Disclaimer: I don't own Tales of Symphonia. Namco does.
I should be working on some of my other neglected stories at the moment but unfortunately, my main computer with the partly finished chapters is being fixed so I'm updating the other stories. As a result, this one is going to see more updates for a bit.
--
A few days had passed since the incident at the Meltokio inn. A meeting had been called by Yggdrasil for the grand cardinals and the seraphim to discuss how to deal with the chaos breaking loose across Tethe'alla. For once, Yuan was smiling as he walked in to join what would normally be classified as a "meeting from hell." Walking past Kratos the stiff, he took a seat. Eyes certainly widened as several supposedly dead Desian grand cardinals walked into the room.
"Traitor! How are you still alive?!" Pronyma screeched, pointing emphatically at Rodyle. Kratos cocked an eyebrow, trying to piece things together. He had known that Forcystus had saved Magnius but he was also sure that he had maimed Kvar sufficiently. Rodyle should have been dead too since Pronyma had been bragging for the last month or so non stop that she had rooted out a traitor that the Four Seraphim were unaware of. In truth, all three active seraphim had known for ages. No one could really speak for Martel but she probably knew too.
"The Chosen's group only killed an illusion. I saved him," Forcystus said bluntly. Yggdrasil sat up in his chair, interested now. He had been sure that Rodyle was a traitor yet Forcystus had saved him. This particular cardinal was his favorite. A combination of the good points of all the other cardinals, he was fairly smart unlike Magnius. He was loyal unlike Kvar and Rodyle. He wasn't annoying unlike Pronyma. He was a near perfect subordinate. So was Rodyle really a traitor or not?
"I destabilized the cruxis crystal he wanted to use to take control. Forcystus is a battle oriented cardinal without the knowledge of how to stop the breakdown," Pronyma said smugly. Forcystus shifted in his chair uncomfortably. No one had expected Pronyma to ask something remotely intelligent. There was a pause.
"Well?" Yggdrasil asked.
"Forcystus brought Rodyle to me, knowing that he couldn't fix the problem. I've had my doubts about Rodyle as well but Forcystus is extremely loyal. If he wanted Rodyle saved, I figured it must have been for a good reason so I complied," Yuan explained. Pronyma opened her mouth to argue. To everyone's surprise, Kratos spoke up.
"I think we have established that at least for now, Rodyle is in the clear," he cut her off. Pronyma flopped back into her seat with a huff.
"They're all conspiring against me," she grumbled.
"Think about what you say before it leaves your mouth. You're saying that Forcystus, Rodyle, and Yuan are working together," Kratos spat. In reality, he figured the three were working together and that Kvar and Magnius were most likely in on it too but he hated Pronyma more than he hated Rodyle. A feeling of deep satisfaction ran through him as Pronyma shrank back. It was similar to the feeling he got when he ripped his sword out of Kvar's chest.
"Now that this is resolved, let's move on to what to do about our little Renegade problem," Yggdrasil said.
"Let's just smash the vermin!" Magnius suggested, slamming his fist on the table.
"Let the Renegades cause havoc. Let's use this to purge the world of inferior races," Forcystus threw out there.
"That's a waste. Throw them in the ranches," Rodyle argued.
"Perhaps I could find a suitable host to continue the Angelus Project," Kvar added.
"Why don't you drop that project before you find Flamberge sticking out of your chest?" Kratos glared. No one was going to argue.
"Perhaps a legion of angels putting down the Renegades would solve the problem," Pronyma offered hopefully. It was well known that Pronyma wanted desperately to move up from the top grand cardinal to the fourth seraphim spot. She simply didn't understand that the fourth seraphim was Martel and always would be Martel, no questions asked. That was just how things worked in Cruxis. Of course, she never understood that. Even Yuan and Kratos face palmed whenever Pronyma tried flirting with Yggdrasil. Most suspected but never had proof but both had known him for long enough to have proof of his... orientation.
"Very well. Take a legion of angels down to Tethe'alla and destroy the Renegades. Don't mobilize the Desian troops so as to decrease the panic," Yggdrasil ordered as he dismissed them all. Everyone filed out of the room. On his way out, Yuan felt a tap on his shoulder.
"Yes?" Yuan asked, turning around. As he expected, it was Kratos.
"I don't know how you did it but I want in," he put it bluntly. Yuan smiled, slung his arm around his old friend's shoulder and walked him out. There was much to discuss…
--
Lloyd's stomach rumbled. With every shop refusing them service they had been stuck relying entirely on Presea's odd ability to find food randomly after battles. Every one was rather skeptical about whether it was safe to eat or not but without a good alternative, they were stuck with it whether they liked it or not.
"We've been wandering around for ages and we haven't found a place to stop," Lloyd whined.
"I know. My face feels so dirty…" Zelos complained. He was ignored.
"I think the Renegades missed a place we could stop. It's not much but its better than nothing," Raine murmured.
--
Kratos entered the meeting room in Rodyle's Remote Island Ranch where the Renegade generals and Desian grand cardinals met. It was odd. They looked so… normal. Kvar was going crazy because he lost to Orifiel in yet another game of chess. Rodyle was lamely trying to help his fellow grand cardinal. Shinobu was sparring with Magnius in the training grounds in the next room. Engetsu was sleeping in a comfy chair. That was fairly normal, right? Well, maybe not Yuan and Forcystus discussing purges but the rest was certainly normal.
"Ah, Kratos. Nice of you to join us," Yuan greeted. Kratos nodded and glanced over the outrageous purge plans.
"Purging the humans would kill the Chosen but it would also kill my son so I'll have to disagree," Kratos laid out. The idea was quickly tossed out the widow and that plan burned.
