Disclaimer: I do not own Tales of Symphonia or Persona 3.
Chapter 3: Receiving the Oracle
Minato's POV
The exciting rush of adrenaline I felt after all these years was incredible. To be able to use my power again was exhilarating. All my thoughts stopped when I noticed that Orpheus had started to glow. This was something I didn't expect; normally after I called forth a persona it would vanish as quickly as it came.
Orpheus was still here though and it looked like he was changing shape. He grew a lot smaller and floated down to my hand. Then in a flash of light, Orpheus disappeared and a sword reappeared in my hand. 'What the…?' I was confused. The only time a persona changed into a weapon was when I fused them to a weapon at the antique shop.
I stared at the sword. It was long and silver, it had the speaker that was on Orpheus' stomach under the guard, and it had his red scarf hanging from the hilt. I put these thoughts away for later pondering cause right now we still had Desians to deal with.
I ran up to Colette and reached my hand out to her. She grabbed it and I picked her up. The look of confusion was plastered all over her face. "Brother…what was…" she began but I cut her off.
"Later Colette, we still have trouble," I said as I turned back toward Vidaar, who was slowly getting back to his feet.
He walked right back up to us preparing to attack again. Even though I had my power back I was still tired from summoning it after all this time. I wasn't going to fall unconscious like the first time I ever summoned my persona but the fight was still gonna be difficult.
"Vidaar, kill the Chosen but capture the boy! I want to study what that thing he just summoned was," the leader called out. Vidaar nodded his head and prepared to strike with his hammer. I was going to try and block it but before I could someone appeared in front of us and slashed Vidaar.
As Vidaar fell I looked toward the stranger. He had auburn coloured hair and purple armor. He had a sword and shield out and what looked like a blue gem on his left hand. 'He has an exsphere, just like Lloyd! Who is he…?' I wondered as Lloyd and Genis ran up to the rest of us.
"Who are you?" Lloyd asked.
The man barely looked back at us and said, "Get out of the way." I got a little angry at the man's words, and then noticed Vidaar getting back up.
I ran toward him and prepared my sword, "Bash!" I yelled as I rammed the hilt of my sword into the Desian's chest and sent him back.
I noticed that my bash attack was incredibly more powerful then before but Vidaar was still alive. That's when the stranger ran up to Vidaar and struck out, "Demon Fang!" he cried as he sent a shock wave at Vidaar. However, this time Vidaar fell and stopped moving. This time he wouldn't be getting back up.
"I never thought you'd show up," the Desian leader said toward the stranger. 'This Desian knows about this guy…something's up,' I thought to myself.
"Damn… retreat for now!" he yelled out to the rest of the Desians as they all took off.
"Amazing!" Colette commented on the stranger.
"This guy's incredibly strong!" Genis also commented.
"…Yeah…I suppose so," Lloyd commented. I just stayed quiet.
The man then turned toward us, examining us, "…Is everyone all right? Hmm…no one seems to be hurt," he said.
Lady Phaidra then walked up to the man, "How can I ever thank you for saving the Chosen?" she asked him.
The man just looked toward Colette, "…I see. So this girl is the next Chosen," he commented. I then moved in front of Colette, gripping my sword.
Lady Phaidra, noticed my hostility, "Minato, stop. This man just saved the Chosen," she told me. I kept up my stare but put my sword away, hanging it on the spot where I used to put my wooden sword.
"That's right! I have to go accept the oracle!" Colette exclaimed.
She then looked toward Lady Phaidra, "Grandmother, I'm going to undergo the trial now," she told her. She then began walking toward the temple, I followed her but we both stopped when Lloyd asked about the trial.
Strangely enough the man answered his question, "The monsters I assume. An evil presence radiates from inside this chapel."
Lady Phaidra nodded and continued to explain, "Yes, that is correct. The Chosen is to receive judgment from heaven. But the priests that were to accompany her, fell at the hands of the Desians."
I looked toward Lady Phaidra, "Don't worry, I'll protect Colette. Lloyd and Genis can even come if they think they can handle it," I told her.
