Tales of Symphonia © Namco


Training, training, and more training. When we aren't fighting the desert roamers — which is very little of the time — I make conversation with Sheena. We've been getting closer lately and the fact that she hasn't brought up my embarrassing meltdown last night makes me even more obliged to be friendly with her.

The heat has become a bit more bearable as we started to put some distance between us and the center of the desert. It still is torturous, but I can at least keep my vision straight.

The thing that still sucks about the desert though is that the monsters require me to use my sword. Right now, I'm just improvising on what to do, seeing as Sheena is probably worse with a sword then I am.

We haven't met any bandits yet. I'm really not that surprised, though; I mean, who would willingly camp out in this heat just to loot some people? There are much better places to pick then a desert.

"Sheena, do you like animals?" I ask. It is early evening, but according to Sheena we won't be setting up camp for another two hours or so.

"Not in particular," Sheena responds. "Why?"

I shrug. "You just are really close ... " I shake my head and re-word myself, "uh, you get along so well with Corrine, s-so I am curious." Then again, Corrine isn't really an animal ... is he? Summon Spirits shouldn't classify as an animal.

I actually haven't seen Corrine since we left Triet. The desert seems to upset the little fox, so Sheena has deliberately not summoned him to help us. Then again, if I had as much fur as him I would be upset by the desert as well.

"Well, actually ... at first, Corrine and I didn't get along very well," I blink, "he absolutely hated me originally. It wasn't until I actually broke him out of the Elemental Research Laboratory that we started growing closer."

"So ... more of an obligatory relationship?" I guess. Sheena saved his life, so had the two only grown close out of obligation or had they actually developed their friendship afterwards?

Sheena fans herself with one of her seals, "Well, not exactly," her eyes flicker up to the sky, "I mean — Corrine was nicer to me afterwards, but we weren't what you could call 'friends'. We just sort of ... got closer after that."

"I see," I fan myself with my hand, breathing out heavily. My feet are burning hot and with each step I have to yank my foot out of the sand. Time for a new topic. "Man ... I wish I could cast magic or some —something; I-I wonder if there is a spell that can mimic a fan?"

Sheena sighs, continuing to use her seal as a makeshift fan. "I have no idea."

The sand underneath me shifts a bit and I throw my arms out to the side to balance myself. Sheena stops, having felt it as well, and we both share a confused look.

"What was ... ?"

Sheena shakes her head. "Tread carefully."

We stop talking and focus on keeping our steps as cautious as possible. Whatever caused the sand to suddenly move has to be big. Nothing else happens for a little while, but neither of us let down our guard.

Suddenly a column of sand shoots up in front of us. I stumble back and my heel catches in the sand, sending me flat to my back. I quickly scramble to my feet and end up falling yet again while Sheena drops into a defensive stance, eyes calculating as she stares into the fading cloud of dust that was sent into the air.

Her eyes go wide and she dives to the side, "Move!"

I don't even think as I push myself to my feet and lunge to the side. Not even a second later a huge, moving column of sand rushes through the entire path Sheena and I had been standing in just seconds earlier. My eyes widen and I barely avoid another attack that actually grazes my arm this time. Fumbling to get a good grip on my sword hilt I stare forward, ready to move if I have to.

The dust begins to clear and in its place stands a gigantic, monstrous creature. It is a cross between a boar and skeleton, with sand and sludge dripping from its drooping arms, which reach all the way to its feet. It opens its mouth wide, and a guttural groan forces its way through the sand pouring out. In total it stands at probably six meters tall.

"W-What the hell?" I look over at Sheena who is staring at the beast with an unreadable expression. She raises a hand at me, and I go silent, watching the beast from the corner of my eye.

The creature just ... stands there. It doesn't try to attack, move, or really do anything. If not for the heavy wheezing sound coming from it I would be questioning whether or not it really is alive.

A few seconds pass. When Sheena realizes the creature isn't attacking, she speaks in a quiet tone, "I think ... it can't tell we're here." She must be able to sense the confused expression on my face as she elaborates, "if you notice, its eyes haven't even focused on either of us. The only time that it has reacted ..." She narrows her eyes, "has been when we move."

At the same time Sheena launches herself towards the beast. Immediately it responds, slamming its arms onto the ground. I fall to the ground again, and Sheena back flips to safety, ribbon edges twirling around her. When she lands it sends another sand-wave towards her and I realize what Sheena meant.