"What would you suggest?" Yuan asked, "You spent the longest time with the Chosen so you should know how to make her suffer."
"We're going to burn down Altessa's house since you missed it in your rest stop purge, then we're going to do a different kind of purge…"
A blood red aura seemed to surround Kratos as a sadistic smile crept its way across his face.
--
Lloyd's group exited the Gaoracchia Forest, coming out on the Ozette side. Five feet from them stood Yuan, the Renegade generals, and four Desian grand cardinals.
"They knew we were coming," Raine murmured.
"Of course we knew. So we burned Altessa's house and sent him to Sylvarant where he'll be out of the way. Now we're going to beat you down," Yuan said simply.
"We've beaten all of you so just go away," Genis replied, shooing them away with his hand.
"You beat most of them when you had a four on one advantage," Orifiel pointed out, "There are four grand cardinals, four renegade generals, and one seraph here, so it would be nine against eight. You're about to see what happens when these people actually work together."
"I'll just sit this one out so don't worry about being at a numerical disadvantage," Botta assured.
Each leader on the Desian/Renegade side had already picked out a target back at the meeting. Without hesitation, they rushed. Kvar dashed over at Lloyd, deploying his energy stones. Orifiel ran at Genis who started casting desperately. Shinobu locked swords with Zelos. Engetsu started an attack on Raine. Magnius brought his axe down on Presea. Rodyle cast Gravity Well on Regal. Surprisingly, Yuan attacked Sheena, leaving Colette for Forcystus. As war broke loose, all the lackeys shrank back.
Kvar swung his staff, summoning lightning bolts down on Lloyd who blocked it with Guardian. Without missing a beat, he ordered his energy stones to attack in intervals so it couldn't all be defended. Lloyd pushed through with a quick Tiger Blade only to receive a Thunder Blade to the face.
Orifiel casually interrupted Genis' spell with a smack from his staff. This was pathetically easy. While the short little mage might be useful in uneven battles, interrupting him was simple in a one on one fight and the kid could fight hand to hand if his life depended on it. Plus he had boss class casting speed.
"Indignation," Orifiel called out almost bored as he fried the small mage.
Shinobu and Zelos danced around, showing off their magic sword techs, neither gaining any ground. Both knew that Shinobu would win eventually with his boss status but that was so far off that neither really cared at the moment.
There was really nothing to say about Engetsu and Raine's fight. A certain healer was passed out on the ground due to a lack of offensive and defensive capability. She belonged in the back as a support member, not in the front lines brawling with a melee expert.
Magnius and Presea were fighting to a draw as well. The large grand cardinal couldn't understand how a little girl half as tall as him was matching him blow for blow in both power and endurance. It was baffling, just as baffling as to how she was still standing after what seemed like a million hits. Oh well. There was nothing to do but keep hacking away. Raising his axe once more he let out his trademark battle cry.
"Vermin!!!"
Most of the troops sweatdropped.
Meanwhile, Regal and Rodyle weren't getting anywhere either. The convict just kept on dodging the ground spells that the grand cardinal cast yet couldn't hit back against the multitude of illusions. Both were getting somewhat irritated at this point.
Yuan toyed around with Sheena a bit. His goal wasn't to kill, though some might have disagreed as his double saber ripped apart the scenery with yet another Thunder Explosion. Sheena found out all too quickly that her cards were for the most part ineffective against an enemy like this. Yuan's double saber was extremely heavy and thus resulted in a circle of death for everything within the seraph's reach. His angel strength completely negated any lag he might have due to using such a bulky weapon. With a quick Thunder Blade, Yuan knocked Sheena off her feet. Reaching into her pocket, he retrieved what he wanted and backed up. Of course he also managed to earn himself a red hand shaped mark on the side of his face.
Forcystus' fight with Colette was long over. It went from a fight to a slaughter from the moment Colette had tried to throw her chakrams in the middle of a cyclone. They landed in the lake not too far away but Colette was left completely unarmed. Normally throwing hammers and such would have sufficed against a normal opponent but Forcystus just sat back and kept firing away with his cannon arm. The hammers never even came close.
"We got it! Let's go!" Yuan called. All fighting stopped. In less than thirty seconds, there was no trace of the Desians or the Renegades.
"What was that about?" Lloyd asked to no one in particular.
--
Back in the Remote Island Ranch, the grand cardinals were chewing Yuan out.
"We had them! We could have killed them! Why did you have us retreat?!" Kvar raged. Taking a sip of his coffee, Yuan fished his stolen good out of his pocket. There were two rings. More specifically, they were the Aquamarine and the Sardonyx.
"You stole some pact rings?" Rodyle asked.
"Without Undine they can't travel by sea and without Volt they can't recharge the rheiards. They're stranded," Kvar said in understanding.
"Now we move onto the purge plan to give the Chosen true misery," Yuan said. Everyone leaned in to listen.
"We're going to have a purge."
Forcystus pumped a fist. Kvar rolled his eyes.
"We're not purging the humans," Yuan said, causing Forcystus to deflate a bit, "We're going to purge the world of puppies."
Soon the room was filled with evil laughter. Kvar recovered first.
"We should do this more often but we're going to run out of stuff to do soon," he commented. The others nodded in agreement.
"I already took care of it by revising what we did last time," Orifiel said. He walked out and came back with one of the old suggestion boxes. The word kill had been crossed out and the word torture had been written under it in red marker. The room was filled with evil laughter again until the door burst open. Several Renegades and Desians ran in.
"Sirs! I found a way to torture the Chosen!"
--
And yet another chapter is now done. The chaos continues.