3 reviews this time, from Dawnstarshine, I.K.A. Valian (my 2 most reliable reviewers by far in this story), and Gijinka Renamon. Just to keep us up to date, you can expect Sheena to deal with her first summon spirit in this chapter.

Namco owns Tales of Symphnoia. Martin Scorsese owns The Departed. Felix Chong and Siu Fai Mak own Infernal Affairs.


"Come on, we have to contact Gil as soon as possible. He's supposed to pick us up," the tall half-elf glanced over his shoulder at his partner, "You done yet, Chatman?" he asked in an irritated tone.

"Jeez, no need to be raising your voice, Dell. I'm just making sure my bag is zipped up," the shorter half-elf snapped back. Chatman and Dell were assigned by Forcystus to accompany Gil in his quest for the police mole. Just getting off the plane at Palmacosta, Dell whipped out a cell phone and tried to contact Gil, who was supposed to pick them up. While Dell dialled, Chatman's eyes began wandering.

"Hi Gil, we just got off the plane," Dell began. Meanwhile, Chatman's eyes were really darting around, and he was getting increasingly uncomfortable.

"Hey Dell, there are people who keep staring at us," Chatman muttered. Unlucky for him, Dell was making arrangements for a meeting place and could not address his partner's concerns. "Dell, this is getting dangerous here," Chatman continued, slightly increasing his volume.

"Hang on, Gil, I have to deal with this first," Dell lowered his phone and whipped his head around, "What are you mumbling about over there?" he demanded.

"There are people who keep glaring at us," Chatman replied, sounding frantic, "We got to get out of here, it's getting dangerous."

Dell looked around, but saw that no one in particular was staring at them. "There is nobody looking at you. Can you quit being so paranoid?" he retorted, giving Chatman a glare before returning to his conversation with Gil.

Chatman again surveyed the airport terminal, acting like a mouse afraid of being picked up by a hawk. "Dell, there are cops in this airport, I'm sure of it!" he hissed, pulling on the sleeve of the taller half-elf.

That seemed to be the last straw for Dell, who grabbed the shirt of Chatman and pulled him closer to his face. "Listen, there are no cops here, and nobody is looking at us. The only way they'll be looking this way is if you bring it upon yourself by causing a scene the way you were earlier. Now are you going to let me finish arranging with Gil so he can pick us up or are you going to continue babbling?"

"Dell? What's going on over there? Why do you keep getting interrupted?" Gil demanded at the other line, growing more and more impatient.

"Nothing, it's just Chatman here who's being all paranoid about how cops are everywhere and they're all looking at us," Dell replied.

"But they are everywhere!" Chatman shouted. That time it got the attention of everyone around them, who in turn stared at the two half-elves in annoyance.

"And you can just ignore that," Dell told Gil, "So Terminal C second exit is where you'll meet us?" he confirmed with the former police officer.

"Yes, and we'll be heading straight to Magnius and doing the investigations. By the way, what orders does Forcystus have on the police mole situation?" Gil asked, "I'm not getting any luck trying to get Magnius to cooperate with me. It seems more like he's trying to do things his own way."

"Forcystus figured you would say that, so that's why he told us to be prepared to take out Magnius, if necessary. It seems nasty to take out one of our own, but right now we're onto a stage where new pieces of technology are being shipped into Iselia again and we have to keep every side together," Dell explained, "If Magnius does anything that may compromise Cruxis' operations we will need to stop him."

"Alright, I'll keep my eyes open for any weird activities then," Gil replied, "He did tell me that he wants to get the mana of the local region by himself, so I don't know what Forcystus may say about that. I'll see you in a bit." With that, he hung up the phone. Sighing to himself, he picked up the keys to his rental car and headed for the airport, all the while dialling back to Iselia to update the police department on the recent activities.


As they returned to the Palmacosta base, they immediately went to Magnius' office, only to notice that he was not around. After some frantic searching, they finally found him in the main room, with a bunch of people huddled around him. Curious, they tried to step into the room, only to be intercepted by a couple of Magnius' men and kept out. "What's the meaning of this?" Dell demanded.

