Tales of Symphonia:
Wonder Edition

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"Not again! Where'd he go?" Lloyd exclaimed some few hours later. Colette watched her dear friend tear through the blankets of the bed he'd been sharing with the other blonde, then check under it. Genis sighed and shook his head in exasperation as Raine brushed her hair carefully over her ears. Kratos stood by the doorway, watching the brunet with some amount of annoyance.

"Lloyd, did you forget what Adam said?" Genis finally told him, one hand on his waist as he gestured with the other, "When we come to a new town, Adam will go and hide somewhere in that town. All we have to do is find him and he'll teach us a recipe and rejoin us." Colette nodded, smiling encouragingly.

"It's like Hide and Seek! Only, we're all It." she piped in to hide the strange foreign feeling she'd begun having ever since Lloyd pulled the Wonder Chef into their group. She'd tried ignoring it, and it worked so far. She liked Adam, really, she did; he was cute and kind of shy and had his own secrets like Colette had hers. She felt like the two of them had a lot in common. But every now and then that weird feeling would rise up and it made her feel kind of uncomfortable.

It didn't help that she had felt strangely relieved when they all woke up and he was gone.

"It seems rather childish, but if it's the only way to locate him then I suppose we have little choice." Raine finally sighed, packing away her brush and picking up her staff. Lloyd looked a little frustrated and annoyed, but nodded and raced past Kratos to get out the door and get them checked out of the inn.

They all headed out into the village proper after that, facing the assault of fish smells that put them off for several minutes until the ocean wind dispersed it to more tolerable levels. Colette looked around at the people working with a sense of awe. Everyone was doing their best to survive and help each other live relatively well. She had to do her best, too, in order to save them all and regenerate the world.

Even if she still felt a little scared.

"Man, it's so cool that Colette has wings and can fly now." Genis sighed wistfully as they walked. Raine and Kratos spent their time asking around for information about possible sea passage, and Lloyd kept his eyes open for signs of blonde hair. He turned back to smile at them upon hearing his friend's voice.

"Yeah, that's pretty awesome. Right, Colette?" he asked, grinning at her. She chuckled nervously, nodding in agreement to make him happy.

"Uh-huh! I was pretty surprised, too!" Colette added more genuinely. She had been; she had no idea that releasing the seal would result in her gaining the beautiful pink wings.

"So what's next? Maybe a halo?" Genis went on in a thoughtful tone, excitement making his voice rise higher in volume, eyes shining brightly, "Or maybe your body starts glowing? Or maybe...?"

Colette found herself flinching with each new thing the other boy counted off as being a possible angel transformation. Would she really get any of them? Would she slowly lose her humanity and become as freakish and inhuman as the monsters they fought? Her gaze dropped, her smile long gone, and Lloyd quickly caught on, reaching out to bop Genis on the head.

"Hey! Cut it out!" the brunet griped with a half-glare, "Why don't you go help the Professor and Kratos get us a boat or find Adam or something?" Genis rubbed at the sore spot, returning the glare with one of his own.

"Geez, what'd you do that for? Stupid Lloyd..." he grumbled, but ran off anyway to help question the villagers. Colette kept her gaze down as they walked together, even when Lloyd murmured her name to get her attention.

"It's weird, isn't it?" she muttered, growing disgusted with herself. She was becoming something not human and separating herself from her friends and her own humanity. How could anyone like her when she was becoming repulsive? "Having wings... it makes me weird, doesn't it?"

"No, it's not!" Lloyd argued, one hand dropping onto her shoulder and squeezing lightly. She looked up at him, dared to see his expression, and was surprised to find him looking determinedly back at her. "Even if you become an angel, you're still you." he told her firmly, "You're still Colette, and that's what matters."

She smiled, slowly and uncertainly at first, then more warmly. Yes, that was true. She had to focus on that, taking comfort in Lloyd's unwavering belief. For now, for this moment and for however long she walked this earth, no matter what, she was Colette Brunel; she was Lloyd's friend.

"Thank you, Lloyd." she whispered, drying a stray tear with the cuff of her sleeve, "I'll... I'll remember that."

