Tales of Symphonia- The Aftermath of Yggdrasil Chapter 2
Disclaimer: I do not own Tales of Symphonia or any of the characters. They are the property of Namco Inc. I do however, own the character Ricky Elusa.
Lloyd walked must faster than usual in the desert. When he'd first stepped foot into it, he had complained about how hot it was. Now, he walked as if the heat was nothing. "How long till we reach Triet?" he asked Raine.
She shook her head. "We'll be lucky if we get there before nightfall." she told him.
Lloyd sighed and continued to walk onward, Colette at his side.
"They look so happy together, don't they?" Regal asked Presea.
The girl only nodded. "Yes, they do." she said. Presea seemed distant for a brief second before she composed herself.
"What in the hell is that?" Zelos shouted, pointing towards a bright light in the distance.
Colette turned to look towards where Zelos pointed, and gasped. "That's the Triet Desert area. But that light…it can't be…" she said.
"What is it Colette? What is that light?" Genis asked, worry evident in his voice.
Colette stepped back a pace. "That light is an Angel Spell. But the only one like that is…Judgment…" she said, still in shock.
There was an audible gasp from the others as they heard this.
"This could mean that Cruxis did survive, or…" Sheena began.
"That Dad could have come back!" Lloyd finished.
Raine's face seemed to be calculating that possibility then shook her head. "I doubt it Lloyd. Based on the speed in which Derris-Kharlan drifted away from Symphonia, it would be too far away by now for him to get here easily. Even the Eternal Sword wouldn't help, since you have that." she said.
Lloyd hung his head, and Colette slipped her arms about him. "It's ok Lloyd, I'm sure we'll find out who that was." she said soothingly, caressing his hair with her fingers.
The group began to walk again, steering towards the town of Triet. Whoever had caused that light would be there, or at least they hoped they would be.
In the Triet Inn, not far from Lloyd and the others…
Chocolat watched as the town's doctor examined Ricky, a worried look on her face. "Is he going to be all right?" she asked, her voice weak and cracked.
The doctor paused for a moment, then stood up. "I can't be certain right now. I need a little more time to see what's wrong." he said, looking at Chocolat with pity. What the doctor was afraid of however, was that Ricky had been poisoned.
Chocolat could only nod, as she turned and walked out of the room. She quickly sank into a chair and began to weep openly. "Oh, how could this happen to him like this?" she sobbed, not seeing the group enter the inn.
"Um, we'd like to know if the doctor is here. He requested a medical team from Flanior." the orange-haired man spoke.
Chocolat looked up, her eyes puffy and her face red. "Yes, he mentioned you'd be coming. Through that door there." she pointed, then put her head back in her hands.
The four walked into the room, and the violet-haired woman spoke to the doctor. "We're the medical team you requested from Flanior. What's the situation?" she asked.
The doctor looked to the woman, and motioned her over to where Ricky lay. "Well, it seems as if he was poisoned. But what gets me is that I've never seen this kind of poison before. Um, you are…?" he asked.
The doctor bowed slightly. "Forgive me, I am Dr. Shimizu." the woman said. She went over to Ricky and ran her hand across his face. Something about what she felt was wrong. "Jack, come here a moment." Shimizu said to the orange-haired man.
Jack walked over and knelt next to the doctor. "What is it Doctor?" he asked.
"Get me the Celsius Tear Antidote out of my bag. It looks like the work of poison that used to be employed by a group called Cruxis." she told him.
His eyes grew big, and he hurried to the bag. A moment later, Jack came back with a tear-shaped bottle in hand. The liquid was ice cold. "Here you are Doctor. Will this work?" he asked her.
She nodded her head. "Yes, it should. This antidote was developed by Raine Sage, one of the eight Heroes of Symphonia, shortly after the poison surfaced. It will do the trick." she said, uncorking the bottle. She opened his mouth, and poured the liquid inside. With a little help from Jack, she was able to get him to swallow it. She stayed there for a moment, before getting up. She turned to a raven-haired girl who stood at the back. "Teana, please tell Miss Chocolat that Ricky will be fine." Shimizu told her.
Teana bowed slightly, and left the room. She found Chocolat drying her tears. "Um, Miss Chocolat?" she asked. Chocolat looked up at her. "Yes, what is it? Will he be all right?" she asked worriedly. Teana nodded, and Chocolat sighed in relief. "Yes, he will be just fine. He'll need a good day's rest however. It would be wise to get him to eat and drink a little when he awakens." Teana told her. Chocolat nodded, and smiled. She stood up. "If it's all right with you, I'll take care of Ricky now." she said.
Dr. Shimizu, Jack, and Areo (the red-haired man) stepped out of Ricky's room with the town doctor. They walked over to where Chocolat stood, smiles on their faces. "He'll be just fine now Miss Chocolat. Just give him something to eat and drink when he wakes up." Shimizu said. Chocolat nodded, already having heard. "Our work here is done Dr. Azure. We shall take our leave now." Areo said, walking to the door with Shimizu and the others. With one last look, they turned and went outside, shutting the door behind them.
Dr. Azure turned to Chocolat and nodded. "I shall be leaving as well. Do take good care of him. You always have Chocolat." he said smiling, and then he too was gone.
