Disclaimer: I own nothing Tales of Symphonia. It belongs to Namco.

Tales of Symphonia: A Different World

A Self-Insertion Fic

One night in late July, I was going about my usual business before going to bed, and my friend Liz was spending the night, but she had already gone to sleep. It was, after all, 1:00 in the morning. I finished checking my e-mail, checking the Anime Roleplaying Tournament (in case anyone is interested in joining it) site, and my Neopets account. After I was done with all of this, I shut down my computer, slipped into my cut-off pajama shorts and white Medic t-shirt, removed my contact lenses and crawled into bed. When I was half-asleep, I thought I heard a strange crackling sound, kind of like electricity, at my window. Opening my eyes, I glanced over there. Because of not having my contacts, all I could see was a big white blob. I got up and grabbed my glasses from my desk drawer, to take a better look at it. Once my eyes adjusted momentarily to the glasses, I could see clearly that it was some kind of energy vortex, "What the-?" I nearly shouted in surprise.

I was apparently loud enough to wake Liz up, because she sat up on the air mattress she had been allowed to borrow and yawned, asking, "What's up, Jo?" She then put on her glasses and saw the energy vortex, "What is that?"
I shrugged, "I don't know. It wasn't here earlier. Let's try to move away from it though. I have a bad feeling about it." I got onto the air mattress with Liz, which was almost right next to the door of my bedroom, a little further away from the window.

However, the vortex expanded and shot lightning at both Liz and me.

Fighting a cry of pain, I began to black out, muttering, "What in the-?"

Liz was also blacked out.

When we came to, we were in Iselia. I saw many fires and guessed we had arrived in Iselia in Tales of Symphonia, apparently just after the Desians had attacked the quaint little village. I sighed, "This is just great..." I muttered to myself.

Liz seemed generally dazed and confused. She asked me, "Jo...where are we?"

I replied, "We're in the village Iselia. You remember that game I told you about, Tales of Symphonia?"

Liz nodded, "Yeah."

I then told her, "Well, we've apparently been sucked into their world somehow and..." I trailed off, seeing Lloyd and Genis coming our way.

Liz blinked, "Sucked into a game? Talk about weird..."

I nodded, "Yes, it's weird."

Lloyd glared at us, "Who are you two? Are you involved with the Desians?"

I jumped slightly. Boy, does Lloyd have scary killer looks. Not as bad as Kratos, but still, he was scary when he was mad. I then replied, "...I'm Joanna, and this is my friend, Elizabeth. Desians? No, we don't. We're not even sure how we got here, to tell you the truth."

Liz nodded a greeting to Lloyd, "Call me Liz." She smiled at him, trying to be friendly.

Lloyd replied, "Well, you'd best not stick around here. If the Desians find you, there will be trouble. Go hide in the school building. It's just up this path Genis and I came down."

I shook my head, "I want to help the village somehow. Please, let me help you guys." As I glanced at the floor, hoping I wasn't being too presumptuous, I noticed that my clothes were now different from what I had been wearing. I had on a blue tank top-ish belly shirt, a white skirt and sandals. I also had some new equipment. A bow slung over my shoulder, a quiver of 30 arrows, a dagger, and a leather guard underneath of my shirt. I also had a white Exsphere.

Genis told me, "Well...I don't know. What do you think, Lloyd? Can we trust them?"

Lloyd scratched his chin for a moment, thinking.

I glanced over at Liz while waiting for his decision. After all, I was four years Lloyd's senior, 21 years of age. I noticed that her clothing had changed too, and that she also had equipment, "Liz...your clothes! They're...different from what you were wearing."

Liz glanced down, blinking, "Oh...you're right. They're nice though." She shrugged, "Your clothes were changed too."

I nodded, "I know...I think it has something to do with that vortex..." I whispered so that Lloyd and Genis wouldn't hear. If they heard something about a vortex, they would be really confused and I would have to explain everything. And buddies, I did not feel like explaining that I was from Earth in what could be considered the future.