Most responses to her inquiries led her to the same place, the docks. Raine tried to quell her uneasiness and crinkled her nose at the more pungent smell of fish and tar when the group stepped out onto the solid wood planks that made up Izoold's port. From what Genis was able to find out on his own after being run off by Lloyd for annoying him in some manner, one of the villagers had been able to cross from Palmacosta to Izoold by taking a ride with someone named Aifread. At first this was promising, but hope was immediately dashed when Genis added that Aifread had already returned to his hometown, wherever that may be.

"And so we must find another boat, and someone also willing to give passage to the Chosen." Raine sighed, scanning the few -very few- small ships and boats that were still manned. After a moment, she directed Kratos's attention (which had been previously focused on Lloyd's mini-search for Adam) towards one such boat that still had one man working on its sails. "Let's ask that man there. His ship looks sturdiest."

She didn't mention that it wouldn't help her in the least, but at best something that size might have room below the deck so she wouldn't have to look at the sea.

Kratos made his usual uncaring 'Hmph' of noncommittal, nodding for her to go ahead, then turned his gaze on Colette, watching impassively as she and Genis played a miming game with a strange pink creature that acted like some kind of anthropomorphic cat. Lloyd had ignored it in favor of peeking behind the crates the creature was standing by, calling the Wonder Chef's name. Raine sighed, shook her head, and went on to talk to the ship's owner.

It didn't take long for her request to be turned down, though not without some regret on the part of the captain of the ship. He pointed towards a large gash in the ship's hull, damage caused by monsters in the sea that had attacked him on his way back from a recent fishing expedition. Raine turned a slight shade of green and managed to thank him for his time.

"Prob'ly gonna get the same answer if you ask anyone else here, Ma'am." the captain added gruffly before gesturing towards a boat further down the docks, a rather plain-looking young man with neat brown hair sitting nearby and untangling a length of rope, "Max there, he's the only one of us left with a boat still seaworthy. If anyone can get you across, it'd be him. Good luck talkin' him into it, though."

Raine considered the other man and the size of the ship before deciding with some distaste that it would just have to do. She thanked the captain once more, then turned to rejoin the rest of the group to discuss her findings. Kratos was still standing guard, pivoting in place to keep his gaze on the three children running all over the docks.

"Not here! No one's seen him here!" "Not here either! Wow, Adam's really good at Hide and Seek!" "Where the hell could he be hiding? ADAM! I'm gonna kick him when I find him!"

The half-elf sighed in exasperation. That's right, they had yet to find the Wonder Chef, and knowing Lloyd and Colette they would refuse to leave the town until the other blonde was safely esconced in their group again. She went ahead to talk to Max, the other ship captain, about crossing the sea to Palmacosta. Almost immediately she got nowhere.

"No way! There are monsters out there!" Max exclaimed, hands wringing the rope absently, "B-Besides, I have to stay and be sure Lyla's okay after what that Aifread jerk did! I mean, she has to know he's no good for her!"

So they couldn't get passage because of some kind of love triangle. Beautiful. Raine went back to the group again, thinking of what else could be done. However, Max's words seemed to stick to her for some reason. And then in a flash, she recalled Genis's report on a man named Aifread. Perhaps speaking to this Lyla would gain them information on where to find the mystery captain? It was worth a try.

Gathering the children wasn't entirely too difficult; Colette and Genis fell into line by her and Kratos quite obediently. Lloyd was a whole different matter, still looking into barrels and behind small dilapidated buildings and generally annoying everyone in his immediate vicinity. The mercenary finally went over, snagged the brunet by his collar and dragged him back to the rest of the group. That done, Raine explained her plan to them all, raising an eyebrow when Genis lifted a hand voluntarily.

"I was asking this kid if he saw Adam anywhere, and he said no, but he did mention that some lady who lives near the Seagull Inn was talking about Aifread. That might be Lyla." her brother remarked with bright eyes, "And since we didn't find Adam here at the docks, maybe he'll be near the houses. He might even be hiding inside one!"

"That's cheating." Lloyd muttered in irritation, cheeks flushing as he spoke.

"Regardless, we should go and find this girl for more information before continuing the search for the Wonder Chef." Raine told them firmly and led the way back to the village proper.

