Thanks for being so patient with the first three. Now things are really going to get interesting. ;)

Please excuse the rapid progression of time in this chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own Tales of Symphonia. If I did, I'd have Kratos AND Zelos join my party in the end. :D And we'd see more of Zelos with his purdy orange wings.

- Aemiz

Yggdrasill waited patiently in his laboratory for the other Seraphim to arrive for their urgent meeting as he gazed longingly upon the sight of Martel's consciousness that had been trapped within this machine for thousands of years. He was so certain, as he always had been in previous years, that the next Chosen would not fail, but seven from Sylvarant and six from Tethe'alla had already failed to match her mana signature while the rest had either died or strayed somewhere along the journey. He was growing impatient. It was time to take drastic measures in order to save his sister. Even so, he would have to remain patient as the Chosen of Sylvarant was still much too young to receive the oracle.

Everything I do is for you… Martel. I know it'll work this time. That's why I plan to--

His thought process was abruptly interrupted by a flash of light appearing behind him, followed closely by another as Kratos, and Yuan revealed themselves. Yggdrasill slowly turned to meet their gaze and tugged at the sides of his lips to form a calculating smirk. The two lesser Seraphs glanced at each other suspiciously before turning back to meet his gaze.

"Good, you're all here."

"What's this about, Mithos?" Yuan murmured uncomfortably, eyeing Martel's consciousness over Yggdrasill's shoulder.

"I'll get to the point, then. I think it's time we add another to our ranks." He stated bluntly.

"Another Seraph?" Kratos murmured to himself as his arms stiffly folded together, not at all liking where this was going.

"Surely you don't mean Pronyma." Yuan added humorously.

"Of course not." Their superior snapped, growing offensive as he paused to regain composure. "…I was actually referring to Sara."

"Why?" Her father snapped quickly.

"Why else? She was raised in Derris-Kharlan and she's your daughter. Her lifespan, given that the angelic gene is dormant inside of her, is 80 years at best. You're over 4000 years old now, Kratos. Do you want to lose her in 60 years or so?"

Kratos glared furiously at his superior as he continued. He had taken into consideration that his daughter would probably age and die within a matter of decades; before he could finally be granted the eternal rest he had longed for—to be with Anna and Lloyd again. Even so… it's more like he's trying to insure that my loyalties lie with Cruxis. Does he honestly think I'm that stupid?

"You are training her in combat after all and she's fluent in the angelic language. She could be a great asset to our cause." He added, confident that they would see things his way.

"You're forgetting about Sara's condition." Yuan stepped in before Kratos could protest. "The doctor told us that the only way Sara's condition could possibly be cured is if she overcomes the trauma of the incident, and we've been relying on her reoccurring dreams to help her face her suffering and hope that she can come to terms with it. If we make her into a Cruxis angel, she'll refuse to sleep and may never overcome it."

"I concur." Her father sighed contently, thankful for his friend's intervention.

"You would let her live out her life suffering in her sleep?" The blond-haired Seraph started to grow impatient, determined to have things his way.

"Better than letting her live for eternity, suffering in her wake." Kratos shot back, struggling to retain his composure.

"There's no guarantee that she'll ever recover from the incident anyway." Yggdrasill scoffed bitterly.

"But I doubt she'd want to live like this forever." The blue-haired Seraph intervened again.

"Forget it, Mithos. As a Seraph, I disagree. And as a father, I won't allow it." Kratos answered firmly, sending his former companion a warning glare as he disappeared into a shaft of light.

"Kratos isn't stupid, you know. He saw right through you. Not that you weren't aware of that from the start." Yuan added before disappearing into an identical shaft of light.

"Humph." Yggdrasill growled under his breath as he turned to face Martel, reluctant to accept his own failure. I guess it was foolish of me to expect my own teacher to fall for such a dirty trick. Well, it doesn't matter. I'll continue to spread my influence over the girl… And think of another way in the meantime.

"For my sister's sake…" He whispered to himself.

Seven Years Later

Sara Aurion, now seventeen years old, knelt against the ground panting heavily as she wiped the sweat on her forehead off with the edge of her cream-colored sleeve. She quickly glanced up at her adversary as he swiftly advanced towards her mercilessly as he attempted to spin kick her onto her back. She saw this coming and quickly rose to her feet as she performed a smooth back flip in order to dodge his attack, meanwhile slamming him in the jaw with the sole of her black boots. He stumbled backwards upon impact, wiping away the trickle of blood that fell down his chin as he swiftly landed before her, locking the bare muscles of his arms against her own. He was clearly a lot stronger than she was, but she also nearly matched him in speed, accuracy and evasion.

She stared her adversary in the eye as they locked arms, attempting the block each other's attack before they could strike one of their own. The pupils of her amber eyes dilated as she felt him slam harder against her arms as he went for a strike against her face, which was successfully blocked by her arms tightly crossed with each other.

"Good, but don't lose your guard in other plac—." She surprised him with an attempted swinging kick to his side as she ignored the lecture, which he caught on before her leg could strike. He held her leg in place, swinging her over on her side in order to pin her on the ground. She managed to deal another blow to his jaw with her foot before falling onto her backside against the stone platform.

He quickly recovered from the blow and charged forward, attempting to strike the finishing blow before she had time to recover from the fall. She noticed him closing in out of the corner of her eye and quickly unleashed the power of the turquoise Exsphere attached to her hand. Her body began to glow as she jumped to her feet and leaned all the way backwards so that her hands touched the ground as she dodged his blow, lifting her legs to smack his hands away.