It's blind. If we aren't moving, and we make no noise, it is unable to tell our location; so then, how is it finding us at all?

Sheena lands again, having to jump away to avoid yet another attack. Maybe ...

Is it using our movements to track us?

I'll admit it, Sheena is smart. She's observant and notices things I wouldn't even think about; I didn't even think to guess that the beast would be blind, but she figured it out almost immediately.

With Sheena distracting the beast — with amazing acrobatics that I don't think I'll ever be able to perform — I grip my sword tightly. Now or never.

Taking advantage of its distraction I leap. I meet eyes with Sheena, who nods immediately at me. We may not be talking but Sheena understands what I'm planning.

With the beast's monstrous size growing I hunch a bit and weave through the uneven patches of sand. When I'm close enough I jump in the air and whip my arm around, calling out, "Whirling arc!"

A light green shock wave spurts from my sword as I slash it through the back of the sand monster. It lets out a tortured roar, immediately whipping around and smashing a sandy arm into my torso. I grunt, hitting the ground hard and back rolling for a moment. My head aches as I stand and a slight twinge goes through it as Sheena slaps one of her cards onto its chest. "Pyre Seal!"

It sends the beast back a bit and its legs begin to melt back into the sandy ground while my eyes widen. It's going to sink back in — and probably attack us from below.

Not good.

Despite the sand weighing down my steps I rush towards the monster which is steadily sinking into the sand. Right as its head begins to go under I jump in the air and aim the tip of my sword down, aiming for its head. An arm shoots out to block, in which it temporarily stops its descent, and while my attack is blocked Sheena lands another card on it, this time on its face, yelling out something in Japanese.

The arte causes the sand to disperse and the creature to double over. The sand begins to recede from its body, leaving a depression in the desert. Sheena has, so far, the same techniques as the game along with some other ones that all seem to be in Japanese.

I'm charging at the thing once more when Sheena casts an array of cards around herself. They circle the ninja, beginning to glow, and as soon as my sword's edge begins to rip through the falling sand of the creature she releases the cards.

My sword rips clean through the side of the sand beast, while the bright cards embed themselves on its body and ... explode. A heavy amount of sand kicks up, forcing me to bring an arm up to cover my eyes. When it clears, though, there is no sign of the sand creature; just a light blue stone of some sort resting in its place.

I breath heavily, my heart beating rapidly against my chest. The entire fight ... it took us less than two minutes to dispatch the thing, but when I was fighting it, it felt like an eternity.

I bend down and hold the stone in my hand, blinking. It's smooth and almost ... translucent I guess? Maybe not exactly, I guess, but when I hold it up to the sun it lights up a teeny bit.

I pocket it as Sheena pulls her bag back on. I do the same. "That was new," I say when we're side by side.

"No kidding."

I wipe the back of my hand against my forehead, panting slightly. "I hope we don't run into one of those a—again."

Seeing as the fight considerably wore both of us out — well, actually, it might just be me — we stop soon afterwards. The sun is beginning to disappear and the sky has lost its bright blue colour. The air is finally cooling down as well, thankfully.

Neither of us have a way to make a fire, so Sheena simply hands me another packaged product that she takes out of her bag. I turn it over in my hand, running my fingers along the edge of the wrapper. Until wood becomes available it'll be too difficult to create a fire, so Sheena had nabbed a bunch of instant foods from the marketplace and inn before we departed.

The bread inside tastes similar to the one this morning, except there's some sort of custard filling inside ... or something. It's bland, though, so it helps combat the disgustingly sweet bread that surrounds it.

"Tomorrow won't be able to pass fast enough ... " I announce, when I'm halfway through the sweet bread. Sheena glances over at me, eating something that isn't the monstrous bread. I scowl lightly at her as I shove a particularly large piece of the bread through my lips and swallow it without tasting the bread. "I think a-anywhere is better than sleeping in sand. I'll be clearing sand from my underclothes for the next year, I swear."

Sheena frowns at me. "Didn't need to know that," she finally drawls.

I pause. "Sorry," I reply. "I … sorry."

Although it's easier to keep a conversation with Sheena now, it's a constant learning process to figure out what does and doesn't bother her.

