Tales of Symphonia

Tales of Symphonia

Life After Death

Author note: Sorry this chapter took so long. I have an irreversible case of laziness, and there has been college work galore for me to do. Anyway, thanks so much for the reviews I got from the past two chapters!

I, unfortunately, do not own any part of ToS…if I did, the ToS 2 that is coming out would NOT be for the WII! (And there would be a movie. )

Also, there is one very big spoiler in this chapter, and a few smaller ones that are less noticeable. I suggest that if you haven't reached the part where Kratos and Yuan speak to Lloyd outside Altessa's house, you don't read any farther into this story until you have!

Chapter 2: Long Road at Dawn

Sereph sat silently in the front entry of the inn she had stayed at the night before. It was still dark outside; the sun had not yet risen to bush the skies with its golden glow, but the light was slowly creeping through the windows. The singer sat there, wondering if she had made the right decision…if she would indeed be of any use on the Chosen's journey, or if she would fail yet again at saving another innocent woman from an untimely demise. Lifting her head toward the rooms above, she heard the sound of movement as the others prepared themselves for their journey. The first door shut, and she looked up once more. Ah, there they were…the two men of the party, no doubt the brawn of the group, always in the front lines. Sighing, she waited, face turned toward the front door once more as they descended the stairs. She had been ready to go for the past three hours when she had finished playing at the pub, nonetheless, she had gone upstairs and waited quietly in her bed, thinking over what was to be done if the Chosen's bodyguards decided she was not worth keeping around.

Lloyd had shouldered his pack long before Kratos saw fit to move from his position in the chair he had been sitting in most of the night, the book he had been reading still held before his face, eyes still scanning the pages. The young man tapped his foot impatiently as he stared at the auburn haired man. Finally his brown-red eyes looked up from his book at the young man as he raised an eyebrow. Looking out the window he finally seemed to notice that the sun was beginning to rise, and stood up closing the book. Picking up his pack from beside the wall, he walked out the door without a word to Lloyd. Rolling his eyes, the young man followed him into the hall and down the steps. Watching the mercenary, Lloyd noticed that his attention was drawn to the bottom of the steps, and he followed the man's gaze. It didn't take long for the young man to notice what had caught the stoic man's attention; the woman, Sereph, sat silently at the bottom of the steps on one of the benches, her instrument slung over her back, her pack sitting beside her on the floor. "Good morning sirs," she said with a smile, turning her face toward them. Kratos merely grunted slightly in reply. Shaking her head Sereph sighed and pulled back her long silvery blue hair, easily braiding it and tying it at the end with a crimson colored ribbon that shown brightly against her hair color. As Lloyd came up beside her, he smiled slightly.

"Um, hey…I'm Lloyd."

"Sereph," she replied with a kind smile in the direction of the young man. "It's a pleasure to meet you Lloyd."

"Heh…same here. By the way, sorry about Kratos….he's well…" he said, running a hand absently through his hair. Lloyd didn't quite know how to finish the sentence, especially since his new sword mentor was glaring at him.

"Kratos. So that's his name…well, even if it displeases you to have me come along, it's still a pleasure to meet you." Sereph said, holding back a chuckle. She could just imagine the sour look on the man's face at her words…most unkind people reacted that way when faced with kindness…and she enjoyed their reactions, even if she couldn't see them. There was the sound of more bustling at the top of the stairs and the sound of footsteps coming down them toward those who were already waiting. Rain huffed slightly as she passed Kratos, seeing the blind woman waiting on the bench. She hated the fact that the woman was coming along, and she would try her best to talk Colette into leaving the woman at Izoold. For once she had found herself in complete agreement with the untrustworthy mercenary, and even wished that he had been as persistent in leaving the woman behind as he had in leaving Genis and Lloyd behind in Isalea. As Genis and Colette came down the steps they both smiled, seeing Sereph was ready to go.

"Good morning Sereph!" Colette chirped happily as she trotted toward Lloyd and the woman, followed closely by Genis.

"Good morning Chosen," she replied with a bright smile. "Who's with you?"

"Oh no! I forgot you were blind! I completely forgot to introduce you! I'm so sorry!"

"No need to apologize. If you forgot for even a moment that I was blind then I am happy," Sereph replied with a happy look on her face.

"O-okay! Well…you met Lloyd and Kratos already I think…then there's Genis, he's the youngest, and he's our mage….then there's Professor Raine Sage, she's our healer and Genis' older sister…she's also our teacher!" Colette said bouncing on her toes excitedly. Sereph chuckled and shook her head at the girl's excitement. Perhaps it wouldn't be such a long journey to the next town after all? Perhaps…just perhaps…there was hope yet.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Genis, Miss Sage."