After 5 minutes, Lloyd spoke again and said, "All right. You can help us with the Desians. Just don't get in my way when it comes time to battle."

I smiled, "Don't worry, Lloyd. I won't. I'll be standing back with Genis. I have a bow, so I wouldn't be much good up close."

Liz nodded, "And I'm a sorceress and have a staff, so I would have to stand back too."

Lloyd nodded also, "Then let's go and teach those Desians a lesson!"

I blinked, then smirked, "Yeah, let's do this."

We all took off for the village plaza.

Upon arriving, one of the Desians shouted, "Lloyd Irving! Come here!"

Lloyd went around the mayor and other gathered villagers, stopping in front of them, "You're attacking the village again?! I won't stand for it!"

I went and stood behind Lloyd, "Me neither!"

The Desian seemed clueless and answered, "What? What do you mean?"

Forcystus walked up. The Desian who had been speaking got out of his way.

Forcystus then said, "He doesn't mean anything, ignore him. Inferior beings, know this. I am Forcystus, one of the Five Desian Grand Cardinals. I'm the half-elf that's in charge of the ranch where we cultivate you pathetic humans."

I glared, fighting the urge to slap the half-elf over the head with my bow, "Who you calling pathetic?"

Lloyd glared at me, then looked back at Forcystus. That look got me to shut up rather quickly.

Liz added, just for good measure, "Yeah!"

I looked at Liz, shaking my head, "We don't want to make things worse for Lloyd."

Liz nodded and stayed quiet now.

Forcystus then continued his speech, "Lloyd! You have been found guilty of violating our non-aggression treaty. You were in contact with host body F-192 and attacked some of our best guards. I have taken up the liberty of rounding up the appropriate opponent to dish out the punishment for your crime."

A large, green beast made its way into the village, stopping just behind Forcystus for a moment.

Forcystus then said, "Face your punishment!"

The beast walked forward and swiped at Lloyd with one of its overlarge, green arms.

I jumped back, narrowly getting cut on the shoulder, "Hey, watch it!" I shouted at Forcystus.

Forcystus glared, "I wasn't talking to you, woman." He fired a small blast of mana at me.

I nimbly dodged it, thanks to the Exsphere. If I didn't have that thing, I would have so been blasted.

Lloyd yelled at Forcystus, "Leave her out of this! If you're going to punish me, punish only me!"

Genis told Lloyd, "I'll help you kill the thing, Lloyd."

Liz added, "Yes, I will too."

I went back over to them and stood next to Liz, "Ditto." I told them, readying for a fight. I then looked at the villagers, "You guys might want to stand back. This could get rather nasty."

The villagers nodded their heads and took a few steps back, stopping at the Desians at the back of the plaza.

Lloyd looked at me, "Sure you can handle it?"

I nodded, "I can handle it. You get up close and chop the thing up while Liz and Genis use spells and I use my bow."

Lloyd replied, "All right." He ran up close to the monster and Demon Fang-ed it right on the stomach.

The creature seemed almost unphased and swiped at Lloyd again with one of its clawed arms.

Lloyd brought his wooden sword up defensively, reducing the amount of damage done to him, though his arm hurt a little from the impact of the creature's blow.

Genis was charging up Stone Blast, surrounded by light tan-colored runes, cause I think that's the only tech he had at this point. Well, that and Fire Ball.

Liz was preparing to use what I guessed was Lightning, for she was surrounded in a ring of purple runes on the floor.

I pulled the bow off of my shoulder and got ready to fire, pulling an arrow from my quiver and putting it on the string. I then fired at the offending creature.

The arrow I fired went straight at the monster's arm, the one getting ready to slash at Lloyd again. It hit and the behemoth of a monster howled in pain. It seemed rather ticked off now and started towards me. I remembered that I had a dagger hidden somewhere on me and pulled it out. If I had to, I would fight up close, but I would rather Lloyd since he is probably better at close combat.

The monster growled angrily at me and slashed at my chest, but I instinctively brought up my arm and protected the vital point. My arm got badly cut up and was now bleeding. I winced in pain and took a few steps back, "Lloyd!"