Finally finishing the sweet bread I fall back and remove the stone from my pocket, running it through my fingers. It's too dark for me to get in any reading, so begrudgingly I keep my books safe in by bag. I hear Corrine's voice begin to fill through the clearing after a bit. Eventually the stars start to come out so I pocket the stone and switch my attention to the sky.

I feel a slight drain, but ignore the feeling.

Peaceful. I try to find new constellations, seeing as none of the ones from back home apply here. After a bit of searching I manage to connect a patch of stars into the shape of a bean, and I turn to Sheena to share my finding.

"Hey, look — " I point up at the spot in the sky, "if you connect those seven stars, you get the shape of a bean."

Sheena blinks and her and Corrine look up to see. I see her eyebrows furrow momentarily before they straighten back out. "Huh, wow. I never noticed that." A sideways smile comes to her face, "I suppose it's no surprise that you of all people notice such a constellation."

"Hey — what's that supposed to mean?" I shoot back, leaning forward towards her. She raises a hand in defense, dismissing the topic.

"Oh, nothing. Don't worry about it."

I lay back down and continue to trace out fake constellations in the sky. Time seems to stop as I search clusters of stars, finding many odd — and interesting — constellations that I never would've imagined finding in the sky. These include, but aren't limited to, a leaf, an hourglass, a box, a clover — I think —, and ... a bee, I think. More time passes then I thought, though, because when I sit up and look over at Sheena I see her eyes shut and her breathing slow and even. Corrine is nowhere to be seen, so I can only guess that Sheena un-summoned him sometime earlier before falling asleep.

I stare at her for a second before laying back down and shutting my own eyes. Sleep comes quickly and before I know it, I'm sucked into consciousnesses.


In the early-ish mornings of the third day, counting the day we departed from Triet, Sheena and I reach the Ossa Trail. It is utterly deserted, and seeing as we hadn't even caught sight of Lloyd's group on our way here it's safe to assume that they haven't arrived yet. As we walk forward I notice the lever to the side of the trail. The red handle sticks out against the bright green grass and Sheena stops walking as we pass it.

She takes a few seconds to inspect the area before nodding slowly. "We should probably set up here and wait," She tells me as she adjusts her bag. Her eyes dart over to the high ledge to the right and my stomach sinks. It's, well, tall. Taller than me by a good meter. I walk over to the ledge and stand on my tip toes, stretching my fingers to touch the top. I just barely miss the ledge so I hop a bit and my fingers graze it.

"If I could get up here, it would make a good watch," I say. From the entrance of the trail, a good portion of the ledge is hidden by thick branches and trees. Only near the center of the path does it really become visible. "We would have a height advantage a-and we would be able to see them coming."

Sheena nods in agreement. "You're right —" Sheena approaches the ledge and with ease jumps and pulls herself up and on it. I frown at her and feebly jump again, struggling to catch a good grip. Sheena grins down at me and after watching me struggle for a bit offers a hand. I take it gratefully and set my bag and sword down once I'm up.

"Being short sucks," I complain as I dangle my feet over the ledge, "You made it up here so … easily," I mumble.

Even with the heels of my shoes Sheena has a good six or seven centimeters of height on me, and without them that number goes up to probably ten or eleven.

Curse my shortness.

"Well, I'm not a shrimp for one thing —" I frown, "but I've also been trained for things like this. Don't feel too bad."

True. Sheena has been trained as a ninja since she could probably walk, while me, well; I have, what, a week or two of experience under my belt? It's silly for me to think that I could even be a fraction as good as Sheena after such a short period of time. More than likely she'll always be better than me when it comes to physical actions, climbing, and martial arts.

And so the waiting game begins. To occupy the time I attempt to start a quiet game of 'I spy' with Sheena, part for my own amusement and part for her own safety.

"I spy, with my eye ... something red."

Sheena looks around the clearing. "Lever," she replies immediately. I nod. Good, she's noticed it; I know Sheena is supposed to fall down the shaft, but I really would prefer not to be left to fight Lloyd's group on my own ... nope, that really doesn't sound fun. If she sees the lever, though, maybe she'll be able to avoid falling?

Then again, that would cause a lot of problems.

"I spy, with my eye, something large."

'How specific.'

