Ah, hello again. I meant to have this chapter up yesterday, but... oh well, one day off isn't too big a foul. This is a bit of an exposition chapter, by which I mean we've got a whole lot of talking and not much else. Well, I did mix in some other stuff at the beginning, try and keep my readers from getting bored by nothing but explanations and new questions. Seriously, people, this stuff is plot-necessity. We want to get to the creamy center, we'd better take off the wrapper first.
Oh, and Tales of Symphonia and its characters still do not belong to me.
Lloyd had never much liked Triet. Everything was hot, everything was dry, and everything was sandy, including Lloyd. Even flying above the desert on Rheairds wasn't much better. He was very happy when they finally docked in the Triet Base.
After Cruxis' defeat, the Renegades had mostly disbanded. Only a handful remained, by choice, continuing to serve under Yuan. No one but the Renegades knew what they were doing without Cruxis to fight, and they didn't care to tell. However, they were fairly short-handed, and had altogether abandoned the base near Flanoir, leaving Triet as the only active Renegade base, and also served as Yuan's home.
As Lloyd and Presea dismounted their Rheairds, the angel strode in to the hangar. He didn't look overly pleased to see the uninvited guests, but the two had expected that. Though, at the same time, Presea thought she might have seen a slight look of relief? Then again, she wasn't very good at reading emotions.
As Yuan reached them, he instantly said, "Why are you here?"
"Hello to you too," Lloyd muttered.
"Yuan, we encountered a strange phenomenon that we believed you may be able to shed some light on," Presea said, unfazed by Yuan's rudeness. Even when they had worked side-by-side, Yuan had never been anything but curt, after all.
"Is that so?" Yuan said, though he didn't seem remotely interested. "Well, it will have to wait."
"Why?" Lloyd demanded.
"You'll find out soon enough. In the meantime, have one of the Renegades escort you to –"
"Yuan!" a bright, happy voice called out.
"Damn... too late," Yuan said under his breath.
"Here you are, Yuan! I – oh, Lloyd, Presea!" A certain young blonde girl bounded into the room, grinning widely at the site of her two friends.
"Colette! I didn't know you were here!" Lloyd said, returning the grin.
"It is very nice to see you again, Colette," Presea added, with a small smile. "What brings you here?"
"I'm visiting Yuan, of course!" Colette answered. "After all, he's our friend!" Yuan didn't look especially friendly at the moment, but Colette didn't seem to notice. "Oh, right, look Yuan, I made you a sweater! Try it on!" she said eagerly, shoving it into his arms.
Yuan looked down at it and sighed. It was clear that Colette wasn't very good with sewing. Several strange lumps were scattered randomly around it, the sleeves were uneven, and it looked like she had run out of yarn, given that towards the bottom it changed from a navy blue to a shocking hot pink.
"Colette..." he said slowly, "we're in a desert. I am not wearing a sweater." Not that I would have worn it anyways, he added silently.
"Oh..." Colette said. "I forgot. I'm sorry."
Yuan sighed again. She was a good kid, he supposed, but by the tree she got on his nerves so much! If someone had to visit him, why couldn't it have been Raine or Regal or someone whose personality wasn't a complete mismatch to his?
"Whatever..." he muttered. "Lloyd, Presea, you two had something you wanted to talk about? Come with me to my office." At least those two offered him a break from the chipper Chosen.
"Alright," Lloyd said. "C'mon, Colette!"
Yuan had to struggle not to curse.
Yuan slipped behind his desk, while the other three pulled up chairs to the front of it. When everyone was seated, Yuan said, "Now, you said you witnessed something strange, correct?"
"That's right," Lloyd answered, "we saw monsters." Colette and Yuan both couldn't help but stare for a second.
"That's impossible," Yuan told him. "You must have made a mistake."
Presea shook her head. "There is no mistake. We encountered no fewer than ten mantises. However, there is something else. They were acting unlike any mantises I have ever heard of. They worked as a pack, and managed to circle us. We were even ambushed by one that had managed to remove itself from our detection."
"And you came to me because Cruxis controlled the appearance of monsters," Yuan finished, and Presea nodded her agreement.
Yuan leaned back slightly in his chair. "I'm not sure what to tell you," he said. "Now that Cruxis is gone, there shouldn't be any monsters."
"What do you mean?" Lloyd asked.
"Cruxis actually created the monsters," Yuan told them, earning a surprised look from the three. "They were crafted from mana and sent to the declining world to help keep things dangerous, so that the Cruxis Crystal would awaken. From Derris-Kharlan, it was possible to transfer the monsters simultaneously to the worlds, and back again. When Derris-Kharlan left, it should have also lost its connection to the monsters, causing them all to basically self-destruct. Complete particle disintegration."
"That's terrible!" Colette gasped.
Lloyd gave her an odd look. "... We're talking about monsters, Colette." He shook his head. "Anyways, so what you're saying is that it should be impossible for monsters to still be around, right?"
"That can't be," Presea said. "Is there no way that a small group of these creatures could have avoided being destroyed?"
"Only if they were on Derris-Kharlan," Yuan replied.
"Could someone else be making monsters now?" Colette suggested.
"Yeah, that's it!" Lloyd said eagerly. "Someone else has started making monsters and is using them!"
"Impossible," Yuan interrupted. "Monsters had to be created on Derris-Kharlan. The strength of mana all around was vital to their creation. The only places in this world that have enough mana for monster creation are the seals, and I have those under surveillance already."
"Why?" Lloyd asked.
"That's not the issue here," Yuan told him. "What's important is that a group of creatures that shouldn't exist does. No matter why they're here, I doubt it's a coincidence that they attacked you."
"Then, you think someone is using them in an attempt at our lives?" Presea said. "What purpose would they have in this?"
"Who knows?" Yuan shrugged. "It could be someone who had connections with Cruxis, looking for revenge against the ones who brought it down."
"Then the others are in danger, too!" Lloyd said, leaping to his feet. "We've got to warn them!"
"What we need to do," Yuan said, "is track down whoever is creating new monsters and put a stop to it."
"Lloyd's right," Colette said. "We have to tell the others first." Presea nodded in agreement.
"It'll waste time," Yuan said. The three looked at him, unfazed, until he gave in with a sigh. "Fine, fine. I can get in contact with Zelos, if it'll speed you up."
"I'll tell Sheena and Regal," Colette volunteered.
"Which leave Genis and the Professor for me and Presea," Lloyd said.
"That will be difficult, as we still do not know where they are," Presea reminded him.
"They're in Luin," Yuan said suddenly.
"How'd you know that?" Lloyd asked in surprise.
"I have my ways. Now go, hurry up. We don't have any time to waste."
No, it's not how you're thinking he knows. There is no romantic connection between the two. Eh, but who knows, that could change, I do like toying with characters' emotions.
Anyways, hope you weren't too bored with our bit of exposition. If you got the wrong idea at the beginning, I do not have anything against Colette. I just think she and Yuan are complete opposites, and so their interaction is very fun. ... And that Colette's not that bright. Which doesn't mean I dislike her!
Tune in next time, to see - The Sage Siblings, Luin, everything I told you to be expecting in this chapter! Yeah, 'cause we're following Lloyd and Presea, not the others. They'll come later.