Her adversary also wore an Exsphere, but refused to unleash its power in training. They both knew that if he did, she'd be completely annihilated within a matter of seconds.

He quickly surprised her by kicking her onto her stomach as her legs swung in the air, pinning her against the ground victoriously with his foot pressing gently against the padded armor covering her back. When she knew the fight was over, the fiery glow that had engulfed her body began to diminish.

"Enough." He murmured, removing his leg as she winced in pain and slowly found her way on her hands and knee before warily rising to her feet. "You did well today, though you shouldn't rely on using your feet as much as your fists."

Sara turned towards her father, nodding obediently with a smirk as she massaged her sore wrists.

"...I've been assigned to a new mission, so you can work on it while I'm gone. I may be away for some time." Kratos added hesitantly, earning a questionable stare from his daughter. "Lord Yggdrasill has arranged for me to accompany the Chosen of Sylvarant, the declining world, on the Journey of Regeneration."

"…?"

"I requested your assistance but… he wouldn't allow it. Why?" He asked rhetorically, reading her offended facial expression. "After discussing it, we both came to an agreement that it would be better if you didn't accompany me on the journey. I have to devote all of my attention to ensuring that the Chosen is kept safe from harms way and completes the journey successfully so that she can be reborn as Martel. If something were to happen to you or if I had to make a decision between your life and hers at a critical moment… obviously I would choose to save you. That's why you're forbidden to accompany me."

Sara flushed with anger, obviously offended over the whole ordeal. She was a strong martial artist; not nearly as good as her father, but definitely a force to be reckoned with. But more importantly, Sylvarant is where she was born and had spent the first three years of her life. She had always wanted to see it again with her own eyes. And she had also waited patiently for several years to be given the opportunity to go on an important mission with her father. She also resented the fact that he would dare to leave her alone in Derris-Kharlan with Mithos and his lifeless angels for Martel knows how long.

"I know that by now you're strong enough to take care of yourself but… I can't risk losing you or the Chosen." He murmured softly, watching her reluctantly admit defeat as shot him an icy glare and sighed to herself.

"My decision is final. I'll be leaving tomorrow if you chose to see me off." He added coldly, refusing to tolerate her attitude. She felt as though she wanted to scream—if she could, that is. Instead she furiously stormed off to her room as he father silently watched her do so, equally irritated.

Several days had passed since her father left to begin his mission. She hadn't said goodbye. She had actually taken it upon herself to avoid him for the rest of that day, either training on her own or locked up in her room, sprawled across her bed with nothing to do. At the moment, this is exactly what she was doing. She turned over on her side, glaring at the plastered white walls of her room as she tried to figure out what to do with herself.

She felt useless and alone without her father, the only person she really had in her life that she could rely on. Sure Uncle Yuan would stop by now and then, but he was usually never around. Not that she could blame him.

Deciding that doing the homework her father had left for her while he was gone was completely out of the question, she peeled herself off from her bed and decided to change out of her Cruxis clothes and into something more casual, flexible and easy to train in. She usually wore them around to fit in with the lifeless angels, but knew that she would never belong here regardless.

Reaching into her drawers, she picked out a pair of brown cargo capris, a gold-colored tank top, a short black hooded sweater that only covered her bust with elbow length sleeves and a zipper going down the center and a pair of dark grey fingerless gloves with iron knuckles attached. She also slipped on a pair of short black boots and brushed her straight shoulder length auburn hair behind her ears. Satisfied, she walked out of her room and strolled down the hallway toward the city streets.

As she made her way down the corridor, she stopped herself from walking upon hearing the sound of two voices conversing with one another. Not that the lifeless angels couldn't speak, but these voices were much more animated and lifelike; and she recognized them immediately.

"So, you convinced Lord Kratos to leave his daughter alone here for you to babysit while he assists the Chosen? How crafty! Well, it's probably for the better anyway…" The voice she recognized as Pronyma announced, as full of herself as she had always been. By now, Sara had pressed herself against the wall, listening intently. "…if Kratos betrays us again, we have his pathetic, mute, inferiorbeing of a daughter as a hostage. She's unknowingly proved herself to be quite an asset to Cr—."

"Silence!" Yggdrasill hissed in a whisper, cutting her off. "How dare you speak so freely here! What if she heard you say such a thing? You could put my entire plan in jeopardy!"

"M-my apologies, Lord Yggdrasill!" She cowered in fear. "Forgive me for speaking out of line."

"Stupid woman..." He muttered to himself.

Sara stood motionless against the wall processing what she had just heard, afraid to move or even breathe for that matter. As she heard their voices fade away into the distance she ran back down the corridor and ran through the door she thought was the one that lead to her room. After all, all of the doors in Welgaia were completely identical.

Upon entering the room, she flipped the switch and glanced around, noticing that something was off. Then it hit her: she had accidentally stumbled into her father's room. It was slightly more lavish then her own, with hand-crafted wooden furniture and a crimson bedspread that gave the room a warm, sensual feeling. Not that her father ever needed sleep, mind you.

As she turned to leave, a scroll of parchment on his desk caught her eye. It seemed to be very old, almost as ancient as he was. She carefully made her way over to the desk and hesitantly opened the scroll, revealing a detailed map of the declining world of Sylvarant including the locations to all of the seals and Desian ranches.

She grinned excitedly at the newfound discovery, and it was then that she realized what is was that she needed to do.