"Magnius is beginning an operation and is not allowing any outsiders in," one of the men responded, "You'll just have to wait until we're done."

Dell and Chatman were bewildered at the response, as they looked at each other in confusion. Gil, however, remained relatively calm. Instead, he shot a question back at the two men in their way. "Cruxis never had any operation planned until the police mole situation is fixed, so what's going on here?" Gil asked, crossing his arms.

"Magnius is not letting anyone in, so you'll just have to wait until he's finished," the guard persisted, putting a hand on Gil's shoulder and trying to escort him away.

"Hey, what crap is this? Are you implying we're not part of Cruxis?" Chatman yelled, "Gil, ignore these guys, I say we just bust our way in there!"

As the awkward exchange continued, Gil told Dell to phone up Forcystus while he tried to listen in on the orders from inside the room. "Get onto those boats, we have to be on Thoda Geyser as soon as possible," he could hear Magnius bark out.

"They're sending guys into the island, where's Forcystus?" Gil asked as Dell waited for the call to connect.

Meanwhile, Chatman's heckling and shouting really got to the nerves of the two half-elves guarding the door. They began a small shoving match, and even got the attention of some people inside the room, Magnius included. "Someone please throw that idiot out of here. We have a mission to accomplish here," Magnius roared, turning back to the centre, "Follow the route that the research boat took to the geyser. That way we won't be spotted as easily," he continued, "Take anybody in the area hostage, including researchers, tourists, wardens, anyone."

"Did you get all that, Dell?" Gil asked his partner as Dell listed all the points to Forcystus through the phone, "Meanwhile I'll make sure Chatman doesn't get killed," he muttered, trying to pull Chatman out from the crowd. The shoving match was threatening to escalate into an all-out fist fight.

"No, no no no, that's not our mission at all," Dell could hear Forcystus tell him on the other line, "Where is Magnius? Let me speak to him!"

"He's keeping us out of the room. We can't get past his guys," Dell explained, "I don't think there's anything we can do to convince him to stop,"

As Gil struggled to maintain order within the increasingly volatile scene, he could hear Magnius move towards their direction. Finally getting a hold of Chatman, he pulled the half-elf from the crowd just as Magnius stepped through. Placing his large frame right at the doorway, he glared menacingly at Gil. "I already told you, human, you and your lackeys are not welcome here!" he bellowed.

"Magnius, be reasonable here! You're putting all of Cruxis in danger, and if the police mole is indeed in our company, then who knows what he or she will send into the island to take out your guys," Gil pointed out, "Military, coast guard, you name it! Now in the name of all things sacred, abort this crazy mission and go back to Forcystus' plan! We even have him on the line to prove it to you!" Gil pointed out, waving Dell to come forward with his phone.

"Save it, I don't need Forcystus to tell me what to do. In fact, I've been told that each specific source has enough mana on its own for all of us to use. We don't need some fancy weapons that Forcystus is building to accomplish our goals," Magnius bragged, "But you can keep him on the line while I do big things for Cruxis and climb over him on the hierarchy ladder!" Magnius howled with laughter as he moved back to his position, again asking the two original half-elves to prevent Gil's group from entering.

Dell sighed as he ended the conversation with Forcystus. "Well, looks like our mission to find out the mole's connections to Palmacosta has taken a back seat, now that Magnius has gone mad with Thoda," he commented.

Gil looked away from the scene, his mind in deep thought. "Military, coast guard, research teams," he murmured, "there may just be a chance to stop this madness, and even pin the mole on Magnius' own incompetence. It's a long shot, but I hope it works." Turning back to Chatman and Dell, he told them to keep an eye on Magnius. "I'm leaving for a couple of minutes, make sure you don't take your eyes off him," he ordered, "I may have a plan that can save Cruxis."


"Finally I get a chance to meet you, Dr. Brunel has been telling us a lot about what you guys were doing," Lloyd greeted, shaking hands with Sheena. Sheena was decked in a purple sweatshirt and dark track pants, and just like Raine, she had the typical equipment of a ruins researcher: mana gauge, flashlight, and a clipboard. "So, exactly what type of research are you doing?"

