Disclaimer: I do not own Tales of Symphonia.

Chapter Two:Mist

If there is one thing I hated more then anything else in the world, it was my family's frequent trips to a place known as Latheon Gorge. It is an odd place, tucked away deep in the Kingdom Of Tethe'alla. It had many beautiful waterfalls and strange flowers that spouted out little gusts of wind. I personally didn't care for it but it seemed to fit the intellectual lifestyle of my uncle Yuan and his family.

You could always find Yuan somewhere deep in his home, hidden by the his millions of books, reading or writing down his thoughts. He had the mind of a poet, a scholar, a rational thinker. However, his wife was the opposite. She preferred the outdoors as apposed to the indoors, watering her many gardens and talking to her beloved plants. She had the mind of a creative, a free-spirited, a clam soul. Despite these differences, the two stuck to each other like a caterpillar sleeping away in a cannon.

The couple, despite having had helped my father rise us after our mother's death, had a child of their own. She was younger then me, only fifteen as a matter of fact, but I truly believed that she bested me in many ways. She was gorgeous for someone her age, with broad shoulders and lavender hair that fell in all the right places. Her face was not as childish as it had been a year ago, craving away into a sculptured beauty.

And she like to laugh a lot. Always to smile. This aspect reminded me of Aunt Martel- obviously mother passed on to daughter. Like most people in our family, my cousin was a charismatic person. People felt right at home when they talked to her. I felt the same way. However, my cousin wasn't without her flaws. Despite her warm aura, she could be very spiteful of a situation and too harsh at times. Still, I felt a little jealous of her at times.

Today was one of those days my family went to visit Latheon Gorge. It wasn't because we were seeing my cousin that made me so weary of these trips- it was the fact that it took almost half the day to hike up to their house. The Gorge was dangerous place, easily you could slip of the edge and fall into the rocky bottom below. Monsters also liked to roam the area, especially at night, which only increased everyone's senses. We were usually accompanied by a several soldiers whenever we came here.

Why uncle Yuan had chosen such a hazardous place to live was truly beyond my comprehension. My father had once explained that Yuan had preferred an isolated life, away from the hustle and bustle of the cities.

"Then why doesn't he come visit us for a change?" I had once complained, exhausted from climbing.

Lloyd had laughed quite openly at this, whereas my father had seemed to not want to scorn his brother for his difficult ways, but had let out a few humorless chuckles.

The day was hot. Extremely hot. And with all the water surrounding us, it only made the air more humid then before. I wiped the sweat off my face and gazed up at the long path before me. I groaned when I realized that we were even half way to the top. My brother patted my shoulder sympathetically and whispered, "Think of it this way Sheena, at least your getting some exercise done!"

I rolled my eyes, shoving him to the side. "I am much stronger then you!"

Lloyd smiled. "That's not what I meant! Some of the girls at the palace are saying you have gained a couple of pounds!"

"Oh goodness, is this one of your 'you're fat' insults?" I questioned, offering my hand in to help him back to his feet.

"Maybe…" He averted my gaze, dodging my hand and slipped away behind our father. The two began to talk about the alarming agriculture growth within both kingdoms.

I rised my eyebrows, a bit irritated by my brother. Then without bothering to consult either my family or guard, I started to climb ahead, allowing my thoughts to drift back to forth. They drifted from my usually thoughts- my mother, father, brother, my childhood friend, my future. But at this moment, I thought of my best friend and the peculiar conversation we had exchanged before I had left that morning.

I had been getting ready, brushing my hair and pulling on my most casual and comfortable clothing when I had heard a knock on my door. I remember saying something along the lines of , "one moment," before I pulled on my shirt and rushed to the door.

Neil, accompanied by my hand-maid, had presented themselves before me. He cast a nervous glance over his shoulder at my hand-maid, her lips pursed. "Well, there she is boy! Tell her what you needed to say!"

Neil had flushed slightly, not daring to say anything in front of her. She was a boisterous, middle-age woman with fly away brown hair and a snarl that could give one nightmares. I had sighed, gripped his arm and pulled him into the room and saying to my maid, "Thank you, Frieda. I can handle it from here."