"Yeah, we'll take on the job of protecting Colette." Lloyd exclaimed. Lady Phaidra then looked toward him, "Lloyd, I'm not sure, I would be a bit uneasy letting you children go."
The man then looked at Lloyd, "You're name is Lloyd?" he asked.
Lloyd just looked right back at the man and replied, "Yeah, but who are you to ask for my name?"
The man took a bit of time but then answered, "I am Kratos, a mercenary. As long as you can pay me, I'll accept the job of guarding the Chosen."
I was about to argue but Lady Phaidra agreed to his terms immediately. "I'm not about to let Colette go alone with you, I'm coming whether you want me to or not." I told him.
Then Lloyd ran up, "Wait, I'm going too!" he yelled out.
Kratos then turned his head toward him, "Lloyd, you'll only get in the way. Be a good boy and wait here."
Angrily, Lloyd yelled back at the mercenary, "What did you say?"
"Did I not make myself clear? You're a burden, go home," Kratos told him.
Then Colette spoke up, "Um…, would it be okay to take Lloyd along, too?" she asked.
Kratos was going to argue the idea but Colette stopped him. "Please. I get nervous when Lloyd's not around," she told him.
"Besides," I interrupted, "It would be better for more people that Colette's familiar with." I said while also thinking, 'I also won't have to worry about you trying anything funny, mercenary.'
Kratos eventually conceded, "Do as you wish," and then all of us, except Lady Phaidra, headed into the temple.
We walked to the center of the floor surrounded by a bunch of stairways. We all began to examine the area, since for most of us this had been our first time here.
"So this is what the inside of the temple is like" Lloyd stated. "Colette you've been in here many times right?" Genis asked. Colette nodded, "Yeah, but it seems different than usual." I looked toward the group, "It must be because of the monsters" I mentioned while fiddling around with my new sword.
Lloyd noticed and asked, "Minato, where'd you get that sword."
The others turned toward me as well, and Colette mentioned, "Isn't that the sword from the monster from before?" she asked.
"It wasn't a monster" I quickly replied. However, now they were giving me weird looks. I didn't want to explain what a persona was so I tried to get out of explaining it.
"At least it didn't feel like a monster, and besides do you know anyone who can summon monsters." No one replied, so I continued. "It doesn't really matter anyway; it was thanks to Orpheus that we were able to survive against that desian."
Kratos gave me a hard stare, "Have you ever summoned that creature before?" he asked.
"No" I lied. I began to wander around when I noticed a gate of blue energy.
"You should be careful then, there's no telling what might happen next time" Kratos explained as he walked toward the gate. I simply nodded and waited for the others to get to where we were.
"It seems we can't go any farther without the key for this gate" Kratos told us.
I turned toward Colette, "Do you know where the key is?"
Colette thought for a couple of seconds then replied, "Oh! The sorcerer's ring, it should be on an alter, deeper into the temple." We all nodded and headed into the temple.
After going down some stairs, Genis noticed something glowing across from the large platform. We ran down the stairs to get a better look and saw a ring floating above the platform. "That must be the sorcerer's ring" Genis said.
We were about to go get the ring when suddenly Colette spoke up, "Look, there's something here." We all turned around to see what she was looking at and to my utter surprise; she was staring at a large golem monster.
"Colette, get away from there!" I shouted as I pulled out my Orpheus sword and ran toward her.
As the golem turned to face us Lloyd and I begun striking it with our swords but it didn't seem to do anything. It then brought its arms crashing into the ground sending us flying. Then Genis sent some fire balls at the creature, which distracted it, long enough for Kratos to attack it.
But before he could finish his attack, the golem held its arms out and began to spin, knocking Kratos away. 'Dammit, we can't get any good hits on this thing. Maybe Genis can distract again…' I stopped suddenly when I noticed Colette attacking the golem.
The golem barely registered being hit and began to walk toward Colette. 'Oh no you don't' I thought as I began drawing out my power to summon Orpheus, when suddenly a different image appeared in my head.