"Just like Raine in Triet, I'm studying the ruins of Thoda Geyser and its significance to our history. But while Raine studies the function of each temple and what human activities may have been present there, I study how the so-called summon spirits may have been laying dormant in here and how summoners actually control them. In fact, from some historical records, one member of the world reunification crew is actually a summoner, so it'd be interesting to see what role summon spirits can play in the energy and mana flow of the world today," Sheena explained.

"Do you know any summoning at all?" Lloyd continued, curious to know.

"I can probably communicate better with these spirits than you guys do, given what Frank told me about your cell phone incident," Sheena replied, making Lloyd look down in embarrassment again, "I've done most of my research into the relations between a summoner and the summon spirits, so I know how to get a summon spirit to appear and such. But as for actual summoning, I doubt that exists today,"

"So if summoning is lost or at least isn't commonly used, then can't one assume that the roles the summon spirits play in today's world is different than when the worlds are separate?" Colette asked.

"That would be a safe bet, since the worlds are much different between the two times, but I think you'll all get a better understanding of the situation once you get into the temple." Picking up her belongings, she stepped into another dark corridor, "Anybody going to follow?" she asked.

Just like in Triet, the group slowly stepped into the darkening hallway. Genis brought up the rear, tugging on his fingerless gloves and flipping on his video camera. He scanned the area and giving his own commentary. "So this is it, Grandma, the Thoda Geyser's back, home to the water elemental summon spirit known as Undine."

Just as Genis was about to turn to follow the group, something caught his eye, and he turned quickly to identify the source. Running back out into the sunlight, he saw a few strange looking boats coming towards the research station's dock. "I wasn't aware that there were two research teams coming to Thoda," he muttered.

Just as Genis refocused the video camera to zoom in, he heard Raine shout for him. "Genis, you don't want to get left behind, don't you?" Sighing in defeat, he could only turn back and entered the tunnel, all the while making a mental note to himself to ask Frank and his colleague what was going on with the boats outside.

The young half-elf had to pick up his pace and cut most of his commentary short as he hurried to catch up with the group. Scurrying through the dark tunnel like a mouse, Genis panned the camera left and right, filming and recording all the interesting symbols and structures within the area. "This is very different from Triet," Genis continued his commentary, "The structure is built in a totally different format, and the focus is more on honouring the water elementals. It shows that the pilgrims of the past are probably well aware of the different elements of their world and are taking different approaches to honour and glorify these elements."

"I think you can make your own documentary film, with all that commentary you're giving," Sheena teased the young half-elf, "But either way, I'm glad that you guys are interested in this area. It's important that we get a chance to learn about these very important historical artefacts."

"I think we should leave the rest of the commentary to you and Raine," Genis decided, "You guys probably know more about this area than I do. Besides, I'm only doing this for Grandma, who couldn't make it." With that, he panned the shot to the two female researchers and clicked on a small light, which illuminated the tunnel as Genis continued filming and recording the descriptions given by Raine and Sheena as they made their descend deeper into the temple.

Unfortunately for Genis and the others, the boats outside were not from another research team; rather, they were from Cruxis, sent into the island by Magnius to take control of the huge quantity of mana usually present in each of these temples. As the boats docked, Cruxis members pulled out boxes of equipment and other sophisticated pieces of technology. After spending a few minutes to set up and make sure all the equipment had been accounted for, the leader of the group waved his hand to lead the people into the cave.

"I have my doubts about both Magnius and Forcystus," one member could be heard saying, "Forcystus seems to be reluctant to do anything with regards to getting all this untapped mana, but don't you think Magnius may be taking too big of a risk in going for this area in broad daylight?"

"Forcystus is just too power hungry," another member commented, "He thinks that by being a control freak, he can decide what happens to whom and who gets what done. He thinks by doing that he can get all the credit and be the guy on top when all this is done. I say Magnius is taking a risk that should be taken, and show that good-for-nothing pretty-boy what real Cruxis power means."