"Raine." She replied, rather testily.

"Um…excuse me…Raine…" Sereph corrected herself, trying not to show the fact that Raines tone practically burned a hole through her. It seemed like it would be a long journey after all…. there was quite a bit of work to be done. Chewing on the inside of her lip for a moment, Sereph decided that she wouldn't be the one they were waiting on. Standing, she picked up her pack and her staff and walked outside. Seeing her walk out the door before any of them earned Sereph a small amount of respect from Lloyd. Perking up a bit from his morning moodiness, Lloyd shot a grin at Kratos, who's face…for once…held a mixture of disbelief and curiosity? Catching Lloyd's gaze, his face swiftly returned to a mask of calm as he too walked out, followed closely by Lloyd and the others. Sereph was no where to be seen from the front of the inn, and it wasn't until they reached the gates of the city that they found her speaking in a friendly manner to the town guards. As the group passed her, Sereph took her leave of the men there and followed along.

At first the group moved slowly, not sure if the blind woman would be able to keep up, but she seemed proficient at moving swiftly without injuring herself, and was even able to avoid most trees and bushes once they left the desert. It wasn't long; however, until the first monsters of the day decided to pay them a visit, sending the group into a flurry of motion.

"Sereph, stay in the back, behind Raine!" Kratos ordered as he and Lloyd dashed toward the wolves, just as a large wasp joined the fray. Snorting, Sereph started chanting as she stood behind Raine and Genis; she wouldn't stand aside and be useless. As one of the wolves grabbed hold of Lloyd's arm, its teeth sinking into his skin, Sereph pulled mana in from the world around her in a rush before it swept around the others in a wind of healing and the wolves let out a yelp of pain. As Lloyd was freed from the wolf's teeth, a loud "Demon Fang!" was heard as Kratos leapt at the offending creature, dealing the deathblow, just as Genis was stung by the wasp.

"Don't get in my way!" he shouted at it and batted it away as Lloyd darted toward it, sword raised. Raine tossed Genis an antidote as he chanted his spell, healing him of the wasp's poison. Lloyd leapt into the air slashing at the wasp, which threatened to interrupt Genis' spell once more, knocking it to the side. Sereph, who had been chanting once again, thrust her hand out in the direction of the wasp.

"Banish!" she commanded, a silver glyph forming under her as the wasp seemed to implode before vanishing.

"Ground Dasher!" Genis shouted, just in time to realize his target was already gone. Lloyd and Raine blinked at her for a moment before Kratos shouted at Lloyd to help him with one of the two remaining wolves. Regaining her composure, Raine shouted "First Aid" as she healed Kratos slightly from the bites the wolves had given him. Chanting again, Sereph turned just enough to face the fight. As Kratos and Lloyd were fending off one of the wolves, and Genis and Rain were busy with their spells, the second wolf darted after Sereph. As the wolf they were fighting died, Kratos and Lloyd turned to see the last wolf snarling at Sereph, who had drawn a pair of daggers, preparing to defend herself.

"Sereph! Don't move! We'll be right there!" Lloyd called, but Kratos knew they wouldn't get there in time. The wolf lunged at the blind woman and she leapt into the air, silver-blue hair flying about her face as it came out of her braid. As she came plummeting down, her daggers poised like an eagle's talons, she slashed at the wolf and with three swift movements it was dead. Landing in a crouch, Sereph stood and cleaned her daggers carefully and sheathed them. Luckily she could not see the others faces or she would have blushed with embarrassment at their dumbstruck looks.

"S-Sereph? H-how did you DO that?" Colette asked, astounded, as she dropped down from the tree she had been hiding, as per Kratos' instructions. Sereph jumped slightly, spinning around.

"Oh! Well…I've had quite a bit of practice, and I have quite a bit of luck I suppose." She replied with a wary smile. Kratos grunted slightly before striding over to Colette to make sure she was all right.

"I don't know who, or what, you are…but I'll find out." He muttered as he walked past Sereph, who appeared unconcerned about his statement. The rest of the day went on in much the same way until they reached Izoold.

"So how old are you?"

"Old enough."

"Isn't a Sereph an angel?"

"No, that's Seraph."

"Do you like to sing?"

"If I didn't would I sing for work?"

"Why does your hair look blue sometimes?"

"Why does your voice sound like Kratos' sometimes?"

"It does not!" Lloyd and Kratos replied instantly, causing Sereph to laugh.

The conversation had been going on for the past two hours, with Lloyd asking questions incessantly, and Sereph answering them without truly answering them. Both Kratos and Raine were amazed at how tolerant the woman was with Lloyd and his annoying questions, but she didn't seem to mind them one way or the other. As they walked into the town, Lloyd's questions stopped as he became more interested in the quiet seaside village than his torment of Sereph.