Kratos wasn't sure how much longer he could stand to see his son pester people and look behind objects in futility. Did he just completely forget that the Wonder Chef disguised himself to hide? This was no simple game; the boy had trained for two years in the use of his powers. While this was nowhere near the strength and power of his father -not yet-, it was still more than what Lloyd could comprehend.

"Lloyd." he finally called out and promptly squashed that tiny thrill at seeing the boy turn his head to blink at him curiously, wide-eyed with innocence and looking so much like his infant self that the Seraph could almost see himself back in those old days.

But no. Those days were gone, gone and dead, and years created a gulf between the two of them, years and knowledge -or rather a lack thereof-. So he remained impassive and Lloyd tilted his head, waiting for him to say something. "Remember what I told you at the Seal of Fire. The Wonder Chef excels in deception; he relies on the power of disguise and teleportation." Kratos told him coolly, "You must find objects that attempt to blend into the surroundings. Because he is young his power is not at its full strength. This may affect his disguises."

Lloyd gave him a blank look, then scowled as his face colored out of embarrassment, but he gave a lopsided stack of crates a suspicious look and poked at it experimentally. Kratos sighed and pressed a hand to his forehead. At least he was trying. He couldn't fault the boy for that. "No, Lloyd, that's not him." It was in too obvious a place, and the chef would have been trained to stay out of easily found areas for his own safety.

Finding Lyla was another trial of patience. Each door they knocked on to ask if such a girl lived there resulted in a negative answer, and while they talked with the owners of the houses Lloyd would stick his head in and look around suspiciously.

"Hey, nothing weird's shown up today, has there?" he would blurt out almost as soon as Raine finished asking about Lyla. And each time the villager would stare at Lloyd like he'd just spoken in a foreign language before looking up at Kratos with raised eyebrows. The mercenary could just feel the questions being directed at him.

'He's with you, right?'

'Didn't you teach him manners?'

'What kind of family member are you?'

Because of course he looked far too young to be his father so that just made the encounters that much more awkward on his part. Thankfully, they were silent questions, unspoken, but Raine was giving him those suspicious glances again.

The next house they visited brought them two pieces of good fortune. First, the man there pointed out that Lyla lived right next door, bringing an end to the search for the woman. Secondly, Lloyd zeroed in on a strange wooden sculpture in a corner of the one room home, darting into the house before anyone could say anything about it.

"This thing's weird." the brunet remarked, glaring at the sculpture. The man gave him an annoyed look.

"It was there this morning, don't have a clue where it came from." he grumbled, "I was going to see if I could sell it as a souvenir to some merchant." Kratos tilted his head, peering at the object himself before huffing a little. He was right; Adam's abilities were still weak, even after two years of training. How could he hope to blend into his surroundings with that?

Lloyd glared at the sculpture even more. It looked like a pelican at first, one of those gangly, awkward-looking birds that the fishermen were shooing away from their catches, strange beak and long legs and curving neck and all. However, its body was wrong, very wrong. The body of the bird was shaped like a little house, roof and door included, with no wings of any kind attached. The dual swordsman glanced around the statue out of curiosity. There was an anchor leaning against the wall, and some nets and rope were hung nearby. If the pelican statue had a proper body, Lloyd could have overlooked it as part of the fisherman decor.

But it was wrong-looking, and that was enough of a giveaway. Lloyd reached out and poked the statue in the head, wondering what would happen now. A burst of white smoke erupted from the statue, sending him to fall back on his rump while the guy who lived there let out a startled yelp. When the smoke cleared, Adam stood in the statue's place with a grin. He danced lightly back and forth on his feet and laughed at the expression on Lloyd's face.

"I am the mysterious gourmet, the Wonder Chef!" the blonde declared, reaching into his bag to pull out a small green book with a gold symbol emblazoned on the cover. He opened it and smiled wider. "This time, I'll give you the recipe for rice balls..." he began to say, reading over the page in his little book.

Lloyd didn't let him finish. He jumped to his feet and shoved the other boy backwards, pinning him to the wall by the shoulders and startling the blonde, nets and hanging sacks of whatever rattling from the force. "What the hell, Adam?" he snapped, "Do you know how worried we were when you weren't at the inn with us this morning? Yeah, okay, I know you said you were gonna do this hiding and teaching recipes thing, but at least leave a note to tell us you were gonna hide!"

