A/N: Feel free to review and make sure to be constructive with the criticism, and enjoy. Oh yeah, and I also don't own anything Tales related, all of that goes to NamcoBandai.

Chapter 1: This Hard Land

Present

Am I living, or am I dreaming?

To be honest I don't care for the answer. The idea of a better tomorrow is the only thing that keeps me going these days as I sit here and bide my time. All that's left for me are fragments of the past…

Looking back, in just one instant my life completely changed forever, it all feels so surreal to say the least. The people that I care for are no longer around or in good terms with, and I'm not the same person I was five years ago.

And yet after all these changes, the past still haunts me to this day…

The past... playing the same scenario over and over again in my head, and wishing I would have made better decisions and notice things I missed. The more I relive those fragments the more I start to question whether or not if I'm dreaming.

It's funny, my whole life I ponder on and on again about the past and future, but rarely do I ever get to think about the present. To be honest I'd rather dream, at least I can sleep while at it.

Past

In Tethe'alla, Temple of Earth

"Okay Chosen Tabatha, let's rest here for tonight," ordered a blonde haired man donning a heavy suit of green armor as he set two traveling packs and his sheathed sword on the ground.

"Too heavy…" a raven haired man clad in the same green armor huffed as he climbed up the cliff supporting a mint haired woman on his back by holding her legs from behind while she wrapped her arms around his neck. The knight was also holding his sword sheath by its leather straps with his already occupied right hand.

"Alright Tabatha, you can get off of Leon's back," the blonde haired knight said.

"Oh, okay," Tabatha simply replied and climbed off Leon's back who then collapsed into a heaping mess of fatigue and sweat onto the dusty earth.

"Tobey, this suit of armor isn't good for anything, if anything, it's going to be the death of me…" Leon mumbled through his exhaustion with his face still planted on the floor.

"Stop complaining, that armor will save your life one day, I guarantee it!" Tobias screamed which echoed through the temple and made Tabatha jump. "Also, you're a Papal Knight; show some dignity, especially in front of the Chosen!" Tobias added.

"Mmmh… Do you always have to be such a hard ass even when we're not in front of the King or Pope?" Leon muttered as he looked up at Tobias.

"Yes, cause even if we were in the presence of his Majesty or Holiness you'd still be disrespectful with your inappropriate casual tone, and I always gotta be the one who takes the heat cause I'm your captain."

"Sir Knight Tobias, please don't be hard on Le –er…. I mean Sir Knight Leon," Tabatha gently interjected. This quickly got the attention of Tobias who then looked at Tabatha with a raised eyebrow.

"Sir Knight Leon has been through a lot assisting me and has been good company since this journey started, so please, it breaks my heart when a honorable knight yells at his subordinates without good reason," Tabatha pleaded Tobias.

The blonde haired knight watched Tabatha's tears forming on the corners of her hazel eyes which Tobias couldn't help, but blush from her subtle beauty.

"I…I'm deeply s-sorry Tabatha…I mean Chosen Tabatha… I'll respect your wishes," he said briskly.

Tobias started to feverishly walk to the other part of the cliff to collect fire wood meanwhile Leon managed to get himself together and walk towards Tabatha.

"Thanks for the help, nice touch with the water works too." Leon whispered.

"No, it's nothing, I just don't like it when people fight, all the yelling starts to get to me" she whispered back.

Later that evening

"Dammit Tobey!" yelled Leon whose voice echoed throughout the stone fetish temple.

The raven haired knight was kneeling and lifted the metal lid from the cooking pot that was being supported by the campfire.

"You left the curry too long on the fire, now it's all brunt… Oh Martel… I'm not even sure if this is edible anymore!" The raven haired man yelled and pointed at the brown and charred substance in the pot.

"Hey, don't knock it till you try it and it's just well-cooked. I'd like to see you do better!" rebutted Tobias.

Leon scoffed at Tobey's statement and replied, "Okay, calling this curry 'well cooked' is probably the biggest understatement of the year and I'm pretty sure MY cooking hasn't got anyone sick since we started this journey!" Leon finished as he nodded his head towards Tabatha, who was covering her mouth with one hand and gripping her stomach with the other. As soon as all eyes were on Tabatha she immediately noticed and frantically put both hands on both sides of her body and stood up straight.