She shrugged her massive shoulders and took off to go shout at a two adolescents girls who were chatting away happily but unwittingly, neglecting to finish their work.

Neil had made himself right at home, sitting on my bed without thinking about what he was doing. I didn't mind it in the slightest however. He had been doing this since we were little kids. Usually, he would sit openly, feet flat on the floor, fashioning a glowing grin. But today, he had sat with his legs crossed, mumbling under his breath, dark shadows under his eyes.

I now had noticed how pale he looked and how much he was shaking. Something was wrong. Very wrong. I had dropped whatever I had been holding and went to his side, wrapping my arms around his shoulders. "What happened?" I had questioned.

"I-I-I…." He had begun. "I don't know…All I know is that…when my father and I left the castle yesterday…we came home to find our village…to…to…" He had fallen silent, unable to say anymore

"To what?" I had encouraged, wanting him to spit it out as quickly as he could. If he had continued to be this nervous, I was afraid what would happen in the aftermath.

"It was ghastly…" He had concluded. I had knitted my eyebrows together, confused. Pulling away, I had peered into his face, to see if this was other one of his horrible jokes. It wasn't.

"I don't understand…" I had said, very slowly. "Ghastly?"

"Everyone…was…dead…" Neil had placed a hand over his mouth, got up and ran to the trash bucket closet to him. I heard him wrenching into the contents of the object, feeling both disturbed and agitated. What was wrong with him?

He had continued like this for almost a full five minutes, the same two thoughts running inside my head. A whole village was wiped out in one day? What had he truly mean by 'ghastly'?

Since my family had not been planning to leave for quite some time, I had allowed Neil to use my bathroom in order to wash up. As he did so, I ordered one of the passing maids to fetch some clothing for him. I had not dared to explain why. Neil came out of the bathroom almost an hour later. He had not look any better then before, but at least he was getting a bit of color back into his face. He seemed to be finally coming out of his stage of shock.

"Alright…Neil…" I had began, in small voice. "If you ready, do you want to explain to me what's going on?"

He had nodded vaguely, guiding himself back onto my bed. Then he had went on to say how his father and him had finished with their work the night before and had gone back to the village. When they got there, they had noticed that an odd mist seem to have fallen over it but they couldn't say where it had come from. The village was not near any water and the distant mountains were to far away to have an effect on them.

His father had told Neil to wait by the gate and not leave. Neil had listened to his father's precaution only grudgingly, considering he was of age now to have too. But he had felt afraid. Something felt eerie. Neil related to her how he had sat there against the fence, fearing what his father might find.

A pure scream of terror had shattered the night only a few moments later and Neil had rushed inside to see what had happened. The whole village was laying on the ground. No bodies moved or even twitched. No one was breathing. It appeared as if everyone was dead.

I couldn't say what the implications of this story were. It terrified me as much as it had terrified Neil and after he had said his last bit, I had not wanted to hear anymore on the subject. He understood, saying in a low whisper that even now my father was being told the same story by his own parent.

My mind seem to drift back to the present. I wondered if my father truly knew. And if he did, what was he going to about it?

The most likely option seemed to be to talk to Yuan, his most trusted ally. This was why her father had probably deiced to go along with the trip. And if he did know anything, then he had chosen to keep it secret, not wanting to scare Lloyd or I. I respected his decision by the not pestering him about it.

We reached the top of the Gorge later in the day, beaten and sweaty. We were enthusiastically greeted by Martel and her daughter, Presea. Presea was holding a bouquet of wild flowers and handed them to me as a gift of welcome. I smiled a little, my face red and moist, accepting them as an invitation to go and catch up with one other. I hugged aunt Martel in greeting before heading off with Presea. I heard my father asking her where uncle Yuan was. I wondered if my suspicions were true.