"Enough, you two!" the leader snapped, "Don't forget that we have a mission to accomplish here," he reminded them as the group stepped into the cave, "alright, here's the plan. Magnius had said that the only objective is getting the mana, so we'll have to deal with anybody that may get in our way. Here's what I suggest…"

As this group entered the cave, little did they know that yet a third group was about to dock as well. Just like Cruxis, this group had multiple boats carrying many members and equipment, but on closer inspection, one could see the two words in bold letters across the sides of the boats: Coast Guard.


"I've called my counterpart in Palmacosta and they said they will be sending in the Coast Guard. I'm sure they'll try to get the military involved if necessary, but you'll just have to work with what you've got right now," Chief Marshall explained to Gil.

"Alright, I'll watch over things from over here," Gil responded, "I still have a couple of calls to make, I'll talk to you later," Gil cut the conversation and shoved his cell phone back into his pocket.

The last fifteen minutes or so were extremely hectic for the undercover police officer, as he first dialled to the Iselia Police Chief to inform him of the dangers. He then turned to Forcystus, asking him for his orders on Magnius, who seemed to defy Cruxis objectives to lay low until the final attack. Forcystus ended up telling Gil to hold off on any action while he tried to make some sense of the scene being played out.

Gil returned to the Iselia police and told Chief Marshall to inform Palmacosta to send in the Coast Guard. Finally, Forcystus returned the call, telling Gil to do anything in his power to observe Magnius' men, seeing which one had connections to the police, all the while trying to stop Magnius from ruining Cruxis' plans with his hasty move.

Now, with the Coast Guard and even military prepared to take action, Gil had everything set out as planned. "Once they reach the island, Cruxis and law enforcement personnel will clash, Magnius' mission will fail, causing Forcystus to ask us to keep him in check, and lastly I can blame Magnius for not noticing the police mole, all the while keeping my identity safe," Gil murmured to himself. Nodding, he stepped back to the main control room, where Dell and Chatman were still trying to get inside.

"Gil, we still can't get inside," Chatman reported, "What's the foolproof plan that you said you were coming up with earlier?"

Gil raised his hand to calm his partner down. "Just keep an eye on Magnius for now, and we'll see what happens next," Gil explained, "I can tell you the next half an hour or so will be quite a hair-raising experience for the man."

Chatman had an expression on his face that bordered between confused and bewildered. Gil dismissed him, choosing to make his updates to his taller and calmer partner instead. Pulling Dell aside, Gil whispered, "Forcystus said that Magnius was making a mistake either way, it's just a matter of what happens next that dictates what action we take in the next little while."

Dell seemed just as confused as Chatman was a minute ago, but Gil chose to elaborate just briefly. "If law enforcement goes after his guys, we know the mole is in here, and that means we bust him up. If no one goes after him, and he gets to the mana, Forcystus said that Magnius does not have enough experience or equipment to handle all that stuff. That means his mission fails, and we bust him up just as bad," Gil explained.

Dell and Chatman looked at each other quizzically, as neither was convinced of the new plan. But Gil would have no protest, as he stepped back into the doorway with his arms crossed and an arrogant smile plastered across his face. "Magnius, your life is about to get miserable," he stated, chuckling.


"So this is it: the altar at which the pilgrims of the past will offer their prayers," Raine marvelled. Indeed, erected before the group was the same oracle stone found at the Triet ruins, even the carvings and figures on the two stones were very similar. "Well, are we ready to see another summon spirit?" Raine asked.

The group nodded anxiously as they let Sheena do the work this time. Nobody wanted a repeat of the last summon spirit, where Colette's tripping and Lloyd's collision with the stone nearly broke a very important artefact, not to mention that the summon spirit unleashed its fury on everyone, causing an evacuation. Everyone stood behind Sheena in a small semi-circle, and Lloyd checked his cell phone to ensure that it was off.