Then the mana around me formed a blue magic circle as I focused my attack. "Apsaras! Bufu!" I shouted as a light-blue skinned women wearing a white leotard and a belt, with a rain drop pattern, and a clear ribbon flowing around her appeared behind me and made a motion. Then a block of ice formed around the creatures face and exploded, causing the monster to stop for a bit.
I then turned my head toward Genis, "Genis use another spell!" He nodded then began to concentrate his mana for his attack.
I then looked toward Lloyd and shouted, "Lloyd get ready to finish it off!" He nodded and went to get into position. I began to focus on using Apsaras' power again. When the blue magic circle appeared underneath me, I saw that Genis had finished his spell.
"Fireball!" he shouted and as soon as I saw the attack hit I released my spell.
"Bufu!" I yelled and the block of ice formed around the golem leaving it stunned which allowed Lloyd to run right up to it and attack.
"Tiger Blade!" he shouted as he swung his sword up, jumping into the air and then swinging his sword down. Finally, the golem collapsed and turned into a stone block.
'I guess that means we beat it.' I thought as everyone walked up to the block.
"Wow, Minato that was awesome, how were you able to use magic like that." Genis asked.
I was about to reply when I noticed that Apsaras began to glow, just like Orpheus had. She grew smaller, and then split into two and after a bright flash Apsaras was gone and in her place was two light blue chakrams. "Hey, the thing you summoned turned into a weapon again" Lloyd stated.
"But why did they turn into chakrams? Can you even use them Minato?" Genis asked me. I shook my head; I never bothered to practice it when Colette was practicing with them.
I simply looked toward Colette, "Hey why don't you use them Colette?"
She smiled as she took the chakrams out of my hands, "Thanks brother, they're so pretty." I smiled and then looked toward Kratos who had been staring at the block the entire time.
"So what are you thinking?" I asked him. He was about to say something when Colette suddenly tripped, knocking into the block and push it into a hole which formed a pathway below us.
While Lloyd and I were helping Colette, Kratos and Genis seemed to figure something out. "I get it" Genis stated.
We looked toward him and Lloyd asked, "What are you talking about?"
Genis started looking around the room, "In just a moment, it'll probably…See, there it is." We all looked to where Genis was pointing to and saw that another Golem had just appeared.
"I get it, we just need to beat the golems and use the blocks that they turn into as a way to get to the sorcerer's ring." I explained getting a nod from Genis. 'Just great, as if fighting the golem the first time wasn't enough' I mentally complained and got ready to deal with the golems.
*Several fights later*
After a few more fights we finally got to where the sorcerer's ring was. "Is this the sorcerer's ring? I've heard about it before. It's a holy artifact of the Church of Martel!" Genis explained.
"With this we should be able to deal with most traps and obstacles." Kratos further explained.
Lloyd walked up and grabbed the ring with a happy expression on his face, "Wow! Let me try it!" he asked. Both Colette and I agreed, so we went back to the gate from before.
"So the sorcerer's ring should be able to open this gate, right?" I asked and Colette nodded.
Lloyd walked up to the gate and pointed the ring at it. "Okay! Leave it to me!" Lloyd said and the ring shot out a small fire ball into the center of the gate, which then opened revealing a grey platform.
Lloyd then seemed a bit dejected with the result, "Oh, is this all the sorcerer's ring does?
I just looked at him for a few seconds before I commented, "What did you expect, it's only supposed to be a key."
We then walked toward the platform and instantly we teleported to a large room that had a large alter in it. "This appears to be the top floor" Kratos stated.
I looked out a nearby window, "Yeah, you're probably right."
"Yes, that's the alter." Colette said as we began to walk to it. I noticed a jewel glowing in the center of the alter.
"So then that's the cruxis crystal, right?" I asked her.
Colette nodded, "That's right. They say I was born with that in my hand."
Suddenly a bright flash occurred, blinding the area for a couple of seconds. When the light faded I looked around the area, trying to find the cause of it. Then I looked up and almost couldn't believe what I saw. A man with blond hair, wearing green priest robes, and he had white wings flapping behind him. Just as I was about to say something Lloyd had asked "Wh…what is that?"