"We need to find a boat that will take us to Palmacosta," Kratos stated, "and hopefully before the sun sets" he added, gazing up at the swiftly setting sun. Sereph sighed and carefully made her way to a low wall that she discovered not far off, sitting on it. Kratos turned at the soft sound and tilted his head to the side slightly wondering what the problem was.

"Sereph?" he asked simply, his questioning tone making his confusion obvious.

"I promised you that you only had to escort me to the next town, did I not?" she asked, tilting her head to the side as well. Colette and Lloyd both stopped dead in their tracks, turning to look back at the woman. Genis gaped at Sereph's words and nearly ran into the back of Lloyd as he walked behind him. Raine nodded slightly and started to usher the children away toward the docks.

"Yes, you did indeed." She replied.

"No! We can't just leave you here!" Colette cried, looking pleadingly between Kratos, Raine, and Sereph. "Please? I want her to come also. She's so nice, and she's really helpful! It's not like she's stopping us, or holding us back in any way!"

"Yeah. Colette's right. We said we'd give her a chance, didn't we? Well, she's proved herself to me, and I'm pretty sure Genis feels the same." Lloyd confirmed, while the younger boy nodded, looking over at Kratos for his opinion. The older man sighed and closed his eyes for a moment as he thought, running a hand absently through his hair as he thought over his answer.

"Yes, she's been an asset so far, but it will be more and more dangerous as we go along."

"I understand that. I am skilled enough to keep up with you Master Mercenary." Sereph replied with a light chuckle.

"Then you come at your own risk." Kratos responded and started walking toward the docks once more.

It didn't take long for the group to realize that there was no ship in the town that would cross the ocean to take them to Palmacosta, which meant a dangerous journey through forest, plains, and mountain passes where the monsters were stronger than any they had encountered thus far. As the sun finally sank below the horizon the small party set about making camp a few miles outside of the town. Genis was making rice balls for dinner as Lloyd, Colette and Raine sat about the fire. Kratos leaned against a tree a few feet away as he sharpened his sword and Sereph set out her bedroll. Genis doled out the rice balls and they started to eat in silence…before Colette decided to speak.

"Sereph? Were you always blind?"

"No. Not always. When I was younger I wasn't. Why?"

"Well…" Colette began, not sure how to say what she wanted. "I wanted to know if you could imagine what we looked like if we described ourselves to you."

"Yes. I think I could." Sereph replied with a smile.

"Good! Because, well…we all know how you look, but, you don't know anything about us…not even how we look." Colette said, sounding slightly upset at the idea. Kratos looked up from what he was doing, frowning slightly.

"If you want to describe yourselves, that's fine with me. If not…that's alright as well."

"Alright! Um…I have blue eyes…long, straight, blond hair…I'm almost a foot shorter than you…and, well, I've been told I'm pretty." Colette said excitedly, causing Sereph to chuckle.

"Colette? Would you mind if I see you…my way?" Sereph asked tentatively. Colette tilted her head slightly.

"Sure…um, what do I do?" she asked, before the older woman beckoned her over. The others watched silently as Sereph carefully ran her fingertips over the Chosen's face, a small smile playing on her lips as she did so.

"They're right you know. You're a very pretty young woman." Sereph said with a nod, and Colette giggled slightly, sitting down again not far away.

"Okay…who's next?" she asked excitedly, and Genis automatically raised his hand.

"Me! I'm Genis…um, I'm about a head shorter than Colette, I have white hair and blue eyes, I'm an elf, and my sister is Raine," he said with a smile and came over to Seraph, kneeling close by so she could feel his face as well. Smiling, the blind woman thanked him and turned her head to face the direction of Lloyd and Raine. Colette did the same, and urged one of them to describe themselves; surprisingly it was Raine who spoke up first.

"I'm Raine, Genis' older sister. I have white hair, blue eyes, and am an elf." She stated blandly.

"Come on professor! Come here, aren't you going to let her feel your face too?" Colette asked innocently.

"No…I'll just stay here if you don't mind Sereph." Raine said stuffily. Sereph shook her head slightly.

"It's alright Raine. I wouldn't want to force you." Colette sighed and looked over at Lloyd next. The teen shrugged and smiled.

"I'm Lloyd…um….I have brown hair and brown eyes. I'm about a head taller than Colette. I wear a red jacket…um…I was raised by a Dwarf…and uh….I don't know what else to say…" the boy ended, feeling slightly embarrassed.

"That's fine Lloyd…I don't find it easy to describe myself either." Sereph replied, casting him a bright smile. "Will you allow?" she asked, holding out a hand toward him, to see if he would allow her to touch his face. Lloyd scratched the back of his head for a moment as he thought it over.