The only person that was not completely satisfied or comfortable was Genis, who scampered around the area trying to get a good angle in filming the scene. "I'm not tall enough," he muttered, "I can't get the whole area in the shot." Carefully climbing onto a lower platform of a pillar, he balanced delicately on his heels and slowly lifted the video camera, holding it steady for a better shot.

Genis tried to zoom in the shot into Sheena, and increase the recording volume as Sheena mumbled a bunch of words that were inaudible to him. Suddenly, his hands began to shake and tingle, similar to ice water being dumped onto them. Curious, he placed a harder grip on the camera, but the shaking continued. Undaunted, he gripped his right wrist with his left hand, only to make it worse as both hands shook uncontrollably. At this time, a tingling sensation also shot up his spine, like electricity through a wire.

"Uh, guys, I'm starting to get a weird feeling," Genis stated. That got the attention of Raine, Lloyd, and Colette, who looked at him with concern. "I can't stop shaking, and my spine is feeling a numbing sensation."

Immediately, Frank and his colleague Mark Owen checked the mana gauge, and it was through the roof. "It's just like Triet," Frank announced, "Just before the summon spirit was to appear, mana levels increase and become unstable."

"Not to mention that those sensitive to mana could feel it extra well," Mark added, "according to my past research, those with elfish blood do get a feeling throughout their bodies as this happens. Given the fact that we have two half-elves here, it wouldn't surprise me if they are feeling the mana right now."

"But I'm a half-elf, yet I don't feel anything," Raine replied, "Why does Genis feel the mana and I can't?"

"I think it's because you're not concentrating on the altar," Lloyd explained, "Genis' book told me that to feel the mana, one must have their focus solely on the source of the mana." Pointing at the young half-elf, Lloyd continued, "Genis was trying to focus his video camera on the altar the entire time, so his attention was squarely on the altar. That's why he can feel it much better than you can,"

"Uh, guys, pay attention please, something's coming," Sheena called from the pedestal. Indeed, a swirl of lights combine together, and in a bright flash, a petite, blue-haired female was standing before them. And just like back in Triet, the summon spirit surveyed the scene, causing silence among the crowd.

"This must be Undine, the water elemental summon spirit," Sheena whispered to the group, "Don't do anything weird, I'll try to communicate with her." Turning back to the blue summon spirit, she spoke in a slow, clear manner. "Undine, we have not come to harm this area. We come in peace, and would just like to study the area. Is it possible to have some of your cooperation in this?"

But just before Undine could make a move, an unfamiliar voice from the back interrupted the group. "And that's where you guys will step aside," that voice ordered.

Everybody turned around to see a bunch of people with strange equipment and technology marching into the area. "That's the group from the other research team," Genis realized, "They were pulling into the dock just when we were walking in."

"What other research team?" Mark asked, "I'm only aware of two that are booked to come here today: mine and Frank's."

"That's because we're not here for research, we're here for the mana," the leader of this new group announced. A couple of people holding weapons stepped forward and pushed the research team towards the side of the chamber as the leader continued, "Now just follow our instructions carefully and don't anybody make a move. Otherwise, none of you will make it out alive."

Reluctant to risk being shot, the research group slowly made its way to the wall. One person with a weapon grabbed Genis by his vest and dragged him off the pillar, not noticing that his video camera was still running. "While you're at it, pull out all your cell phones and put them in a pile right where we can see them," the leader continued.

That prompted movement from everyone in the group except for Genis, who did not have his own phone yet. As the young half-elf looked on, the hijackers set a bunch of elaborate equipment all over the area, some of them blinking, flashing and beeping. Secretly, Genis aimed the camera at them, knowing that it might come in handy as evidence for the police or coast guard, should they arrive at all.

The only being that seemed unaffected by the action before them was the summon spirit, as Undine stood relatively still on the pedestal, scanning around and observing the action before her. But it didn't take long before the blue maiden of the mists started changing her facial expression. Because of her relatively human features, her expressions were much easier to detect than Efreet's, and Lloyd's group could see that Undine was getting uncomfortable with all the beeping and flashing equipment.

"How's the mana level right now?" Lloyd could hear the leader of the group ask one of his technicians, "Any signs of instabilities?"