I look through the area, trying to narrow down the selection. We've already crossed out tree, bunny, bird, lever …

I narrow my eyes. "Shaft ... ?" I guess, though I'm sure it's wrong. Sheena shakes her head and I return to looking. So it isn't the shaft …

"Gravestone?" I guess again. There's a small patch of gravestones near the other ledge across from us. After a moment's pause Sheena nods and I swing my legs over the side.

There's only so much you can use for I spy, though, unfortunately. After thirty minutes we've basically picked apart every part of this area and with a heavy sigh I fall back and stare up at the sky.

"Can I practice the backflip some more wh-while we wait?" I ask. This morning I had managed to actually do a backflip, with Sheena spotting me, though it had scared the living shit out of me when I saw the ground.

I barely landed correctly, and that was only because Sheena had grabbed onto the back of my jumper and stopped me from falling forward on my face.

Sheena stares at me before replying, "It isn't a good idea to practice that here." I frown. "The ground isn't soft like sand so if you were to mess up, and I couldn't stop you before you fell, it would be dangerous."

"Aw," I only whine for the heck of it; her reasoning makes sense and a concussion doesn't sound very pleasant at the moment.

More time passes in which no one crosses the trail. Getting a bit antsy I shift in place, changing positions every few seconds and fiddling with the stone from the sand-monster we fought.

Eventually Sheena lets out a heavy sigh and looks over at me.

"Eden, you mind scouting ahead?" I blink, "I'll stay here and wait for them to arrive, but ... you know, it would be bad for them to see both of us at once in case I mess up."

"Um, sure ... yeah, OK." Standing up I swing my bag onto my shoulders and reattach my sword to my hip. I take a few steps forward, towards the next ledge and after a few pathetic jumps manage to get in a semi-successful one and attempt to pull myself up. Sheena pushes me up by my feet, and I manage to make it onto the ledge without injuring myself. "How do I know when to come back ... ?"

"I'll send Corrine to get you. If he never comes, just stay there and I'll probably catch up."

I swallow. "Alright. S-See you then?"

"See you. Be careful."

I walk further down the path, sticking to the high ledges. A lump forms in my throat but I swallow it. It'll be OK. There's no need to worry; this is better, after all. Now I won't have to face the group on my own after Colette sends Sheena spiraling down the maintenance shaft.

Except ... what if she doesn't fall down it? The whole reason I pointed out the lever was so that I wouldn't have to fight them alone, but now I'm not there. What if Colette doesn't trip the switch, because Sheena specifically makes sure to keep them away from it, and they actually fight?

The panic that comes with that thought nearly sends me running back to Sheena. I can't, though. What am I supposed to say — 'Oh, I'm just going to make sure that you fall down a maintenance shaft and don't die'? Yeah, I'm sure that'll go along just peachy.

With little other choice I sigh and continue on my way. On the ground level some bird-like monsters and giant boars wander around, not noticing me from above. I ignore them, though still keep alert in case one of the birds comes flying at me with the intent to kill or something.

After a while of wandering the ledges though I stop and lean back against the cliff wall. Nothing to do and no point in going back now. I straighten my posture and look up at the ledge above me. It is low enough that I can graze my fingertips across the edge by standing on my tip toes so I remove my bag and toss it onto the ledge. I repeat the action with my sword and then jump for leverage and heft myself up. My legs kick a bit as I struggle, but in the end I make it up and open up my bag.

Dangling my feet in boredom I remove a book from my bag. A slight breeze weaves through my hair, cooling me down a bit. As I flip to my bookmarked page I remind myself to keep attention to the enemies below. It would be bad to get caught off guard.

Yet ... even as I read through the pages, none of the words stick. Once I've finished a sentence the words are gone from my head and I find myself rereading the same thing over and over again until I finally get frustrated and slam the book shut.

That was a total dud. Still though ... there isn't anything to do. Bored I sigh heavily and remove the blue stone from my pocket. I fiddle with it, turning it over in my palm and trying to think of what it could be. It doesn't look too much different than those marbles you use in mancala ... other than the fact that it is roughly three times as large and see through.

Ugh, I always sucked at mancala.

I have no idea how long I sit here turning this stone over in my palm, but after awhile I start to get antsy and actually a bit tired, strangely. I try pacing, which does nothing, and after some inner monologue with myself I decide to mess around with the monsters. Maybe learn how to use my sword more efficiently with hand to hand combat ... or something.

