This is a crossover between Tales of Symphonia and Tales of the Abyss. I'm still working on my plot outline, but I thought I'd go ahead and post this anyway to sort of test the waters and get some feedback. Since this story has more to do with Symphonia than Abyss, I've posted it here. It seems logical, then, to assume the reader has some background knowledge of the plot of Symphonia. I shall attempt to assume the reader has no knowledge of the events in Abyss, so those should get more explanation. I'd like you, the reader, to let me know if I make an Abyss reference that I don't explain well enough, if my characterization is off, and if you have any plot ideas. (And of course if I've messed up my spelling or grammar anywhere.)

Thanks in advance,

Resident-Bishounen.

Chapter 2 - Seek out the Chosen
Version 1.1

It was a warm, sunny day when Lloyd and his friends arrived back in Mizuho. Another summon spirit in the bag! Lloyd couldn't wait to go after the next one. There were so many neat things to see: what the sorcerer's ring would do in the spirit's lair, what it looked like, how strong it was… but first, they needed to know where it was. And so, to find out, they went to see the vice-chief to find out. They found him, as usual, in his house, sitting in the centre chamber. It was the one place that never seemed to change; everything always neatly in its place, the vice-chief seated in the centre of the room as he conducted meetings. One thing that had changed was the vice-chief himself. He looked worried.

"Sheena! Everyone! I'm glad to see you," he said, exhaling sharply.

"What's up, chief?" Sheena took a seat on the floor facing the vice-chief. The others, likewise, seated themselves around her.

"We've been hearing reports of a dangerous man in the Meltokio area that's supposedly after the Chosen." The vice-chief explained. "I've been worried."

"Dangerous man?" Regal asked. "Can you give us any more details?"

"Well, the only information we've been able to find are just rumours, but they say he collects fresh corpses from battlefields and uses them in experiments to revive the dead. He's supposed to have a whole army of soldiers he's revived that way. He's called 'Jade the Necromancer'. That's all we were able to find out." The room grew quiet as the vice-chief spoke, and remained that way for some moments afterwards.

"Which chosen does he want? We've got two," Lloyd said, breaking the silence. He sat there, arms folded, brows furrowed in confusion.

"Well, this is Tethe'alla, so it's safe to say he's probably after Zelos." Raine held her chin in her hand, quickly becoming lost in thought.

"ME?!" Zelos jumped onto his feet. "What could someone like that possibly want with me?" Sheena shot him a disapproving stare.

"I was thinking the same thing." She said.

"Ouch. You didn't have to put it like that." Zelos pouted, collapsing ungracefully back onto the floor. The room went quiet again. It was certainly depressing news. Between the Desians, the papal knights, the renegades, and Cruxis, Lloyd was starting to lose track of all the different people that were after them. And now they had to watch out for this necromancer guy too? This was too much.

"So, all we have to do is track him down and beat him up, right?" he said, grinning. "No problem!"

"Well, it'd be hard to do that without any reliable information on him, but I do agree it'd probably better to confront this Jade on our terms, rather than his." Raine's voice was quiet, serious. The possibility of a difficult fight in the near future was still very real.

"The first thing we should do is to find out more about him." Regal sat cross-legged on the floor, his arms stretched out in front of him. Lloyd sprang to his feet. The others around him nodded their agreement.

"He's supposed to be in Meltokio, right? So then it's settled. We're going to Meltokio!"


Lloyd replaced the manhole cover once everyone had made it through. After an uneventful trip, it was now time to get back to the task at hand; track down this Jade the Necromancer and find out what he wanted with Zelos. Zelos had a ton of questions he wanted to ask. Why did he want him? Was he with Cruxis or the Desians? Had they given up on Colette? Or was he working for the king and the papal knights?

"So I guess the first thing is to start asking around, huh?" Lloyd asked. Zelos stretched his arms out over his head and took a step forward.

"Just leave that to me," he said, making his way over to a middle-aged woman, hurrying her way home after having stopped at the item shop. He stopped directly in front of her path, so that she was forced to stop.

"Hey there, beautiful. Where are you going in such a hurry?" he said, giving her his usual flirty smile. The lady back stepped and let out a gasp before she looked up at Zelos and realized who he was.

