Disclaimer: see Chapter 1

Tales of Symphonia: Fate of the Three Worlds

Chapter 4

More Friends Arrive and Inside Palmacosta Ranch

I sighed quietly as I watched Lloyd, Genis, and Raine eat. For some strange reason, I had no appetite whatsoever. It probably had to do with turning into an angel. Let's see...Colette had lost the need to eat also, but probably I wouldn't be able to sleep tonight either, because I didn't feel the least bit tired. Colette would probably still sleep, but after the Seal of Water, she wouldn't be able to. She had barely touched her food and it was sitting in front of her.

Kratos spoke, "Hurry it up, you three. We need to get moving if we're going to break into the ranch."

Raine nodded and finished her food, "I'm ready."

Lloyd finished up as well, swallowing the food in his mouth, "Same here, ready to go." He looked at both Colette and me, obviously concerned, "Joanna, you didn't eat anything, and Colette, you barely ate. Are you two okay?"

I replied, "I'm fine Lloyd, I just wasn't hungry." I smiled at him, so he wouldn't be worried.

Colette lied, "I guess..I guess I didn't have much of an appetite either." She did that little fake giggle and I sighed.

Lloyd sighed, "Colette, you won't be able to stay strong if you don't eat anything. Same goes for you, Joanna."

I responded, "Lloyd, she said she got enough, so just let it go. I know you're worried about her, but you shouldn't pester her. If she needs to eat anything else, she'll let us know...or her stomach will. Lloyd, shut up about me. I know my limits, thank you very much and don't need someone four years younger than me telling me what to do."

Genis nodded, "Yeah, she makes good points, Lloyd. Come on, let's head in to the ranch now."

Kratos nodded also, "Yes, we should get going to rescue the girl." He raised an eyebrow at me, but didn't say anything else. He walked around, looking for an entrance that had a keypad where we could put in the number that Dorr had given us before his death.

Lloyd blinked, "Hey, guys! I found a keypad over here!"

I replied, "Good work, Lloyd. Do you remember the numbers?"

Lloyd looked back at me, "Well, yeah...they were given to me by a dying man, so how could I forget it just like that?"

I sighed, "Very good point, Lloyd. Put them in already." Next moment, Kratos tensed and drew his blade.

I blinked, "...Kratos? What's up? Is someone trying to hurt us?" Little did I know that this was going to be the last sentence I was going to be able to speak for a while.

Kratos responded, "I heard footsteps, and two feminine voices. Everyone be on your guard."

I nodded and tried to say, "Okay", but no sound came out of my mouth. I inhaled sharply in surprise. My voice was gone! Oh, the woes of the angel transformation...

Lloyd blinked, having heard my sharp intake of breath, "Umm...Joanna, are you okay?"

Raine spoke, "I would gather that she has lost the ability to speak."

Colette asked, "Is that why you're not talking now?"

I grabbed a piece of parchment and a pen from one of Noishe's bags, then patted him on the head, a silent way of telling him to go or he would be instantly recognized and draw attention to us. I then wrote on the parchment, 'Yes, that's why I'm not talking. Why don't we just go inside now and help Chocolat? Not being able to speak is only an inconvenience. Not to mention that we should be quiet if we don't want to get caught.' I then handed the parchment to Kratos.

Kratos read it aloud to the others, then nodded, "I agree. Her being mute might actually work in our favor."

Lloyd nodded, "Okay then...I guess we go rescue Chocolat." He put the Key Card in and typed in the numbers.
As we started to head into the ranch, I heard running footsteps behind me and turned. There stood my friends Amber and Sarah. How in the world? I thought to myself.

Amber smiled, "Joanna! Wow, I wasn't expecting to see you here. What's going on?"

Wow, now I really missed being able to talk. I sighed and grabbed her hand, writing on her palm, 'I'm going to help Kratos and the others rescue a girl from this Human Ranch here. How did you and Sarah get here?'

Sarah had been looking over Amber's shoulder and told me, "We're not really sure. That last time we saw you, you did look a bit changed. Anyway, who are you going to rescue and why can't you talk?"

I wrote on her palm, 'It's part of becoming an angel, unfortunately, and I'm going to rescue a kidnapped tour guide named Chocolat, along with Kratos and the others.'

Amber's eyes widened for a brief instant, then she replied, "Hold on...Kratos...as in the guy that you wrote the story about from that video game, Tales of Symphonia?"

I nodded to confirm what she had said.

Sarah sighed, "Well, we don't know anything about it, so...can we come with you? I hate to be out here without someone to protect me."