"N- No, No, it's okay Tobias I really like your curry, I'm just not hungry as all" she said while frantically waving both hands.

Tabatha's expression was trying to crack a smile, but an unpleasant grimace was all she could muster from the bad taste which Leon instantly caught on. "Taby, you don't need to be so empathetic, just tell me if you want me to cook for the rest of this journey and I'll do it," the raven haired knight gently inputted.

Tobias finally registered Tabatha's unsavory smile as well and replied, "I- I- I'm sorry Tabatha, I didn't mean to…"

"N-No, No Tobias, your cooking just needs a little more practice and I'm pretty sure Leon and I can help you the next time you cook," Tabatha abruptly interrupted him and ended with a dimpled smile to reassure him everything was fine.

Tobias couldn't help, but blush at the sight of Tabatha's sweet assurance and quickly jerked his head towards the curry pot to avoid her noticing his complexion. Leon couldn't help, but crack a quick laugh at the situation only to have Tobias silence him by giving him a stern look with light shades of red on both sides of his cheeks. Leon responded with a cheeky smirk while rolling his eyes and placed the metal lid on top of the pot.

"Guess I'm going to starve tonight," Leon sighed as he lied down with his arms crossed behind his heads.

Tobias removed the metal lid again and scooped some curry out of the pot using the wooden spoon and poured the thick brown paste into his bowl.

"Just don't complain to me about getting hungry tomorrow when we release the seal."

"Are you seriously still going to eat that?" Leon asked in disbelief while looking at the bowl of brown goop Tobias was holding.

"You heard Tabatha, she just wasn't hungry, and besides wasting food is…" Tobias' trail of words were at a halt when he took a spoonful of his own curry into his mouth and immediately spat it out with Tabatha rushing into her bag for her water canteen to give to him.

"What'd I tell you? Not even the great Tobias of the Papal Knights is safe from his own cooking."

"Leon! Please help him; I think the curry was too spicy for him!" Tabatha demanded while digging through her bag while Tobias was rolling on the ground holding his throat and sticking out his tongue for some water.

To be honest the entire scene was hilarious to Leon, having to bite his lower lip to stop himself from laughing out loud.

The next morning…

"Ugh, damn it, I hate having the last shift of night watch…" Leon sighed as he sat at the edge of the cliff they were camping out on with his sheathed sword by his side.

Bellow Leon was nothing, but a huge fall to Martel knows where and when you'd get there. Behind him were Tabatha and Tobias sleeping near the campfire which was dwindling away from the lack of fuel. Tabatha started to stir and opened hers eyes to see Tobias sound asleep, but her back sore from the hard ground. Not being able to sleep again from her pain, she rose up and stretched her vertebrae and noticed Leon sitting on the edge. Leon heard footsteps coming from behind and looked to see Tabatha walking in his direction.

"You're still awake? You should really get some sleep, Taby," Leon said to her while she took a seat on the edge of the cliff right next to him.

"I don't mean to complain or anything, but it's just the cold hard ground really does a toll on your back and it's been keeping awake!" Tabatha exclaimed while putting both hands on her back and arching it.

Leon's eyes couldn't, but help wander towards Tabatha's bosom as it was sticking out while arching her back which Leon quickly looked away and concentrated on the dark abyss below him.

"Heh, you'll get use to roughing it out. Sooner or later you'll get more of a backbone for these situations, or lose what's left of it so you won't feel anything."

"Oh, I think I'm getting to that point," Tabatha replied while returning to her normal posture.

There was a brief moment of silence between the two, but it was partly due to Leon's lack of energy from not eating and getting the last shift of night watch.

"So… Taby? Is that what you always do?" Tabatha asked to break the silence.

"Hmm? Always what?" mumbled Leon with his eyes still fixated at the abyss.

"You know, shorten people's names and add a 'Y' to the end of it?"

Leon faced Tabatha's inquisitive face and lightly chuckled.

"Hee hee… it makes things a lot easier to say. Why? Do you not like it?" Leon said with a fake pout.

