"I do not own Tales of Symphonia!" – I.K.A. Valian

"Master."

"…"

"It is as you suspected Master. The chosen has made contact. They have placed of their hope in him completely."

"The fools wish to remain a thorn in my side. Very well. You!"

"Yes Master?"

"Go out and follow the Chosen. Make sure no harm comes to pass upon him by our own or others."

"Yes Master."

"Master, your sacrifices are prepared."

"Excellent. One hundred humans slaughtered on the war's eve. … Hmm… that doesn't seem like enough. Empty the prison yards!"

"All forty-thousand, Master?"

"…"

"I will obey, Master."

My head was pounding. The pain washed over me in skin prickling waves. Every time I thought about moving my neck, pain shot up and down my spin, like somebody was using each of my vertebrae as a succeeding note of a xylophone. But the pain was gradually going away. And when I didn't move, I could feel the soft sheets below me.

Heh, any minute now, Marty was going to run into my room and start yelling at me to get ready for school. Since she lived directly across the street, it was a simple matter of running across the near deserted street to get to my house. My mom usually enjoyed the company and I'm sure she appreciated not having to deal with me and my not-so-happy-in-the-morning attitude.

And this morning's attitude wasn't going to be all that bright, especially with this neck pain I had. Ouch. Dammit, every time I move! I wonder what's taking Marty so long. I want to whine to her about this neck injury I got from… from… oh my God, I remember. Those half-elves in white… And what they did to… to…

"Marty!" I shot up, my sheets quickly gathering around my waist. I looked around spasmatically, trying to figure out what happened and where I was. The last thing I remembered seeing was… "Lloyd! No! They have Lloyd!"

I swept my legs to the side of the bed and hopped out. When my feet hit the floor, the shock of my feet hitting the hard wood floor was transmitted directly up my legs, spine, and into my neck, which exploded in pain. I clamped my hand around my neck and cried out loud enough to cause someone in another room to come running. After several moments of lying on the floor and holding my spasming neck, the door burst open and Zelos came into the room.

"Hey, you're finally awake little man." Zelos appeared at my side and found a way under my shoulder. As soon as he started lifting me up, my neck cried out in pain and I cried out along with it. Nonetheless, Zelos continued lifting until I was standing, though my legs felt like Jell-O with all the pain that now felt like a dull burning centered around the base of my skull. "As soon as I get you sitting on that bed, I'll let Raine know you're awake. She's been wanting to examine you and she has some questions for you too." Zelos sat me down gingerly on the bed and made to leave the room.

"Wait!" Zelos stopped and looked at m over his shoulder, his ridiculous red hair cascading over his back. I tried to speak, but my abdomen was tightening up from the pain. Finally I managed to gasp out what I wanted to ask. "What… happened to… Marty?" At first Zelos didn't respond, he just looked at me, stared was more like it.

Finally he said softly, "You'll see for yourself when Raine's done with you." I get the feeling that he didn't know how to tell me something bad happened to her. After speaking, he left, leaving the door creaking on his wooden hinges from the wind he left in his wake. I sighed, consciously keeping my neck muscles rigid so that it wouldn't move.

After several minutes, during which I imagined all sorts of terrible circumstances that could have befallen Marty, Raine appeared. She moved to my side and started looking me over. When she moved my head to look at the back of my head, my neck once more pinched the sensory nerves there and caused me to suck in a quick hissing breath as a wave of pain lanced down my spine like buckshot from an elephant gun.

"It appears that you've taken quite a hit to the neck." I guffawed and rolled my eyes. "I wasn't sure where you were hurt when I woke up and I didn't want to heal someplace that was already in good working order. So I was forced to wait until you woke up to find out. Hmm… the Exsphere you're wearing appears to be compounding the problem. However, you're still recovering from your near death, so it would be unwise to remove it." Raine started prodding and poking my neck, eliciting gasps from me. It really hurt. I realized when she stopped touching my neck and stood up that the entire time Raine was feeling around my neck I was stroking the Exsphere attached to my hand. "I believe that I can heal this with a precision healing spell. It shouldn't be too hard, but I'll need Genis' help."

I managed to turn my head just enough to look at the silver haired healer. I guess I was looking at her like I was dreading her treatment because she gave me her own condescending look before she turned to leave.

"Raine?" She stopped and turned around. "Please… Please tell me what happened to Marty?" Raine's face fell and she averted her gaze. Now I was sure something was wrong. "Please. She's my best friend in the world aside from Colin. I can't bear not knowing if she is or isn't okay."