"Um…no thanks Sereph…that's a little strange even for me…" he replied honestly. Seraph nodded and turned her face in the direction of Kratos, who had yet to speak that evening.

"And you Kratos? Will you describe yourself to me?" the woman asked tentatively. Of the entire group, this man remained the most mysterious to her, even though she had a small idea of who, or WHAT, he might be.

"I think I'll pass…" the man said with a huff and returned to his stoic state of brooding as he examined the edge of his sword. Sereph simply sighed mentally and shrugged a tad, but Colette frowned at the mercenary.

"Kratos! Even Professor Raine described herself…what harm is there in…"

"No. It's alright Colette. He doesn't trust me enough yet, and that's fine. As I've said before, I won't force anyone to do something against their wishes when it's something as simple as this." Sereph stated and lay back against the bed roll.

It wasn't long until Raine informed the others that it was time to get some sleep. Kratos offered to take the first watch of the night and sat in the shadows just outside the campfire. Sereph lay silently, her mind wandering as she lay on her side and watched the familiar green glow that surrounded the plants around them. Her eyes moved as she spotted small dots of color as bugs flew through the air around them, and the brighter red glow of a wolf that prowled along the tree line before deciding it was wisest not to attack the group and wandering away once more. It wasn't long before she heard the steady sounds of sleeping people behind her, and knew that the others must have fallen asleep…until she heard quiet footsteps approaching her. She lay still and waited.

"Um… Sereph? Are you…still awake?" came a quiet voice from behind her.

"Yes Lloyd, I'm awake. What is it? Are you alright?" she asked, sitting up.

Kratos had been on his way back to the camp from patrolling the edge of the clearing the group slept in when he heard voices. Stopping just outside the light of the fire, he watched as Lloyd and Sereph sat speaking to one another. After a moment Lloyd closed his eyes and Seraph felt his face gently, a small smile appearing on her face. So, Lloyd had decided to allow the woman to touch him after all. The angel silently wondered why he hadn't even described himself to her. What harm could come of it? Had he truly become that paranoid about trusting others that his son would prove braver than himself in a matter such as this? He sighed slightly and resigned himself to what he would do. As Sereph finished her probing of Lloyd's features, the two spoke again and they both laughed as stood and walked back to his bedroll and lay down once more. The mercenary watched silently for several minutes as Sereph sat there seeming to gaze at the fire. Perhaps she could still see the light it cast?

"Why don't you come out of the shadows Kratos? There's no need to hide from me is there?" came the soft voice of the blind singer. Kratos looked back to her, to see that her face was turned directly toward him as if she were looking at him…and he had the odd feeling that she was, somehow.

"No. I suppose not," he replied, and walked toward her, sitting down not far from the silver-blue haired woman.

"You wanted to talk about something?" she asked simply, tilting her head to the side slightly. He noticed that her hair was longer than he had first thought, and wondered, mildly, when it had been set free of its braid.

"I saw you speaking to Lloyd, and began to wonder why I hadn't described what I looked like to you."

"I'm sure you have your reasons. Many mercenaries have reasons not to trust others, I assumed you feel similarly, so I didn't press the issue." Seraph said quietly as she turned her face back to the fire, welcoming its warmth. Kratos was surprised at her answer, and wondered just what other ideas and wisdom she held in her mind.

"Yes. It was something like that..." he replied, "but I've decided that if someone as young as Lloyd and Colette can trust you, I should at least try to show you the same courtesy they did and describe myself to you."

"If you wish to, then please do…but only if you're certain it's what you want," came the soft reply. Kratos blinked and was taken aback by her reply. It reminded him of Anna.

"I'm sure," he said, and she nodded once. "I have auburn hair and red eyes. You are only slightly shorter than I am," he said and she nodded slightly.

"Thank you."

"For what?" he asked, tilting his head to the side slightly.

"For taking the time to do this…I feel like it was slightly difficult for you."

"I suppose it was," he replied, "but aren't you going to ask to touch my face the way you did the others?" he asked curiously. Sereph chuckled slightly and shook her head.

"That would be presuming too much. If you like I can ask?" she said simply, and Kratos had the good grace to blush, yes blush, slightly…though he swiftly regained his composure.

"You're starting to test my patience. If you're going to do so, then hurry it up," the mercenary snapped in irritation. Sereph sighed slightly and held up a hand, her fingers gently moving across the man's face. That was when she realized something very odd. Her brow furrowed slightly, but she made no other motion to signify what her thoughts were. As she pulled her hand away, she smiled slightly at the man next to her, despite his attitude. She had grown used to dealing with other's strange reactions and changes in attitude when it came to her actions and words.

A/N: Thanks for reading once again! Please read and review!