"N-no, I like it, a nice change of pace really, it's just… You know…" Tabatha started to look into the distance of the stone canyons of the temple. "Being the chosen all my life, I'm just so use to people treating me so formal and serious and I'm always expected to be the spitting image of perfection with all that's weighing on me."

"Ah… I know what you mean. Having to carry the burden of bringing hope back to a dying world is a lot to fathom I'd imagine."

"When you put it that way it only makes it worse…" Tabatha said while rubbing both sides of her temples.

Leon lightly chuckled and patted Tabatha's right shoulder.

"You don't have to carry that burden alone; Tobey and I will have your back no matter what, we're a team. You know? Like the three musketeers from those dusty old books!" He exclaimed while raising his fist in the air.

"Really? Because you two seem to fight a lot, I have my doubts you two will ever agree on anything," Tabatha commented with a hint of skepticism.

"Tobias? No, I don't hate him or anything, I know he means well when he's such a hard ass about everything. Though, he can go a little overboard with the whole 'honor' and 'knighthood' spiel."

"Despite not agreeing on everything, I can tell he really cares for you," Tabatha said with a genuine smile.

Leon felt a little uncomfortable and rubbed the back of his head, darting his eyes left and right looking for a response in his mind.

"Uh, yeah, I… I guess…" he said as he wrinkled his face fearing that Tabatha might get the wrong idea between him and Tobias.

Tabatha responded with a gentle laugh, but the laughter died out soon and her expression faded into melancholy and looked down into the deep abyss below them. Leon was quick to note the change in her expression.

"You okay Taby?" he asked with deep concern in his voice.

"Leon, can I tell you something?" She asked while looking back at Leon.

"Sounds serious, you sure you want to tell me?"

"Yeah, I do. Ever since our old school days you've always strike me as the kind of guy who can keep secrets," she added.

"School… Well that brings up a lot of unwanted and repressed memories… "

"S-sorry I didn't mean t-"

"Tabatha, Tabatha, it's okay." Leon sighed and rolled his eyes. "Just tell me what's eating you," Leon continued.

"Well, I… I worry for what might happen to you during this journey."

Leon's chest felt tense and could feel the hairs behind his neck stand up.

"Tabatha… What do you mean? Like what might happen when we release the seals? I'm fully aware of what to expect."

Tabatha did her best to restrain herself from talking anymore by pursing her lips together.

"You've got the two best swordsmen of the Papal Knights, I promise I won't die out and leave you. And when all of this is over you 'll be having your named cheered throughout all of Tethe'alla and we'll still be friends after all of this," Leon finished as his mouth curled into a light smile and raised his thumb towards Tabatha.

Tabatha eyes quickly darted away from Leon's and looked at the abyss again while twiddling with her thumbs.

"Umm… Say Leon? What do you plan on doing after all of this is over?" She inquired while still looking away as she placed her hands to the side to support her as she sat back.

"I dunno… Whatever the king or pope orders me to do I guess… either that or I just bum it out in the Lower district and blow a couple tunes on my harmonica."

"Harmonica?" Her eyes reverting back to Leon.

"Yeah, you know the small metal instrument that you blow into?" Leon asked as he whipped out the small metal rectangular instrument from the cloth pocket of his armor and held it in front of Tabatha's face.

"Oh, wow…. I've never actually seen nor heard of one before…" she said while scooting closer to Leon and fixating her eyes towards the harmonica on Leon's palm. "You think you could play a quick tune, Leon?" She asked while reverting her eyes back to Leon's face.

"I'm not use to an audience…" but as soon as he said that, Tabatha's lips started take shape into a pout.

"Ah, but what the hell?" he said while squirming in his place to adjust his distance from Tabatha and his sitting posture so that his legs were hanging from the cliff.

Once he was in the correct position he placed his mouth over the cool metals of the blow chambers and blew a gentle and steady note. Leon went on and meticulously blew each note from the wind of his breath which then reverberated throughout the Earth temple's acoustics, and eventually each correct note came together in a slow harmony. Tabatha's ears started to perch and her hazel eyes slowly closed halfway in trance to the peaceful melody.