I sighed and nodded my head. I wrote on her palm, 'Fine, just stay close to me and be EXTREMELY quiet. One sound out of you and I'll make you guys wait out here.'

Amber smiled, "We'll be as quiet as mice. Let's go."

I nodded and we headed inside, following the way that Kratos and the others had gone.

We caught up with them not too much later and I did a 'library clap' (A/N: You take the forefinger and middle fingers of both hands and clap them together...it's quieter than a normal clap) to get their attention.

Kratos heard this slight sound and turned to me, quietly saying, "There you are. Who are those two?" He asked, looking at Amber and Sarah suspiciously.

I wrote on his palm, 'These are my friends, Amber and Sarah. Don't worry, they only know what I've told them about you, and they don't know anything about the Journey or its true purpose.'

Kratos nodded, "Very well then...they may join our group if the Chosen allows it. As long as they don't get in the way."

Amber replied quietly, "Oh, we won't, Kratos. Anyway, where is this girl we're supposed to rescue?"

Lloyd responded quietly from behind Kratos, "Chocolat is somewhere here in the ranch. We have to find her and rescue her."

Nodding, Amber and Sarah both fell silent and looked at Kratos.

I wrote on Kratos's palm, 'Let's get going. I think Lloyd is getting impatient.'

Kratos nodded back and continued through the ranch.

Amber, Sarah, and I followed without another word.

A few hours later, we came upon some of the prisoners from Luin, as well as a couple of people from Palmacosta. After Raine powered down the locks to the doors using a nearby computer console, all of the prisoners filtered out, following Neil to the exit.

One boy walked over to Lloyd, holding something in his hand. He told him, "The guards were treating that card like it was really important." He handed it to Lloyd and followed Neil and the rest of the prisoners.

I wrote on Lloyd's hand, 'We should be able to find Chocolat now.' I knew the layout of the ranch from playing the video game so often, but I didn't say anything about that, obviously.

Lloyd nodded, "Yeah...but what does this card thing do?"

I sighed, annoyed with his short attention span. I looked to Kratos.

Kratos replied, "It likely operates some kind of machinery in here. We should look for more of these cards."

After getting the Purple Card from fighting a few Desians, and the Red Card from a high place that Colette had to fly to retrieve it, we walked through a doorway we hadn't been through yet.

We saw a warp pad with small slots in the bottom of it. The colors of the slots corresponded with the colors of the cards.

I smiled and wrote in the air, 'All right. Now we should be able to find Chocolat. Everyone follow me.'

Kratos asked, "Do you know where this teleporter goes and which ways to go when we arrive at our destination?"

I nodded, then sighed and shook my head. I was in no mood to explain how I knew it...and not that I really could since I couldn't talk. Anyway, I put the cards into the slots, and the teleporter roared to life.

Raine gasped, "This is...marvelous!"

I sighed and looked down at the floor, Great, Ruin Mode.... I thought to myself.

Colette spoke, "Professor, let's go through the teleporter now. We don't have time for you to take it apart and study it."

I gave Colette a grateful smile, then stepped aside to let the only other girls in the group go through it first.

After Colette and Raine went through, I stepped onto the pad, following them.

Lloyd came shortly after me, and Kratos followed him.

We found ourself in a maze-like passageway with passages leading left, right, and straight ahead. I struggled to remember the way for a moment, then smirked and nodded, writing in the air, 'We go left here, I believe. If I'm wrong, we'll just wind up right back here.'

Kratos nodded and led the way left, stepping onto the warp pad.

I followed him silently.

Colette and the others followed.

Sighing, and glad that I had remembered the layout and where each warp led, we made our way through the maze of warps and eventually found Chocolat again.

I thought to myself, She must've found an alternative route without having to use the icky warp pads. I should've followed her...

Chocolat said, "All right, here it is. I don't know if it's the control room or not, but after you take this pad, you'll end up in a room filled with lights, and all sorts of shiny things."

Raine's eyes visibly lit up after hearing this.

Sighing, Lloyd said, "All right then, now we bring the fight to Magnius, right?"

I nodded my head in agreement.

Kratos responded, "Indeed."

With no further ado, he stepped onto the final warp pad that led to the control room and Magnius.

Quivering lightly, I turned to Amber and Sarah, and wrote on Amber's hand, 'You two should wait here.'

Sarah had seen me do that and asked, "Why? What's past this warp thing? We already rescued Chocolat anyway, so we will, but...I just want to know why you can go and we can't."