Chocolat went into Ricky's room, and moved a chair to his bedside. She took a blanket from one of the other beds, and sat down next to him. She put the blanket over herself, and settled in. She silently watched Ricky, noticing that his breathing had returned to normal. She smiled to herself. "I'm glad that you are safe. I don't know what I'd do if I lost you…" she thought as she drifted off to sleep.
At the entrance to the town of Triet…
Genis and Lloyd were the first to enter Triet. As the others followed, people noticed them, and who they were.
"It is the Heroes, they are here! Hurrah!" the villagers cried.
Too embarrassed to talk, they group made their way to the Inn. Lloyd was the first to speak.
"This'll be the first night we've spent here in nearly a year." he said.
"Yeah. It'll be nice for a change Lloyd." Colette said, her eyes lighting up all of a sudden.
Zelos chuckled. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say Colette wants to bunk with Lloyd. Real smooth my little angel." he said, grinning. That remark earned him a punch to the head from Sheena.
"You're such an idiot Zelos! I don't know what Kate sees in you." she exclaimed. She stormed off to one of the nearby chairs, and sat down.
Regal was looking at Zelos with what appeared to be awe. "You never told us that you and Kate were romantically involved Zelos." he said, not quite believing it.
After rubbing his head for a few seconds, he replied. "Well, there's a lot you don't know Regal. After I rescued her from the fiasco with the Pope, she just kind of grew on me. Before you knew it, we were dating." he said, and for the first time the group could tell that Zelos was happy.
Genis looked like his mouth was hanging open. "You? Dating a half-elf? This is something I never saw coming." he exclaimed.
Zelos popped him playfully on the head. "Watch it you little brat. I'll tell cute little Presea here what you've been hiding." he said, the oh-so familiar grin returning to his face.
Presea titled her head to one side, looking at Genis. "Tell me what Genis? What does Zelos mean?" she asked the silver-haired half-elf.
Genis' face was rapidly changing shades of red. "Um, well…you see Presea…it's…could you meet me outside tonight?" he asked her, his face a brilliant red. Without waiting for an answer, he dashed off to the room that had been put aside for him.
Each of the group had their own room in the Inn of course. It was slightly larger than it used to be, thanks to Lloyd and Zelos of course. Though no one had thought the two would ever be capable of this, they were in fact quite capable. Though Lloyd was in charge, since he was pretty much a master carpenter in Iselia.
Presea's face blushed slightly, and she walked to her room. "I'm going to freshen up for tonight." she said to herself, the others noticing a little spring in her step.
Colette just smiled. "Aww, that's so cute! I'm glad they're getting together." she said to the others.
Zelos just laughed. "I knew he'd eventually crack if I said something. But the rest I leave to him. This is where I stop meddling." he said, walking off to his room.
Regal just stared after him. "That was not the Zelos we knew way back then. He's changed since he and Kate got together." he declared.
Sheena walked over and nodded. "Yeah, that's for sure. He's not even being his usual pervert self anymore. Guess he's finally grown up." she said.
Just as Lloyd was about to say something, a door in the Inn opened up. A girl with medium-brown hair and brown eyes walked out of the room. When she looked up, her face broke into a smile. "Lloyd, Colette! It's so nice to see you again." she said smiling. She walked over and gave Colette and Lloyd a hug.
"Hey Chocolat, how are you?" Lloyd asked her.
She only smiled and nodded. "I'm doing fine. Just had a little mishap here, but everything's all right." she said, becoming a little nervous all of a sudden.
"Is something wrong Chocolat?" Sheena asked, seeing the change in the girl's facial expression.
"Oh no, nothing is wrong. Nothing at all." she said.
Raine stopped for a moment, as if sensing something in the air. "I sense magical energy in this Inn. It's coming from the room Chocolat came out of." she declared.
Sheena looked up. "Yeah, I can feel a faint energy too. Chocolat, what is going on?" Sheena asked her.
Chocolat only shook her head. "Please don't disturb him. He's just been badly wounded, and needs to rest." she said to them. Her voice was becoming quaky.
Lloyd walked over to the door of the room, Colette in tow. He pushed open the door, and a sharp intake of breath was heard. "He has an Exsphere on his left hand." he said, looking back at Chocolat.
The others turned to look at her, wondering what was going on. "Chocolat, who is he?" Colette asked, a concerned note in her voice.
Sheena looked at his face, and when she saw his cloak lying on the dresser, she knew who it was. "It's him…it's the one I got the information from." she said, her voice nearly a whisper. She backed up a pace.
Regal's eyebrows arched. "You mean Ricky the Elusive? But what would he be doing here?" he asked, turning to Chocolat.
Raine walked boldly into the room, and sat down by Ricky's bed. After a moment, she looked up. Her face was staunch white. "Genis…the rumors…they were right. He can use magic, even without the Exsphere." she said.
The others gasped, and Sheena looked in. Lloyd turned to Chocolat. "Chocolat, why is Ricky here?" he asked her.
Regal looked at her. "Is there something wrong?" he asked.
Chocolat took a deep breath before speaking. What she said shocked the group to its core. "He's here because he was attacked by bandits who used the Cruxis poison you made an antidote to. But that's not the half of it. He's…my brother." she said silently.
Her expected reaction from them was exactly what happened. The group could say nothing, as they were stunned speechless by this revelation.
"Her brother is Ricky? This is nothing like what we expected." Sheena thought.