"An angel, I would assume." Kratos answered. I took a better look at him and thought that he looked a bit different than the angels from the Justice arcana but that didn't really matter now.
Then the angel began to speak, "I am Remiel. I am an angel of judgment. I am here to guide Colette, daughter of the mana lineage, on her journey to heaven as the next Chosen."
I really didn't like how that last part sounded, 'That almost sounds like Colette's going to die at the end but that can't be, no one would be willing to send such a kind hearted girl to her death would they?'
Remiel continued to speak while I was thinking about what he said, "The time has come to awaken the goddess Martel, who sleeps at the center of the world." He then hand the cruxis crystal to Colette and continued, "From this moment, Colette will become the Chosen of Regeneration. We of Cruxis bless this event, and here by bestow the Tower of Salvation upon Sylvarant." We then notice the large tower appear on the horizon, reaching into the sky.
I stared at the tower with a little amount of unnoticeable anger'Another tower, I can't really hope for a good thing coming from that tower, especially after experiencing Tartarus.'
"So that's the Tower of Salvation!" Lloyd exclaimed.
"Now the world will be saved!" Genis shouted, while I turned away from the group to hide my grim expression of wondering how this journey would turn out.
Then Remiel continued his speech, "Colette, the Chosen of Regeneration. Unlock the seals that guard the Tower of Salvation and climb its stairs to heaven in distant lands."
Colette walked up to the alter and bowed her head, "I humbly accept this task" she told him.
Remiel nodded his head, "Very good. We of Cruxis shall grant you the power of the angels with each seal you unlock. Once you are reborn as an angel, this eroded world shall be regenerated."
I feel even worse off about how this angel is wording this description of the journey, 'I really hope this regeneration is a true regeneration and not the kind I'm worrying about.'
Still bowing Colette spoke again, "Thank you. I swear on my life I will regenerate the world."
Remiel then spoke out in a loud voice, "First head south, to the Seal of Fire. Offer your prayers in that distant land."
Colette obediently agreed to go and just as Remiel was about to leave Colette turned her head up to see him. "Uh, wait! Please wait! I have a question I wish to ask you. Are you really my fa..."
But before she could finish her question Remiel had said "First head to the Seal of Fire. Understood? My beloved daughter, Colette."
Colette's face lit up in pure joy, "Father! So, you really are my true father!" she exclaimed. But my face had a more depressed look as I remembered to times in the village when I would hear rumors that Colette was the daughter of angels. I was worried for her because I didn't want her to worry about something like that.
When we were younger, once in a while she would ask me if I ever wondered about my birth parents. I always gave her the same answer, 'Sure I think of them once in a while but it doesn't really matter. So long as I follow the path I set out for myself without regret, then I'll always be fine.'
I was brought out of my thoughts when Remiel left with another flash of light. I walk up to Colette and put my hand on her shoulder. She turned to me and I gave her a caring smile. "So, you feel better now."
She simply nodded and we looked toward the others. "You've received the oracle. Then let us leave now, Chosen." Kratos said. Colette agreed and we headed toward the teleporting platform.
I suddenly let out a large yawn, which caught the attention of the others. "Brother, are you alright?" Colette asked.
I nodded, "Yeah, I just feel a bit more exhausted than usual" I told her.
Kratos gave me a firm stare, "Perhaps it's those summoning techniques. Since you never used them before they probably drained more mana from you than your regular techniques" he explained.
I nodded in agreement and entered the transporter, with Colette and Kratos following me. When we headed for the exit Colette looked back, "Shouldn't we wait for Lloyd and Genis."
I shook my head, "Nah, let them explore for a bit. Besides Professor Sage, should be somewhere around here, considering she came here after the light from the oracle appeared."
Colette nodded and we continued out of the temple and headed home. This was somewhere I really wanted to be right now, because I'm close to falling asleep. Summoning two Personas in one day multiple times was definitely exhausting. Also, I know that when I finally do get to sleep, I'm going to be visiting an old acquaintance. I then looked to Colette, soon she would be heading out on this journey, and no matter what I'll be with her every step of the way.