I sighed and wrote on her hand, 'It is too dangerous for you two. Magnius is really strong and you two don't have any weapons. Just stay here and wait for us. We should be back.'

Amber nodded, "Good luck then, and be careful. We don't want to see you get hurt"

I smiled and nodded and stepped into the warp pad, writing in the air, 'I'll be fine. I have Kratos and Lloyd looking out for me. Bye.'

Once we arrived in the control room, a voice spoke from above us, "So...the forsaken Chosen and her entourage of vermin have finally arrived."

Next moment, a blue tube-like thing came down from a little crevice in the ceiling and Magnius lowered his chair-thing down to our level. During this, Kratos said, "For...saken?"

Lloyd added, "You've got it really mixed up, Magnius. You're the one that's forsaken."

Magnius gave a wicked cackle, then added, "Everything you've done is meaningless! And don't think I don't know about those inferior beings trying to escape." He pressed a little button and Neil and the prisoners we had helped free appeared on a display in front of us.

I glared, clenching my fist and shaking it at him. I HATED not being able to talk now. I had more than a few words for Magnius, but I couldn't say them.

Magnius then added, looking directly at Lloyd, "Those are some big words coming from someone whose futile actions caused the disaster at Iselia."

My eyes got a sort of hostile glint in them as he said this. I hated that Magnius was toying with Lloyd's feelings like this. If I had a voice, I would've been screaming for him to shut up, that it wasn't Lloyd's fault!

Lloyd looked at the ground, the familiar feeling of guilt associated with the incident at Iselia rising again, "Th..that was--"

Magnius finished, "I know. Why don't I recreate that incident using the vermin on the projector?" His hand idly headed towards a big red button. I wasn't sure what it did, but his words made me tremble.

I then went over there and grabbed Magnius's wrist to keep him from pressing it.

Lloyd shook his head, his eyes growing as big as saucers and yelled, "No...stop!"

Magnius glared at me, "Don't you touch me, woman!" He grabbed my arm and threw me in the air as easily as a toddler throws a stuffed animal when having a temper tantrum.

Thanks to the Exsphere, I managed to right myself in the air and land on my feet, though my ankle twisted lightly and I fell to one knee.

Colette came towards me but I shook my head to tell her to stay where she was.

Magnius looked at Lloyd again, "Come now, I'll be more than happy to turn them into monsters. Just like that old lady you killed...just like Marble!"

Chocolat's eyes went big now, and she questioned, trembling lightly, "...Marble? You...you don't mean that..."

Magnius regarded the Palmacosta tour guide, "Oh, but I do, little Chocolat. Dear old granny Marble was sent to the Iselia Ranch where she was killed by Lloyd."
During this little exchange, I glanced over at Kratos, who was looking at Lloyd with pity in his eyes. While his expression didn't betray this emotion, his eyes did. Well, I guess he could understand Lloyd's plight since he had to kill his wife because of Kvar removing her Exsphere.

Chocolat backed away from Kratos and the others now, "No..."

Several guards came up behind Chocolat to re-capture her.

Lloyd darted over, "Dammit! Let her go!"

Chocolat shook her head, "Leave me alone! I refuse to be saved by my grandmother's killer!"

Genis spoke in Lloyd's defense, "Wait, it wasn't like that! Lloyd tried to save her! But...the Desians turned her into a monster and..."

Magnius cut him off, "Lloyd killed her." He was wearing an amused smirk on his face as he regarded Lloyd and Chocolat.

Lloyd looked like he was feeling even more guilty now, and glanced at the floor, abashed by Chocolat's words.

Colette finally spoke, wringing her hands and giving a light jump as she regarded Chocolat and the two Desians, "Don't throw your life away!"

Chocolat added, "Dorr will save me! Just leave me be!"

Before Magnius said anything, I darted over to Chocolat and wrote on the back of her hand, ignoring the guards and hoping they would do the same, '...Actually, Dorr is...dead. He was killed by a servant of Pronyma posing as his daughter.'

Chocolat looked at me, a bit surprised, "...Oh." Her expression then hardened to one of coldness, "Well, still, I won't be saved by a murderer, or his friends!" She pulled her hand from my grasp.

Magnius chuckled a bit, "Right, Dorr, huh. Whatever, take her away."

The guards escorted Chocolat to a warp pad that led out of the ranch.

Chocolat dropped something on her way out. Her pass for Hakonesia Peak! It might come in handy...later.

Lloyd went over and picked up the fallen pass, sighing.