"Chosen one!" her eyes lit up, unmistakeably the reaction of a woman immensely relieved. "Thank goodness you're here. It's horrible -"

"- I know. Jade the Necromancer, right?" He raised a hand to interrupt her.

"So, you're really here to deal with him?" The woman clutched her shopping to her chest. Zelos nodded, striking what he thought to be a dashing and heroic pose.

"That's right; just leave it to The Incredible Zelos!" he bragged. "But, uh, I could use your help."

"Anything, Chosen One!"

"Can you tell me anything about him? What he looks like?" he asked. The woman dropped her arms to her sides, her shopping bag hanging from a few fingers on her left hand. She shook her head.

"I'm sorry, I can't help you. Nobody knows what he looks like. I really must be going..." with that, the woman hurried on her way, rounding a corner and vanishing out of sight.

"Now what do we do?" asked Genis. It was obvious he was disappointed that the lead didn't pan out.

"Someone must be spreading these rumours. If we track them down, we should be able to find the Necromancer." Raine replied. In retrospect, it seemed kind of obvious. Why hadn't Zelos thought of that?

"If we split into groups, we'll be able to cover more ground." said Presea.


Zelos teamed up with Lloyd, Genis and Sheena, and the four of them decided to try and track down the Necromancer by visiting Zelos' favourite spots around the city. After all, Zelos was the target, right? Zelos knew that if he were out to get himself, those would be the first places he'd look. With that in mind, the first place they looked was Zelos' favourite bar. The latest terror spreading through the city didn't seem to have hurt the bar's business any. It was as busy and bustling as ever, with the after-work crowd. Friends were crowded around tables, refilling pitchers and chatting loudly. A few women sat in a row along the left side of the bar, flirting with the bartender. Most noticeable, though, was the person sitting by themselves on the right, sipping liquor alone. It was someone with long, light brown hair, wearing what was either a jacket or a dress. Zelos couldn't be sure, exactly, from the far side of the bar, but in he was more inclined to believe it was the latter.

"Hey, who's that? I don't think I've seen her before." Zelos whispered to the other three.

"Who, the one sitting off on their own?" asked Lloyd.

"Oooh.. I get it. She's sitting by herself. Nobody would come to a bar by themselves if they thought a killer was on the loose!" Genis whispered.

"Exactly." Zelos agreed, and the two of them looked expectantly over at Lloyd. Unfortunately, he had that vacant look to his face.

"I don't get it... she's not afraid of the guy that's after Zelos?" Lloyd asked.

"Exactly. So if she's not afraid, that means she might know something that the other people don't." Sheena explained, not quite as patiently than Zelos thought he would have been able. Sure, Lloyd was pretty thick, but there was no point stressing over it... it worked for him. To his credit, Lloyd managed to get the point this time.

"Then we should talk to her!" he said, forgetting his internal volume control. A few patrons sitting at a table nearby turned around and gave him dirty looks. Zelos wasted no time in taking a few steps forward, calling back to the other three.

"Leave this to me!" He strutted his way across the bar and over to the alleged-female, leaning over her shoulder. "Hey there, beauty. You must be new in town. It's dangerous for a pretty lady to hang out in places like this alone, these days." He put a hand on her back, and smiled warmly. The woman said nothing, but looked up at him out of the corners of her eyes.

"That idiot's going to get himself in trouble if he goes at it that way!" Zelos could hear Sheena whisper from the far side of the room.

"C-calm down. Let's just give him a chance." said Lloyd. Zelos guessed that he was probably holding Sheena back, from the sound of things. He ignored them and continued.

"They say this weirdo called Jade the Necromancer is in this area, and that he uses human bodies in weird experiments. FRESH bodies. Even if you're new in town, you have to have heard the rumours by now." The woman put down her empty glass, and turned to face him. Her expression changed to one of amusement; Zelos found it kind of creepy.

"Of course I've heard them. I'm the one who started the rumours, after all." Zelos was so surprised by the voice that answered him, he practically fell over backwards. It was decidedly... tenor. It was a man! When this was all over, the first thing he would do would be to get his eyes checked. The man turned away long enough to pay for his drinks, and then stood up.

"I- I think my friends will want to talk to you." said Zelos.