As Leon got further into the song, like a sudden jolt he closed his eyes and suddenly slurred the notes while jerking his head to the rhythm. The sudden increased pace was a shock to Tabatha causing her half opened eyes to pry completely open. Leon's legs started to kick back and forth as they hung from the cliff putting more passion into the tune. Tabatha began to adapt to the change in the melody by gently rocking her head to the whimsical barrage of notes that echoed throughout the temple. Leon's rapid movement to the melody was at a halt and blew a long high pitched note as the morning sun from outside the temple started to rise and seep through the temple's cracks. The creeping yellow light radiated on both Leon and Tabatha, slowly casting their stretched shadows from behind them on to the cliff they were sitting on. Leon ended the long held note and returned to the slow and meticulous melody previously played. As soon as the morning sun settled into the sky, the gentle hums of the harmonica slowly concluded with a continuous high note which echoed and faded away into the distance of the temple.

Leon slowly took his mouth away from the instrument and shortly caught his breath in one huff.

He paused for a moment and looked at his harmonica that he was holding between his index fingers and thumbs. He noticed the glimmering shine the harmonica was giving off from the sunlight and cracked a light smirk. Leon silently reminisced about the memories the harmonica had attached to it and sighed as he stuffed his metal instrument back into his pocket.

"What a sad tune…" muttered Tabatha as she studied Leon.

"Sun's up, we should get going," Leon plainly said as he got up, avoiding to look at Tabatha and walked towards the campsite.

"Leon…" Tabatha silently said to herself as she watched him walk away while still sitting at the edge.

At the seal

The three arrived at the circular altar where a yellow aura radiated from above. Leon's eyes studied the rock formations that surrounded the altar; stalagmites protruded from the ground almost as if they were man made, and tiny fissures and blemishes were littered all over the floor.

"Alright Leon you know what do?" Tobias asked as his hands tightly grasped the leather hilt of his sheathed sword attached to his hip. He started to pull on the hilt creating the swift sound of his sword rubbing smoothly against the metal sheath. He then positioned his legs for battle, and finally whipped out a double edged sword with his right hand.

Leon nodded, using his left hand he tugged out his sword revealing a curved, slender, and single-edged blade. He then tossed aside his leather sheath to the floor, and took his battle stance. Tobias' eyes widened at the unfamiliar sword Leon whipped out, and felt a vain pulsate on his forehead and his temper flaring.

"What happened to the sword His Majesty knighted you with?" Tobias asked sharply while giving Leon a piercing stare.

Leon's fiery eyes for battle extinguished and closed half way, raising an eyebrow as his head slowly swiveled towards Tobias.

"Really?" He responded annoyed. "I mean right now; you're really going to make a mountain over a mole hill?" Leon added.

Tobias' left his stance and his left palm held his forehead.

"Your sword the King bestowed upon you, how the hell could you lose it?"

"First of all, I didn't lose it, I sold it to one of the traveling merchants from Mizuho we came across on our way here and-"

"YOU SOLD IT?" Tobias yelled stopping Leon midsentence. "That sword was given to you by the King as a symbol of your knighthood!" Tobias stammered while he took his hand from his forehead and stretched his index finger at Leon.

Leon started to roll his eyes as his stance started to ease away. "Symbol of my knighthood, really? As if this tin can I'm wearing doesn't already show that," Leon emphasized by pounding his steel chest plate with his right fist.

While Tobias and Leon were squabbling with each other, Tabatha watched the two from behind clueless on how to handle the two knights.

"Uh, guys we…" Tabatha tried to interject, but the two knights were too deeply engaged with their argument to notice her.

"You didn't let me finish, those long swords the king gives away don't suit my fighting style," Leon bitterly said while pointing the end pommel of his sword towards himself.

"You're supposed to use the Papal Knight's sword techniques!" Tobias screamed as he stomped his foot on the rock floor.

"What? So the Papal Knights are against individualism?"

"Martel help me, there's no point arguing with you!"

"So then why start an argument?"

As the two men continued on, Tabatha's hands curled up into fists and her nostrils started to flare as the yelling chipped away at her patience.

