorded. And let's say that someone stumbled upon this power and made a profit from it. These people could have just been stumbling around or exploring the area and found it."
"And," he continued, but stopped to face her directly, "they decided to use it's dangerous power for evil intent. It's probably better than we investigate the matter and see if there is a way it can be used for good intent, or if it has any effects on the creatures here as they are still dangerous."
She gave it some thought. He did have a point: they weren't evil and knew what it could do so they would be partially prepared. Plus, if they were the first to discover it they could examine its effects on the surrounding people and animals. And, if necessary, find a way to block it off from the people.
Hubert took a seat across from her waiting for her answer. After a moment or two, she gave him a small nod. "It sounds like a plan."
"Then shall we go?"
"Yeah!"
She hopped from her seat and rushed to the other side of the room. Grabbing her weapon she turned to him with a big smirk. "Perhaps we should go enlist your brothers help as well as the others! After all, we're on another adventure!"
Hubert gave a heavy sigh as she danced around in delight. "Do we really need them to tag along?"
"Well, they're uber strong! Plus, I think they'd be interested in this kinda stuff since it could… save the world?" she tilted her head in mild amusement. He let another heavy sigh out as he agreed. She cried out in joy as she started to dance around again.
Asbel was sitting in his fathers study examining the papers in front of him. His head was pounding. A pile of complaints, suggestions, and letters from the capital and the people of Lhant laid before him and taunted him.
For the next hour and a half, he read over the papers and put down his seal of approval or disapproval. He was facedown on his desk when Cheria entered the room. "Asbel!" she softly scolded. "You're not resting on the job are you?"
"No," he groaned. "just have a pounding headache from all this reading. I'm used to fighting for justice, not sitting here and reading paperwork."
She let out a heavy sigh. "Asbel, I know it's hard but we're not longer rushing out into the middle of nowhere and battling evildoers. Richard is himself again and Fodra's Queen isn't trying to kill us anymore. Plus, for the first time in such a long time, the nations are at peace with each other. Aren't you content that there is peace?"
"I am, but -"
"No buts! Anyway, have you seen Sophie?"
He immediately sat up. "You haven't seen her?"
"No, not since this morning. She's not at the garden either and when I checked Lhant Hill, she wasn't there either." he frowned and brushed his fingers through his hair. "Maybe she's at Richards?"
"Absel, she can't just waltz in whenever she pleases! He is a King, not some common man! He is far busier attending the needs of the people of Windor!"
"Cheria, will you calm down?" he groaned. "I'm sure she's fine. Besides, I don't find it impossible that she could be there! The guards know us well and last time I checked, Sophie was allowed to go there even when he's busy. She's not a child, Cheria, so don't smother her."
"I'm not!" she screeched. "I'm just worried about her!"
She stormed out of the room without another word. Asbel let out another groan and rubbed his temples. He was worried about Sophie too, but he didn't want to smother her. She was a person too, afterall. She had the right to wander off. She was strong too, so for the most part she could handle herself.
And the monsters in the area weren't as aggressive as before. As they thought, Fodra's Core did have something to do with the strange evolution in the monsters that resided locally. However, once it was taken care of, the monsters reverted back to their original self.
He called in Frederick and asked if he could mail out some letters and handle the papers that he had approved or disapproved of. When he was left alone with barely anything to do, he closed his eyes and leaned further into his chair.
Sophie was indeed at Richards Palace. She was sitting in her hiding spot. Richard knew she was here, but couldn't join her since he was in a meeting with other noblemen.
That was fine. She needed to think anyway.
For the past few weeks she felt funny. She couldn't explain why she felt that way, but she knew what she felt. Even her dreams had been plagued with vicious fights - among other horrible things she feared and did not wish to see - making her nights restless.
She thought about telling Asbel and Cheria, but the two of them were busy with their work. Hubert, Pascal, and Malik were far away and Richard was often hassled with noblemen.
Asbel often comforted her telling her that even if they were busy they would be there for her. They loved her and if needed, would put things aside to spend time with her. She didn't want to bother them, so she kept to herself.
To pass the time she either attended the garden in front of the Lhant manor, played and handled the children of the town, or visited Lhant hill to gaze at the flowers.
But now she felt their peace was going to be once again ruined. What could she do to stop it? She would protect her friends and those she loved, of course, but how could she stop something she didn't know anything about?
A frown found its way on her lips as she hugged her legs to her chest. She needed to tell Asbel that she felt something dangerous coming. But how? How could she say that there was danger afoot when everything had been nice and quiet?
"Is everything alright?" Sophie jumped as Richard walked through the doorway. "You've been quiet."
"I'm fine," she smiled at Richard. "How was the meeting with the noble men?"
"It was good. Preaching about their needs as usual, but nothing new. Has Asbel been annoying you as of late?" She shook her head. "No, I just wanted some time to think is all."
"Think about what?"
She frowned, not sure if she should tell him. But maybe if she did, it would help her later on when she told Asbel. "Lately I've been getting nightmares and a dreadful feeling. I feel like our peace is being threatened, but I don't know what from."
Richard was silent when he approached her. "What have these nightmares been about?" he asked while sitting down next to her.
"Most of them are blurry, but the sense of impending doom is heavy. Some are clear, but they're just too frightening to describe." she gazed down at their hands for a brief moment to see him pick her hand up.
"Sophie, tell me. What are these dreams about? What is so frightening of them?"
She was silent for a few minutes. Looking away, she finally answered. "They're of Asbel and of you; of all my friends. Everyone is hurt and is bleeding. I remember feeling an overwhelming sense of panic. I don't want to think too much of them, but I don't think I should ignore them either. I want to tell Asbel, but how can I do so without worrying him? If I choose to not tell him the future may come true, and if I do tell him he's going to worry about me and he shouldn't have to. He's busy taking care of the people of Lhant."
"Aren't you his daughter? His dearest friend?" Richard eyed her expectantly. She gave him a brief nod, not sure where he was taking this. "Then he will make time for you. Especially if those dreams are as gruesome as you claim them to be."
The two of them stared at each other before Sophie smiled. "Then I'll tell him." Richard nodded with a smile of his own. "That's good."
They both stood and left the room together. He escorted her to the entrance and gave a nod to the guards who saluted him. They both gave their final wave to each other before she made way to the port. She decided to tell him what she felt and what she feared.
However, her fears were unfounded as they would soon become reality…