Presea and I stopped by a small stream nearby, where slashed my face with cool water. I took off my shoes and soaked my weary feet into the pool, allowing my back to lay down on the hard earth, my head resting on my cousin's lap. She took to playing with my hair and questioning me lightly on life at home. I answered her lazily, about to drift off into sleep.

The waterfall was a magnificent sound. Crashing it's way down the mountain and hitting the water below. The birds sung peacefully, chirping the day away. There were animals that prowled the area but you could hear their light footsteps. Trees rippled with the wind, leaves shuddering into the sky. I could understand why my uncle loved this place. It was much more relaxing then the city.

I woke up a few hours later. Nighttime had fallen and I found myself in the guest bedroom. I looked around the room and saw Presea sitting in a distant chair, reading a book by candlelight.

I yawned, sitting up and looked at her. "What time is it?"

"Eight." She responded. "Mother is finishing dinner, we'll be eating in a little bit."

I nodded, stretching my arms above my head and yawing once more. "Where's Lloyd?"

"With my mother. He said that dad and uncle Kratos kicked him out. He's kinda upset."

"Did he say why the kicked him out?"

"Uncle Kratos had something really important to talk about apparently. Lloyd didn't seem to know to much about it…"

I sat there, understanding what neither Lloyd nor Presea did not. So, her father had known the mysterious tragedy that had befallen Neil and his father. My heart ached a little at the thought of Neil. I was hoping he was alright.

Dinner was announced and everyone but the two heads of family ate a happily, home-made meal. The two men were in the other room, discussing something in very low voices. "They have been in there for hours…" Martel glanced at the door, worried. "What on earth can they be talking about?"

"Something dumb, I bet." Lloyd answered, taking a bite out of his chicken.

"Don't be so rude!" I scorned, piercing my brother with a glare. Presea giggled but Martel didn't seem to notice at all.

After dinner, it was an eventful clean-up with Lloyd and Presea starting a competition to see who could wash the most dishes, while Martel and I prepared the leftover for Kratos and Yuan whenever they finished talking.

Martel frowned, "I am sorry. I just don't trust them to be in there all night. Sheena, would you be a dear and give them their dinner? It would make me feel a lot better knowing they had least have some food nearby."

"Of course, auntie." I smiled and she smiled back, saying she was going to bed. Lloyd and Presea, on the other hand, were going to continue their noisy competition back in the guest room, with a series of card games which I promised to join when I was done.

I carried the dishes over to the door and was about to knock when Yuan's voice caught my attention. "Kratos, you are not thinking straight. How is it possible for Tethe'alla to have done such a thing?"

"The entire village was killed, Yuan! But no trace of blood or anything! And their magic is far more advanced then our kingdom! What if they sent a magician or something?" My father sounded older then he was, stressed about the entire situation.

"Think, brother, I am begging you. If Tethe'alla wanted to attack, they would have done it a long time ago! They might have killed my entire family first just as an excuse to start a war!"

Kratos was silent, but still not convinced. "Then what did cause this?"

"We've all ready concluded that the mist was what probably triggered by someone close to the village…" My uncle sighed. "I can't give you an answer now. Let me do some research…I'll send a scientific team over to the village and see if they can find anything…but please don't do anything rash."

"Alright, I give my word."

"Good. Now just to be safe, I suggest you examine that man and his son and make sure they weren't affected anything.."

There was a clatter and a banged as I dropped the dishes and they landed to the ground. I hadn't thought of that. Had Neil been pale and vomited, not because of shock, but because he had grown affected by whatever had doomed his people? The realization hit me like someone throwing a rock against my head. I had hugged him...I had tocuhed him before he was clean...then I had touched all those others...Martel...Presea...I had even come close to holding my brother's hand.

Could I also have been effected in some small way?

Author's Note:

Weird chapter…O.o…aw well…hope it was a good update!

Preview:

What is happening to my body? I feel sicker and weaker everyday…and it's not just me, but Neil as well. And my cousin and Martel…we are all growing feeble as the mist continues to flow all over the country…what is happening? Who is behind this epidemic?

ANY GRAMMAR MISTAKES- Please let me know!