Lloyd ran over at that moment and stabbed the creature in the heart, finally killing it.

After the monster was defeated, it fell to the ground, a mess of black blood.

I shivered, then looked at Forcystus, "What now, punk? We beat your best monster."

Forcystus glared, "How is this possible?" He then noticed Lloyd's Exsphere and blinked, "Wait...you have an Exsphere?"

I felt like saying, 'Well, duh' but I stayed perfectly silent. I had one too, and thought it kind of odd that he didn't mention mine, or Liz's pink one for that matter. How did I just notice that? Anyway, moving right along...Lloyd answered him confidently, "Yes, what about it?"

Forcystus smirked, "Ah yes, your Exsphere must be that one the woman had. Give it back!"

Lloyd shook his head, "No! I'm not giving this thing to you Desians!"

Forcystus glared, "Then I'll just take it from you myself." He began to walk towards Lloyd, who was still a little winded from the battle with the monster.

Genis moved to stand between Lloyd and the half-elf, protecting his friend, "No! I won't let you take it!"

Forcystus hissed, "Foolish child! Get out of my way!" He backhanded Genis, hard, sending the half-elf flying into a building.

I winced, "That had to hurt..." I mumbled to myself, as Liz ran over to Genis. My arm still stung terribly and was still bleeding. I hope that Forcystus soon leaves. Otherwise we might have to fight him just to keep him from taking Lloyd's Exsphere.

Just then, another monster appears and holds Forcystus back from harming Lloyd. I hear a frail, old-sounding voice come from the monster, "Lloyd! Genis! Get out of here..."

Genis gasps, recognizing the voice as Marble, "...Marble?! What?"

I blink, "...I wonder what happened?"

Genis shrugged, still watching the monster and Forcystus, "Beats me, but I know that voice anywhere."

Monster Marble replied, "Go now! I'll take care of him!" She begins to glow, as if to explode or something.

I blinked, a bit surprised and excited to be witnessing these things firsthand, "How?" I ask the monster.

Monster Marble told me, "Watch." She then exploded on Forcystus, badly maiming the Grand Cardinal in charge of Iselia Ranch and causing him to drop to his knees.

Several Desians gather around Forcystus. One of them yells, "Lord Forcystus!"

Forcystus hissed, "Retreat for now! I'll come for you, Lloyd Irving. Know that." He and his henchmen seem to disappear.

I sigh in relief, glad that it was settled. I wince as my arm hurts.

Liz walks over to me, "Here, let me help. First Aid!" The wound on my arm begins to heal up from the spell.

I smiled at Liz, "Thanks." I glance over at Lloyd, who is now standing near the Mayor.

The Mayor told Lloyd, "I can't believe this! Look what you've done Lloyd! You've brought destruction upon this village! You let our people suffer."

Lloyd frowns and looks at the ground, obviously feeling very guilty. He mutters, just loud enough for the mayor to hear, "I'm sorry..."

Mayor man replied, "Do you think an apology will bring back all the people who died? Will it rebuild the homes destroyed by the Desians?"

Lloyd shook his head, "No..." He didn't know what else to say and was looking VERY very distraught now.

I finally speak up, "Hey! Stop it! It's not like he WANTED this to happen. It's not like he meant for it to."

Mayor spoke again, "Maybe not, but he went to the ranch, and that was strictly against village law."

Genis spoke up, "If you're going to exile him, exile me too. I'm the one who insisted that Lloyd come with me to the ranch."

Liz and I both blinked, amazed at Genis's display of courage.

Mayor sighed, "All right...fine. I, the Mayor of Iselia, by the authority given to me, do hereby announce the banishment of Genis and Lloyd from Iselia. Men, show them out."

Several of the militia finally step forward and escort Lloyd and Genis to the entrance/exit. Why couldn't they have showed up earlier and helped us with the monster?!

One woman speaks up, "Mayor? Should we really use such harsh a punishment on children?"
I roll my eyes as if to say, 'Woman, your mayor cares more about his relations with the Desians than he does some 17-year-old swordsman and 12-year-old half-elf boy.'