Bringing my bag with me I hop off of the ledge I'm on, then off the second, and then third ledge. My impact seems to draw the attention of the nearby beasts and within seconds I have two human-like creatures in all green and a yellow bird roughly three quarters my size surrounding me. I drop my bag behind me, reminding myself to not leave it unattended. The last thing I need is to get looted by a monster.

The bird has a large, sharp beak, I notice. Better make sure not to get impaled; it's probably best to take that out, first, to decrease the risk. I don't even have to move as it squawks and ruffles its feathers before hopping over to me. It rears its head back, preparing to stab me through with the beak and I quickly lunge to the side, making sure to grab the strap of my bag and bring it with me. The beak gets stuck into a rock, and I watch the thing struggle to pull it out as I unsheathe my sword and toss my bag behind me. From the right the two humanoid monsters run at me and I have to jump to avoid being tripped by the roots one of them sends out in front of me.

Right as the bird removes its beak from the rock I slice towards its feathers, landing a semi deep cut on the creature. Letting out a cry of outrage it jumps and scratches me with the talons on its feet. I hiss, stumbling back. It didn't scratch deep enough to be of any worry but there are some teeny bubbles of blood leaking from the scratch.

"Time to die!" I whip around to see one of the humanoids launching a fist back, a wide grin pasted across its face. The inside of its wrist has a sharp thorn sticking out, which it aims right for my chest.

I duck just in time and hear a gurgling from behind me. Instead of going into me, the thorn had been lodged into the throat of the bird. "Ugh!" The thing grunts, snapping its arm away. Once the thorn has been removed from the bird's throat it lets out a watery groan and falls against the stone ledge, blood pouring from the wound. I barely am able to bring my sword up to block a similar attack from the other humanoid and while I'm struggling to push it off, the first one approaches from the side.

Shit, this is bad. My arms tremble as the second one stares into my eyes with glee; it's strong, and I'm barely strong enough to keep it from slicing my throat open.

The first one opens both of its hands wide, showing me the dirty, cracked skin of its palms. Thorns are protruding from different areas and scabs litter the areas around them. My heart rate accelerates and I begin to panic.

This was a terrible idea. What the hell was I thinking?

"Enjoy Niflheim," It coos, before slamming both palms down at me. Right before it impacts, though I retract my sword and barely dodge to the side as both the creatures advance upon the spot I just had been in.

My heart is beating in my ears as I scramble back to my feet. Both the humanoids glare at me, and I hear an ominous cracking sound from them.

"You stupid little human!" The first one hisses. My legs tremble as they approach me, vines beginning to sprout from their body. They extend further and further away, the edges tapering into a thin, sharp edge as they're pointed towards me. Realizing that the only way to get out of this situation is to kill them, I swallow hard and aim my own weapon towards them.

As I run at them they shoot the vines towards me. Thankfully they're slow, so I'm able to avoid being impaled with a few quick bursts of movement and soon my sword is sticking through the midsection of the one on the right.

It gasps, vines wilting as a trickle of blood drips from the corner of its mouth. I yank my arms back, trying to dislodge my sword from its torso, but am shoved back against the cliff wall before I can. I watch the thing fall to the ground and vines from the other one hold me tight against the wall.

"You — ... you —" The other creature is unable to form a sentence, instead only managing angry stutters. I shiver as the vines trap me, and the thing walks forward with a look of anger and despair in its eyes. "You ... you killed them, you killed my brother —!"

Unable to escape, I kick my legs furiously in a desperate attempt to land a hit on the thing. My hands pry at the vine around my throat as well as something sharp pokes at my own throat. "I'll kill you."

Dammit, I can't die now — no no no ... I can't die to a stupid monster. Panic grows like a tumor in my stomach and fear pushes tears into my eyes. As the thing steps closer I try to kick it again, but it catches my foot in one hand and grips it so tightly that I let out a voiceless scream.

The thorns poke into my throat, drawing blood, and I shut my eyes tightly.

The thing draws back its arm, the sharp thorns already poking out from the bloody palm, and I snap my eyes shut, hoping that, at least, my death is quick and not drawn out.

'Sorry mom,' I think, tears blurring my vision. My throat is blossoming in pain. 'Looks like I won't see you again after all.'