"Mana levels are fluctuating like crazy," the technician replied, "The mana is getting more and more unstable, and it won't be long before the main source, or summon spirit, is out of control."

It took mere seconds for Lloyd's group to piece the ideas together. This group was trying to make the summon spirits lose control of the mana, and letting them take hold of the mana. But remembering the Efreet incident, a summon spirit losing control due to mana instability could also risk the lives of all those in the surrounding area.

Lloyd took the chance to speak up. "You guys are crazy! If you do this, mana instability could cause mana to be unleashed in all sorts of ways! Everyone in the cave will be at risk! Stop this operation at once!" he shouted.

That earned a back-handed slap across the mouth from one of the henchmen near the group. "Quiet, you! Any more out of you and you'd get a bullet right in your temple!"

"But it's true, please listen to us!" Colette pleaded. That was to no avail as well, as she got shoved right back into the group, nearly toppling over a few people. That led to more yelling and shoving from both sides, as neither group was willing to back down from their objective.

The only person who was not involved in the ensuing scrum was Genis. In fact, he was not in the area at all. Taking the chance to sneak off, he found a narrow passageway that led back outside. Video camera still in hand, he hurried out into the daylight, only to see the Coast Guard slowly pulling into the dock. "Thank goodness you got here. We have some type of a hijack inside. A research team is in danger and the tourists on the other side may be at risk as well," he informed the law enforcement team.

Nodding, the lead officer gave his assignments. "Members on Boats A and B will be with me to infiltrate this area. Remember that we have a hostage situation, so approach with caution. Boat C, go to the tourist dock and start evacuating people ASAP."

Within minutes, a tense scene became explosive as the Coast Guard charged into the cave. More shouting and moving ensued, and threats were exchanged from either side. Amid the confusion, Genis could see Undine starting the sway uncomfortably, with strange bits of light going in and out of her body. "Just like the Triet incident," he murmured to himself.

"We've asked once, and we'll ask again: release the hostages, shut down your machines, and march out of this cave with your hands up!" the lead Coast Guard officer blared into the megaphone. Turning to another Coast Guard, the lead officer whispered, "If this doesn't work out, radio for back-up and have them attack from the back."

Suddenly, it dawned on Genis. All the technology and noise were causing Undine to lose control of her powers, and remembering what Raine had said, any device that broadcasted waves would be most dangerous. Grabbing the lead officer by the arm, Genis gave his grave warning. "Don't radio for anything. It'll make the place more unstable!"

Before the lead officer could inquire more of Genis' premonition, the young half-elf already took off for the outside. From the corner of his eye, he could see the tourists slowly being loaded onto the boats, but just as the boats departed, a news crew pulled up.

And before Genis could even blink, he had a camera much larger than the one he held shoved into his face, and a microphone jabbed at his mouth like an ice cream cone. "We're reporting live from Thoda Geyser, a major tourist attraction that has reportedly been attacked by a terrorist group of some sort, and there is a research team supposedly being held hostage right now," the reporter turned to Genis, "We'll see if this youngster can give us any information. What have you seen inside so far?"

"Everybody listen to me and get these things out of here! You're making the area even more unstable with your news antennae and stuff!" Genis yelled, waving his arms frantically. He managed to catch some camera crew entering the cave, and raced towards them trying to keep them out. "Leave now, or we're all going to die!"

Genis' attempt to push the camera crew back out caused a strange altercation to occur between the young half-elf and the news crew. Just as the reporter caught up with him to ask of the danger, a sick groan sounded from the inside. "Oh no," Genis muttered.


Hm. I never expected Genis to be a cameraman/shutterbug, but when the chapter progressed, I just can't see him let go of his camera. Likewise, I tried to make Lloyd a bit smarter here, knowing that he's been put down to the point of absurdity in the game. It just didn't so realistc to have him completely clueless. And what do you think of Gil playing both sides earlier?

I should really stop rambling, but I'm so excited about the direction this story is heading. Give it a read, your reviews are appreciated.