Mayor responded to the woman, "It's necessary if we want to stay alive. You don't know what you're saying!" He looked at me and Liz now, "What are you two going to do? You seem to be friends of Lloyd. Though you may stay here, know that public opinion about you will not be positive."

I sighed and said, "No, I think Liz and I will leave too. Though we're not exiled, Lloyd is our friend and you were just a bit harsh on him. I won't stay anywhere I'm not welcome." I walked out of the village, followed silently by Liz.

Once we left the village, we saw Lloyd and Genis talking to each other silently as they headed south, most likely trying to catch up to Colette and the others. I called out, "Hey, Genis! Lloyd!"

Lloyd stopped dead in his tracks and turned to face me, "Oh, hey Joanna! What's up?"

I replied swiftly, "We want to come with you. Though we're not banned from Iselia like you are, we know we won't be welcome there since we're considered your friends."

Lloyd nodded, "...I'm sorry."

I sighed, "Lloyd, I may not know you that well yet, but from the way you were acting after hearing about all the suffering, I know you are a good person. I know that if I was told I was responsible for someone's death indirectly, I would be unhappy too. And don't worry about Liz and I, okay? We're friends and..."

Liz finished my sentence, "Can take care of each other."

Genis blinked, "Yeah...you two are scaring me. You're practically like sisters, huh?"

Liz answered, "Yeah, pretty much. So, what are you guys doing?"

Lloyd replied, "Well, I think we should head for the House of Salvation to the south. I think I heard something about Colette and the others heading south." He shrugged.

I nodded, "That would make sense." I knew exactly where the Fire Seal was, but I wouldn't say anything. I didn't want to mess up the time line too badly. I mean, Liz's and my presence were already starting to change things a little, but so far nothing catastrophic had happened.

Genis spoke up, "Then we'll head south, and stop at the House of Salvation to rest. The sun's already low in the sky, so we should get going before it gets too dark."

Liz responded, "Good idea, Genis. Let's go then."

We all headed south, to the House of Salvation. Once there, we asked for a room.

The woman responsible for looking after the place replied, "Okay, that'll be 100 Gald please."

Genis handed her the money, thankfully.

I wasn't too sure if Liz or I would have enough to pay for that. I smiled at Genis and told him, "Thanks."

Genis nodded, "No problem. Come on, we'd better get some rest. Hey, where'd Lloyd go?"

Liz shrugged, "Probably already in bed by now."

I sighed, "I certainly hope so..." I muttered, a bit too myself. I was remembering that Lloyd got captured by the Renegades at this point and Raine and the others had met him at their base to rescue him. I then went to sleep.

Liz curled up on the bed next to mine and also went to sleep.

Genis yawned then went to sleep in another bed.

The next morning, we set out, after taking an hour and a half just to wake up Lloyd.

Unexpectedly, we ran into a large crowd of Renegades. One of them shouted, "There he is! It's Lloyd Irving! Get him!"

Before Lloyd could even pull his swords out, one of the Renegades hit him hard on the back of the head and began to drag him away.

I gasped, "Lloyd!" I tried to chase the offending Renegade, but was met with a whip to my arm, "Ow!"

Liz glared at the Desian who had attacked me, "Leave my friend alone!" She whacked him on the head with her staff.

Genis gulped, shaking and standing back from us and the Renegades, "P-please...don't hurt me. Can you...let us go? Or at least me?"

The leader of this group replied, "...Hmm, well, since you're not wanted criminals like Lloyd is...I suppose we could let you go, but only if you leave the young lady here with us as insurance that you won't try to rescue your friend." He was looking pointedly at me.

Liz gasped, "But...no, you can't do that. That's not fair!"

The leader told her, "Life's not fair, girl. Deal with it."
I sighed and looked at Liz and Genis, "You two, go, and tell the others what is happening. I'll be fine here. If they try to do anything, I can always whack them upside the head with my bow."

Genis sighed and gave a small, reluctant nod, "All right...but be careful." He looked at Liz, "You coming?"