Sighing, I shrugged and looked at Lloyd apologetically. I had tried to make the girl see reason.

Lloyd looked at me, and said, "It's okay, Joanna. What happened to Marble...really was my fault."

Kratos spoke from experience, "You had no choice, Lloyd. You were merely protecting yourself and countless others who could've suffered and died at her hands if you hadn't done it."

I nodded in agreement.

We were soon surrounded by many Desians, and I sighed. This was not going to be an easy fight.

After finally defeating all of the Desians, Magnius growled, "How could you idiots allow these inferior beings to defeat you?! Fine, I'll deal with them myself." He took out a huge ax and commented, "Do you really think you're going to live through this?"

I thought to myself, I'm glad we stocked up on healing items. If I remember right, Magnius was no pushover. Well, he wasn't the toughest, but he wasn't the weakest.

Lloyd merely replied as he rushed the Grand Cardinal, "We'll live, and more! Sonic Thrust!"

Kratos was right next to Lloyd and cried out, "Double Demon Fang!"

I was getting an Ice Arrow ready, having just learned it a few hours ago while fighting the Desian to get the Purple Card. Light bluish-green runes were on the floor beneath me as I focused my mana onto the arrow to greatly chill the tip of it. Finally, ice started to form around the tip. I smiled. Perfect. I looked to Colette and wrote in the air, 'Tell Kratos and Lloyd to duck!'

Colette nodded and yelled, "Joanna said to get down!"

Kratos looked a bit befuddled, but nodded and did as I had requested.

Lloyd did too.

I fired the Ice Arrow and Magnius cringed in pain as the ice on the tip of the arrow broke on his shoulder and the arrow itself went in. I looked at Lloyd and Kratos briefly as I got another arrow out.

Lloyd nodded, "Good job. Thanks for the opening."

I smiled and mouthed, 'No sweat. Now, let's get rid of Magnius.'

Finally, after a long and grueling battle, Magnius was defeated.

I was rather beat up after the fight. I had a nasty gash on my right arm, a cut on my cheek, and a badly twisted ankle from where he had attempted to throw me headfirst into the wall. My new crossbow was broken as well. Magnius had reduced it to mere splinters when he had gotten in too close and I had to fight with my knife a bit. I sighed, knowing that the task of fixing my bow was not going to be fun.

Raine asked, "Is everyone all right?"

I sighed and regarded my battered body, giving her an expression that clearly said, 'Do I look all right to you?'

Colette nodded, "I'm fine." She yawned, "Just a little tired, that's all."

Lloyd had a small cut under his eye, but other than that, he seemed okay, "Yeah, I'm fine, Professor. Kratos?"

Kratos looked at him, "I am uninjured. Genis?"

Genis replied, "Other than a few bumps and bruises, I'm great!"

Raine nodded, "I'm fine also. Joanna, would you like me to help you with your wounds?"

I shrugged, not really caring. Before I even realized it, I collapsed to my knees from exhaustion and probably blood loss too.

Lloyd gasped, "Joanna!" He darted to my side, "Are you okay?"

I smiled up at him, writing on his hand, 'I'll be all right once Raine takes care of me. She's the best in the world.'

Lloyd replied, "That may be but..."

I sighed, squeezing his hand hard to make it clear that he was not to worry about me.

Lloyd tried to pull away, "Owwww! Stop, that hurts!"

I wrote on his hand, 'Then worry more about Colette than me. You haven't known me that long, and Colette is your best friend since childhood, right? Worry about her, and let Kratos worry about me, okay?'

Lloyd sighed, "Fine, whatever." He walked towards Colette, "Well then, I guess we get out of here since Magnius is dead and head to the next seal."

Magnius spoke, weakly, "Not quite..."

I blinked, Holy smokes, he's still not dead. I guess the Desian Grand Cardinals just don't know when to die.

Magnius then added, "How could I lose...to a bunch of kids?"

Kratos replied, "It is because Cruxis has accepted Colette as the Chosen of Mana."

Magnius looked surprised, as he spoke his dying words, "...But...then, I was...deceived..." He died now, bleeding out from the various wounds we had all given him.

Raine turned to a computer console and began typing stuff in. Most likely triggering the self-destruct for the ranch. She now turned to face us again, "I've freed Neil and the others, as well as activated the self-destruct program. We'd best evacuate now."

Sheena spoke, having appeared in a smokescreen after having come to help Neil get the prisoners to safety, "Isn't that a bit extreme, Raine?"

Raine sighed, "Maybe so...but it will deliver a significant blow to the Desian stronghold in this region."