He was dimly aware that his friends were staring at him in shock, the villager gaping at them openly. All that he focused on now was the wide-eyed expression of confusion and surprise on Adam's face, the blonde holding very still under his grip, book and fork still clutched in each of his hands.

"I... I'm sorry?" he finally managed to get out, a faint blush coloring his cheeks, "I didn't think I needed to... leave a note. I never had to before." Lloyd dropped his head, sighing harshly. It was too hard to say anything with the other boy's face like that. It made him feel strange, like he overdid something or got too enthusiastic and dragged somebody along in a helpless whirlwind of confusion. It made him feel extra stupid.

"Well, just leave one for us, okay?" Lloyd finally muttered, pulling back and rubbing the back of his neck. A quick glance told him the chef had relaxed again -oh yeah, that's right, he touched the guy without warning again- and pulled away from the wall, watching him back with a wary expression. "I think that innkeeper's pissed that I tore up her place looking for you." he added. Adam winced, crossing his arms over himself and managing to do so without looking awkward, considering he still had his hands full.

"I hadn't thought it would be a problem. This has never happened to me before, so forgive my unawareness." he mumbled, "I... Next time... I'll be certain to leave a message."

"Hey! Get out of my house!" the man finally found his voice and sounded both irritated and embarrassed, "Weird kids!" Lloyd couldn't help but laugh at the dismayed look on Adam's face as they hurried to leave with the rest of the group.

Once outside and all together again, Adam had only a moment to put away the Wonder Fork before Raine's hand came down on his head in a fierce slap that had him seeing stars, his own hands flying up to further protect himself as he staggered in place.

"That's for the foolishness of concealing yourself so poorly and in another's home! That man was a complete stranger; what if he'd found you first?" Raine scolded him fiercely, "You'd have no way of knowing how he would have reacted without witnesses!"

"I'm sorry!" he cried in alarm, blinking rapidly to clear his vision and stave off the tears of pain that threatened to seep out. Good Goddess, this woman was insane! How did she become a teacher with that kind of temperament?

Apparently she wasn't done as she then turned and gave the same forceful slap to Lloyd that filled the air with a sharp crack, the brunet yelling in pain and clutching his own head in shared misery. "And that's for boorishly barging into another man's home just to satisfy your curiosity! Didn't Dirk teach you manners, Lloyd?" she lectured sternly.

"Ow! Sorry, Professor!" Lloyd exclaimed, peering up at her with one eye as he covered his head even more, "But I was really sure that that thing in the corner was Adam, and I was right, wasn't I?"

"I'm sure they didn't mean it, Professor Sage." Colette piped in, concern plain on her face as she held her hands together demurely, "Nobody was hurt and we found Adam, and he's safe with us again. So everything's okay now." Adam found himself nodding eagerly, agreeing with the Chosen. Even Lloyd was doing the same. Anything to avoid another slapping, he supposed. Raine sighed, her hands on her hips as she regarded the two of them like they were bothersome little boys not even half their ages. Adam felt rather tiny under that look.

"Well, I suppose it can be forgiven for now. We still need to find passage across the sea, so let's ask Lyla for information on Aifread." she decided and marched for the house next door. Genis snickered behind his hands, looking up at him and Lloyd with a smug look in his eyes.

"You two are gonna be real entertaining to watch on this journey." he remarked, "Lloyd's stupidity is rubbing off!"

"Hey!" Adam exclaimed in the same moment as the brunet, feeling rather insulted and humiliated by that. It wasn't his fault at all! He was taught to be in any number of random places, but no one ever bothered to tell him of possible consequences for his choice in hiding spots. The idea of anything befalling a Wonder Chef in the field was ludicrous and so no one could conceive of any dangers to be wary of.

In the end, he walked along with the rest of the Chosen's group to Lyla's house, gingerly rubbing his head and wondering why exactly Lloyd wanted him to get over his aversion to physical contact. Between being pinned to a wall and Raine smacking him, there really wasn't much helping the idea of it along. He shot Lloyd a halfhearted glare, resolving to give Genis the recipe instead, never mind the fact that he was supposed to give it to the one who found him.