Liz sighed, but then nodded, "Yeah, just give me and Jo a second."

The leader muttered, "Make it quick."

Liz told me, "Jo...I'm begging you, please be careful. I don't know what these Desians are like."

I smiled at her, "Don't worry, Liz. I'll be okay. I know what they're capable of. You just go on with Genis." I gave her a friendly hug, then looked at Genis, nodding a goodbye.

Genis and Liz left me to go find the others.

They then came back with Kratos, who was looking very annoyed at having to play 'the gallant hero', Raine, and Colette. I called out, "Hey, everyone! Mind negotiating with these...Desians so they'll let me go?" I couldn't say Renegades, or otherwise it might cause problems, of many kinds.

Raine nodded, "I think I'll do the talking. Kratos tends to be a bit...well, blunt."

Kratos shot the professor a glare, but then nodded his head.

Raine came over to the Renegades and asked them, "Could you...perhaps let our friend go? We need her."

The leader of the group of Renegades responded in the same vein, asking, "What do you want with her? What do you need her for?"
I was about to say, 'Well, duh, so I can help rescue Lloyd!', but held back. I knew that wouldn't help my situation, so I remained silent for now.

Colette answered, "She's...she's part of my group. We're trying to regenerate the world." She smiled.

I muttered, giving Colette a thumbs-up, "Very Chosen-like of you, Colette." I then gave her a winning smile.

Colette smiled back at me then looked at the leader of this small group of Renegades.

The leader blinked, "Wait...so you're the Chosen's group?"

Kratos replied bluntly, "Yes. Now, release this girl or things will get very ugly, very fast."

Oh gosh...even an implied threat from Kratos sounds scary. I hope these Renegades let me go...or else I'll have to witness more bloodshed, and I think I've had my fill of that for today.

The leader gulped, a bit unnerved by Kratos's threat, "Of...of course..." He untied my hands and ankles.

I sighed in relief, "Thanks, Kratos and Raine."

They both nodded their heads simultaneously.

I looked at Liz, "You and Genis okay?"

Genis nodded his head, "Yeah yeah, I'm fine." He yawned a bit, "Just a little tired."
Liz replied, "I'm fine."

Kratos sighed, "Well...now that most of us are here, with the exception of Lloyd of course, shall we get on with the journey?"

Colette looked at Kratos, "...But what about Lloyd? We can't just leave him in the hands of the Desians! Please, Kratos, let's rescue him. Our journey leads that way anyway."

Genis glared at Kratos, "How could you suggest something so cold? For all we know, they could be beating Lloyd to death."

Kratos murmured, after giving Genis a strange look, "I doubt it. Fine, fine. We'll rescue him."

I nodded, "Now that it's settled where we're going, I need to talk to you for a couple minutes, Kratos. If you don't mind, that is."

Kratos blinked, then sighed and nodded, "All right, but it had better be quick. We need to get moving if we're going to rescue Lloyd."

I responded, "This won't take long, don't worry."

After I was sure we were out of earshot of Raine, Genis, and Liz, I told Kratos, "I know all there is to know about you...including the fact that Lloyd is your son by way of Anna, and that you are a member of Cruxis."

Kratos shot me a death glare, but replied, "Your point exactly?"

I told him, "I don't know what I'm going to do about it. Tell ya what...I won't say anything to the others if you promise to tone down on how harsh you are to Lloyd."

Kratos muttered, "It's for his own good that I do that...but all right. I will try to tone down a bit on the harsh comments."

I smiled, "Good, then it's a deal." I offered Kratos my hand to shake.

Kratos rolled his eyes, then shook my hand, "Yes. Now that all that's settled, let's get back to the others."

I nodded, "Right then, let's go."

Liz asked, "Jo, what was it you were talking to him about?"

In a very quiet voice, I told Liz, "About the things of this world that I know about...including the fact that he's really an angel of Cruxis."

Liz blinked, "Eh...what's Cruxis?"