I nodded in agreement and wrote on her hand, 'I believe we should get back to releasing the seals now.'

Kratos had seen this and nodded, "Yes...we shall spend the night in Palmacosta, then head to the seal first thing in the morning. Is that acceptable to everyone?"

I nodded my head to show that I accepted.

Lloyd replied, "Sounds good."

Genis smiled, "Yep, fine with me."

Raine nodded in agreement, "Perfectly fine."

Colette smiled brightly, "Yeah, that's fine."

Amber and Sarah were still waiting inside the ranch, I remembered. I gasped and wrote on Kratos's hand, 'You guys take the warp pad on out. I'll have to take the long way out. Amber and Sarah are waiting on the floor just below this one right outside of the warp. I'll evacuate with them.'

Raine asked, having been observing, "Can you make it in time? I set the delay timer for 20 minutes."

I nodded and walked over to her, writing on her hand, 'Yes, I can. If my friends and I run our fastest, we should be able to. Go on.'

Raine sighed and nodded, "All right, but be careful."

I smiled at her and thought in the back of my mind, So, she's the 'mother hen' of the group. Nice.

Raine and the others warped out and I took the one leading back to Amber and Sarah, going as fast as I could.

Amber and Sarah noticed that I seemed to be rushing.

Amber was the first to ask, "What's going on, Joanna? You're rushing around..."

I wrote on her hand, 'This place is gonna blow up! We have to get out of here!'

Her eyes grew big, "Okay then, let's go." She grabbed my hand and I grabbed Sarah's and the three of us dashed for the entrance.

The ranch began shaking around me and I trembled in fear. I let go of Amber and Sarah, shoving them ahead of myself without even thinking about it. We were at the entryway so it wasn't much further.

I noticed some falling ceiling debris headed straight for Sarah and gasped. I shoved her out of the way, getting clocked in the head. My head was spinning and hurt badly from the impact and I fell to my knees.

Amber screamed, having seen the entire thing. She went back for me, but I shook my head. I wasn't going to let her die because of me. She sighed, "...All right, but if you die..."

I smiled at her and mouthed, hoping she could lip-read, 'Don't worry, I won't. Now then, go on. I'll be fine in a couple minutes.'

She sighed and nodded, Sarah and her heading for Kratos and the others.

I finally allowed myself to fall unconscious due to the pain in my head from the falling debris. I wasn't going to let Amber or Sarah see me in a vulnerable state, because enough people were worried about me for the transformation.

When I woke up again, I was at the inn in Palmacosta, Kratos and Raine both standing over me. I groaned and held my head as I slowly sat up, thinking, How...how did I get out of that place?

Kratos explained, "Amber and Sarah came and told us what happened. I came back to get you before you could be killed by the explosion."

Raine told me, "It seems you risked yourself to save Sarah. That was very noble of you."

I shrugged and wrote in the air, 'It was nothing...she's my best friend and I don't want anything bad to happen to her. Anyway, how are the people of Luin?'

Colette told me from the doorway, "They're all fine, Joanna. Dirk was able to make Key Crests for them. Are you sure you're okay though?"

I sighed and mouthed, 'I'll be fine. I have the mother of all headaches but I'll get over it.'

Lloyd had apparently come by to check on me too. He was asleep now, as was most of the rest of our group, but Kratos, Raine and Colette had all come to see how I was doing.

I wrote on Colette's palm, 'You should get some sleep, now that you know I'm going to be okay.'

Colette nodded, "Okay, but you should too. You took a rather nasty blow to the head."

I sighed and nodded. While I knew I probably wouldn't sleep because of becoming an angel, I could always pretend.

Colette smiled, "Thanks. Good night, Joanna." She went to her room and went to sleep.

Raine nodded, "I'm going to get some shut eye now, too. Good night, Kratos, Joanna."

I nodded after her, then looked at Kratos. I wrote on his palm, 'So...tomorrow we're going to the seal, right?'

Kratos nodded, "Yes...but I will not make you stick around for Remiel's speech if you do not wish to." He kept his voice down so no one would be able to hear him.

I sighed, but wrote again, 'I will be there. I don't want Colette to be alone in this since I know what she's going through. Well...except for the heart and memory stuff...'

Kratos replied, "Okay, do as you wish." He sighed and looked out the window, silent the rest of the night.

I rolled over onto my right side, facing the other window.

A/N: I know I said I would include the Seal of Water, but this chapter is long enough without it. I will put it and Hima in the next chapter. Anyway, please review!