Finally, Tabatha could no longer hold in her frustrations and shrieked, "Will you two please just stop fighting for one second and listen?" Her voice bounced off the canyons of the temple, freighting the two iron clad men into submission.

For a moment both of the knights were wide eyed and mouths agape from Tabatha's break from her usual patient façade.

"Wow Tabatha… where did that come from?" Leon said amazed.

Once the moment completely registered with Tobias' brain, he faced his whole body towards Tabatha and bowed his blonde head repeatedly in an apologetic manner.

"Chosen Tabatha… My deepest apologies," Tobias said as the collar of his armor suddenly became unbearably hot.

After releasing her frustrations with that single shriek, Tabatha came back to her senses, and became red as a tomato from her realization of straying from the Goddess Martel's commandments of "never raising one's voice."

"Can we please just get on releasing the seal you two?" Tabatha murmured facing away from Tobias and Leon.

As the three of them were still speechless and unsure of what to do, the yellow radiating aura from the altar behind them started to flicker. The three quickly noticed from behind them and turned a complete one eighty to see what was going on. The bright aura kept flickering and the ground they stood on shook violently as the mini fissures that surrounded the altar grew, and came into center. Leon's sense balance went through the window as he stumbled from left to right while Tobias was kneeling on his knees and held onto the Chosen, covering her head from falling debris. When all the fissures stretched into the same spot, the ground's shaking slowly stopped.

Leon and Tobias got up and stood into battle stance as the shaking settled, and commanded Tabatha to keep her distance. The two knights eyed at the gathering of the fissures waiting for whatever it was to come on out. As they stood there with adrenaline pumping into their systems, Leon's forehead started to form a bead a sweat from the anticipation which slowly slithered down to the corner of his left eyebrow and fell off like a rain droplet as it splashed against the dusty ground.

A stone behemoth came bursting out of the center where all the fissures collided and the stalagmites that surrounded the altar shattered like glass, flying in all directions with blinding speed. Leon managed to swiftly dodge a majority of the explosion of sediments and the rest were easily deflected with a swing of his sword. Tobias on the other hand had stood his ground and blocked the razor like stones from hitting Tabatha, as a result his armor had bits and pieces of rock stabbed into it, and the left side of his face had minor cuts.

"Dammit that was close… Tobey, you alright?" Leon huffed as he eyed the massive amount damage Tobias' armor had sustained.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Tobias hissed from the tiny cuts on his face while releasing Tabatha from his grasp. "This is why we wear uncomfortable heavy suits of armor," He continued with a cocky smirk.

"Heh, say what you want, but I'm still not convinced these tin cans are good for anything," chuckled Leon.

Tabatha still on her knees, uncovered her hands from her head, and slowly opened her eyes to see Tobias' left portion of his face covered in tiny cuts.

"Tobias, your face…" she gasped as she reached up and brought him down to eye level. Tobias felt her soft and supple hands gently caress his cheeks, and he felt her breathing brushing against his lips. Tobias instantly flailed away from Tabatha into a flustered wreck, and this was enough encouragement for him to stand up and regain his stance.

Leon meanwhile was observing the earth behemoth as it was just standing in the exact spot where it revealed itself. Leon noticed its rough and coarse exterior, feeling a direct slash from his sword would do nothing, but only damage his own curved blade.

"Tobias, I don't think direct attacks will work on this big guy," Leon informed Tobias still keeping his stance and eyes towards the behemoth.

"Yeah I see your point. That rock body of his would just snap our swords if we just swing at him," Tobias said pointing his sword at the creature.

"Stick to projectile artes then?" Leon asked.

"Yeah, seems like that's what'll do the trick," Tobias assured Leon.

Then suddenly the earth below them violently shook again, but instead new fissures were formed around the stone behemoth. The shaking stopped, but this only made Leon even more anxious and expected something far worse to come. On each newly formed fissure a stone hand clawed their way out revealing more stone behemoths that guarded the seal.

"Crap…this isn't what I signed up for…" Leon sighed.

A/N: Alrighty, I'm trying to keep the chapters within a 4,000 to 6,000 word limit. If you guys feel if it's too short let me know, and also catch me on any grammar or spelling issues, but remember to be constructive when critiquing.