I sighed, "To make a long story short, they're a group of angels and half-elves dedicated to the revival of Martel, Mithos's sister."

Liz nodded, "Okay, I guess that makes sense."

I smiled, "Good, now that it's explained, let's catch up to Kratos and the others." I jogged to catch up to the small group, with Liz right behind me.

After about 5 hours of walking, all of us began to feel tired.

Liz yawned, "Can we stop and rest soon? My legs feel like they're about to fall off."

I told Raine and Kratos, since I was (and still am) an adult too, "It might be a good idea to camp for the night and go to the base first thing in the morning. What do you guys think?"

Kratos scratched his chin for a moment, then nodded, "I think that it makes sense. Lloyd won't be going anywhere, so it should be fine."

Genis shuddered, "But...if we take too long, they might...they might take him to one of the human ranches."

Kratos glared darkly at the idea, muttering barely audibly, "If they try, they shall be tasting my steel."

I blinked, "Whoa, okay. Yeah, it should be fine to stop for the night, right?" I looked at Raine, who had remained quiet despite Kratos's menacing glare.

Raine nodded, "Yes, it should be."

I gave Kratos a knowing smile for what he had said about what he would do to the 'Desians' if they tried to take Lloyd to one of the ranches. I muttered under my breath, "Very fatherly of you, Kratos."

Kratos had heard me because of his angelic senses and shrugged, as impassive as ever. It was as if my comment hadn't even phased him. Gr r...that was SO annoying.

Genis yawned, "Okay, enough talking. Let's do some sleeping now before I fall asleep standing up."

Raine asked, "...Is that even possible?"
I nodded my head, "Yes, it is. I've almost done it a couple of times."

Liz replied, "Ditto."

A little while later, we all lay down on the ground, with the exception of Kratos, who agreed to take up night watch.

I whispered, so as not to wake the now-sleeping Colette, Genis, and Raine, "Since you're an angel...you don't need sleep, do you?"

Kratos shook his head, "Not as often, anyway. Since I was originally human, I might need light rest every couple of days, but other than that, I'm quite all right."

I nodded, yawning, "Well, I think that's...oh wait, one more question."

Kratos sighed, "You really need your sleep, Joanna."

I replied, "I know, I know. Just let me ask this one question, or it will bug me all night and I won't be able to sleep."

Kratos nodded, "Very well then. Ask away."

I questioned, "...If you're an angel...and Anna was a human, wouldn't that make Lloyd half-angel? How does that work?"

Kratos shook his head immediately, "No...since I was originally human, he inherited my human traits. It's not really that complicated."

I nodded, "Okay then. Good night, Kratos."

Kratos nodded a good night and walked over to Noishe, petting the Protozoan on the head.

The night passed uneventfully, and I was one of the first ones up, not surprisingly. I smiled at Kratos, "Good morning."

The seraph mercenary remained as impassive as ever, and replied, "Good morning. I trust you got enough sleep."

I nodded, "Yes, I did." I looked over at Genis, who was just beginning to stir, "Well, I'll be right back. I'm gonna go behind that palm tree there and take off these sand-ridden clothes."

Kratos nodded his head and looked at the others, to give me a bit more privacy, "Good morning, everyone."

Raine mumbled, "Good morning..."

Colette smiled, "Good morning, Kratos."

Liz yawned, then told the mercenary, "Morning."

I came back out from behind the thick-trunked tree, now wearing a black tank top, blue shorts, and white boots, "There, that's better. So, after breakfast, we set out to rescue Lloyd, right?"

Colette nodded, "Yeah, we're gonna rescue him from the Desians."

Genis sighed, "It's the least I can do...I did sorta abandon him."

Liz looked at Genis, "No you didn't...you're just a little boy. I'm not surprised you left after the Desians took him. I know I would've been frightened if Jo had been grabbed by them."

I murmured, "Yeah, thanks for the vote of confidence there, Liz."

Liz shrugged.

Kratos spoke again, "Okay, enough already. Eat if you're going to so we can get moving."

Colette nodded and grabbed some bread out of one of the bags on Noishe's back. She then got out some butter and made herself some buttered bread for breakfast.

I got some cheese and bacon and two pieces of bread and made myself a bacon-cheese sandwich.

Liz grabbed some rice and bacon and made herself a quaint little rice breakfast.

After we all finished eating, we got up and headed off toward the base.

We arrived at the front gates around noon, greeted by several of the Renegades.

I sighed, "...Great, the welcoming party's here..."

Kratos looked at me, "Let me deal with them." He walked right up to the Renegades and told them, "You will let us through or we'll let the monsters out there in the desert have you."

I blinked, then sighed, "...Yeah, nice diplomacy there, Kratos..." I muttered a bit to myself. Kratos was supposed to be an angel of Cruxis, for goodness sake, so you would think he had better diplomacy! But anyway, moving right along, the Renegades (though unknown to all in the party except for my friend and me) trembled a bit then said, "...Nobody but Lords Yuan and Botta and fellow Renegades are allowed to pass through here...um...err, I mean..." He sweat dropped and looked at the other soldier.

The other soldier smacked his forehead, "You bumbling idiot! Now you've given away that we're NOT Desians. I'm taking you to Lord Yuan for punishment...after we deal with these cretins."

I glared slightly at the comment, "Who're you calling a cretin?" I clutched my dagger tightly at the insult.

Kratos was unphased by the comment, but drew his sword anyway, prepared to cut them down for getting in our way, "You will stand aside, men. Otherwise...the last thing you will ever feel will be the sting of my steel on your pathetic throats."

I gulped and silently reminded myself never to stand in Kratos's way or get him angry.

Liz was a little afraid now and whimpered slightly behind me.

I looked at her, "...It's okay, Liz. He's...just bluffing...I hope."

Raine looked at me and said, "Don't be so sure, Joanna. Kratos can be quite serious. Especially when he's talking like that."

I shrugged, "We'll just have to see, won't we?" I then looked at Kratos and the 'Desians' again.

One of the two soldiers spoke, "...N-no...we won't let you pass."

The other one replied boldly, "You'll have to kill us!"

Kratos glared, sighing in annoyance, "Fine...then die." He cut through the two Renegade soldiers easily and sheathed his sword again in two swift motions.

I blinked, "Well...sure showed them, didn't you, Kratos?"

Kratos shrugged.

Genis spoke up, "Come on, let's go inside. I hope we can get to Lloyd in time to save him!"

I told Genis, "I'm sure he's fine, Genis. Don't worry so much. He's stronger than you think." I then smiled at him, in a knowing sort of way.

Genis nodded, "...Okay, Joanna, if you say so." He wondered what the look I gave him meant, but then shrugged it off.

Kratos put in his two cents, "Lloyd's most likely fine. Come on."

After making our way through numerous corridors and fighting several Raybits and guards (A/N: Not an easy feat, I got a cut wrist during that time...which made me unable to use my bow, but that's fine. I still had a dagger.), we almost ran into one last set of guards...but none of us were in the mood to fight at the moment, so we all took off, running to what we hoped was the right place.

Kratos (who, surprisingly led us in our retreat...go figure) had guessed right and we got into the room just in time to see Yuan threatening Lloyd with a glowing purple ball of mana.

I called out instinctively, "Lloyd!"

Yuan was momentarily distracted and looked to us. Hoping Kratos hadn't caught sight of him yet, he started to take off, only to be stopped by Lloyd tackling him.

'Okay...this definitely didn't happen in the game...uh-oh...which means Kratos might find out that Yuan is...oh man!' I thought to myself, 'Just totally screw up the whole game, Jo! Way to go!'

Genis asked Lloyd, "Lloyd?! Are you okay?!"

Colette asked essentially the same question, but re-worded it, "Are you all right?"

Lloyd nodded his head, "Yeah. Thanks for coming to my rescue."

Kratos spoke, "It was the Chosen's idea." He glared at Yuan, crossing his arms and giving him a look of disgust and disapproval, "All this time...I thought I could trust you, Yuan. You were my best friend."

I was glad he wasn't saying anything about being an angel of Cruxis...but then again, it might've just confused everyone, so it kinda made sense to me in a way.

Yuan told him, "...Kratos...I...I didn't want to betray you. That was never my intention." He jabbed Lloyd hard in the ribs with his elbow, to get him off.

Lloyd yelped in pain and leapt off of the blue-haired half-elf Renegade leader.

Kratos told him, "Nevertheless, you have. Out of my sight, now!"

Yuan walked over to him and whispered in his ear, "Will you tell Lord Yggdrasil about this?"

Kratos sighed and replied quietly, "...At the moment, I am not sure. For now, just go."

Botta walked in at that moment, "...Lord Yuan! He...he saw you! I am sorry I didn't arrive sooner."

Yuan sighed to Botta and replied, "It's all right, Botta. Don't worry about it." He nodded and walked toward the warp pad in the tiny closet in the back of the room, telling Lloyd, "Just you wait, Lloyd. We'll meet again, and when we do, you're mine."

I told him, "Not on my watch."

Yuan had disappeared before I had said it though.

Botta looked back at all of us, "I can take care of everyone at once."

Kratos sighed and told him, "Botta...I have no quarrel with you...but if we must fight, we must."

He drew his sword.

I sighed, "...Kratos, do we really need to fight him?"

Lloyd told me, "He's not giving us much of a choice. Come on, Joanna and Raine."

I replied, "Why don't you let Colette fight in my place? I can't use my bow, remember?"

Lloyd blinked, "Ohhh...uh, yeah, I remembered." He grinned, then looked to Colette, "You up for another fight?"

Colette nodded her head, "Yes, Lloyd, I'm ready."

The rest of us stood quite a ways away from the fight. The ones fighting were Raine, Kratos, Lloyd, and Colette.

The fight took a few hours, but Botta still wasn't defeated. However, he retreated before he could be SOUNDLY defeated.

I sighed, "Well...so much for that. Come on then, let's get out of this place."

Raine nodded her head, rubbing it slightly, "I agree with Joanna, let's go."

I guessed that Raine's head was hurting because of the intense use of mana. After all, she had been casting a lot of healing spells over the past four hours.

Lloyd nodded, "So...the Journey of World Regeneration is back on?"

Colette smiled, "Yep! I'll save Sylvarant!"

I muttered to myself, "And destroy Tethe'alla."

Kratos looked to me, having heard what I said. Curse his angel senses, I say, curse them!

I blinked, "...What, Kratos? I didn't..."

Kratos sighed, "May I speak to you?"

I nodded, "Sure..."

Kratos swiftly took me aside and asked, "...All right, what's going on with you? How do you know about Tethe'alla?"

I scratched my chin, trying to think up a really believable lie. I then told him, "...I was originally from there, but my parents took a pilgrimage to Sylvarant. They were curious about the dying world and were killed by the Desians shortly after arriving here. I was raised in Asgard from age 5 until now."

Kratos didn't believe me, but he didn't press any further, thankfully. He went back to the others.

I sighed and muttered, "Note to self: find a way home, and fast!"

Lloyd spoke, "Joanna...how's your wrist?" He seemed genuinely worried about me. How kind of him, especially considering whose son he is. (A/N: Just kidding...)

I replied, "...It's on the mend. I may not be able to use my bow for at least a day though."

Colette then added, "That's okay. There are enough of us that she won't need to be doing a lot of fighting."

Liz nodded, "Yeah, don't worry, Jo. Just let your wrist heal. Don't fight unless you have to defend yourself."

I smiled and nodded, "All right, all right, already! I won't. Sheesh!"

Raine sighed, "All right, that's enough. Let's get out of here, okay?"

A collective nod showed that we were all okay to go, so we left the Renegade base and headed out for the Seal of Fire.

A/N: I know, a very long first chapter, but consider for a moment what all has happened. Next chapter will contain the Seal of Fire, Palmacosta, The Palmacosta Ranch: Part I, and Learning Dorr's True Motives.