Again, Raine was silent and did not look at me. Then she said regretfully, "It isn't just Marty. Both she and Zelos' sister, Seles, are in a coma. Even with my knowledge of the healing arts, I don't know what's causing it. There's been no trauma to the head or any other part of their bodies. It's almost as if they've fallen into a deep sleep from which they won't wake up." She fell silent once more. Then she walked off, the words, "I'll be back with my healing supplies," trailing behind her.

However, what she said after the word 'coma' had completely gone over my head. Marty was in a coma. She was in a coma. She was in a coma because of something those foul men did. The foul men that took Lloyd with them had also hurt Seles.

I started clenching and unclenching my fist by my sides. I could feel my heart speed up as I visualized tearing those horrible people to pieces with my bare hands. If there was one thing I could not stand, it was someone hurting my friends.

When Raine walked back into the room with her staff and Genis trailing behind her, I snapped out of my anger induced trance. I buried the burning emotion deep down to let out later, and managed to turn my head to look at them. Raine set down her staff on the bed next to me and turned to me holding a clear crystal with runes carved onto its surface. Genis was standing on the other side of me with what looked like some sort of toy, only the ball attached to the string was equipped with large and lethal looking spikes. Even though the pain was lessening gradually since I wasn't moving, it spiked when I looked at the pointy looking toy Genis was holding, as if in fear of the coming treatment and its demise.

Raine and Genis looked at each other and nodded. I swallowed loudly as Raine picked up her staff and moved the crystal closer to my neck. I clenched my eyes shut just as the crystal lit up with a soft white light, anticipating world altering pain. When the crystal made contact with my neck, its cool surface had a soothing effect on the pain boiling not so far beneath the skin.

When Raine lifted the crystal from my neck several seconds later and the pain I was expecting didn't materialize, I was a little confused. I opened my eyes and looked at Raine. And then at Genis. They were both looking down at me with their arms crossed. I could definitely see how they were related.

"So how does it feel?"

I turned my head to look at Genis when it dawned on me. My neck was all better. I reached up and massaged my neck with my hand for a few seconds before I nodded and stood up.

"It feels good. Okay, now take me to Marty." Genis and Raine didn't move. They stood in their places and looked at each other. "Please?" I prodded. Genis nodded and grabbed my arm, directing me to move out the door into the hallway.

We moved down the wooden hallway until we came to a stairwell. At the bottom, the hallway opened up into a large room. The first thing I noticed was that it was dark outside. The second thing I noticed were the flakes of white falling serenely outside, adding to the white layering already on top of the terrain.

Inside of the house, there was a small fireplace at the far end of the room. Directly in front of the crackling flames was two tall back, leather bound chairs. In the center of the room was a large wooden table on top of which was a white table cloth with floral patterns imprinted onto its surface. Along the back wall was a tall cabinet with dishes and other dining ware stacked neatly inside of it. But other than that, and a few rugs and food items, the room was empty.

"Where's Marty?" Genis went to the door and opened it, letting the cold air and snow flakes blast inward. I quickly went about walking outside, but Genis held me back and pointed downward, directly at my bare feet, and then at a pair of shoes next to the door. I shook my head and immediately went about throwing on the shoes in the quickest manner possible. Why was this taking so long!

"Marty and Seles are being cared for in the medical building that was built here by one of Raine's medical students," Genis explained as we walked out the door. "She's really strict when it comes patients put in her care, so you really don't have to worry too much about Marty," Genis shouted over the wind. "Though if they get on her bad side maybe you will have something to worry about," he added. It took me four steps into this winter wonderland before I started shivering. I was only wearing thin leathers after all. I was shivering fiercely next to Genis as we both trudged on through the several inches of ice and snow.

It wasn't that stormy outside, but it was bitterly cold and what wind existed was whipping snow about like suriken. I could easily tell all the houses we passed had people in them from the tell tale firelight glowing from their frosted windows. I shook my head of my roaming eyes and locked them on the path in front of me. Though I was shivering, I somehow kept my pace even and steady. What really kept me moving though were probably the thoughts of Marty running through my head. I hope she's going to be okay.

Genis eventually stopped in front of another wooden building with small white sign hanging over the door. On the sign was the symbol of a staff with a glowing crystal on top. I'm going to assume that means medicine or something. Once Genis managed to get the door open with his now frost bitten hands, we both rushed into the building.

Inside I came face to face with a very irate looking young woman. She was standing there in a long white gown that had long sleeves. Aside from the green belt around her waist she wore a white cap on top of her auburn and curly hair. Her arms were crossed and she was tapping both her foot and fingers in synchronization. She was definitely not happy.

"Genis Sage, you know better than to travel through this kind of weather with nothing but the shirt on your back. And to pull a mere human along with you. You, sir, must have a death wish." I watched the woman walk brazenly up to Genis as if she were going to slap him. Instead she leaned forward and got as close to his face as physically possible without touching. "You know I don't like treating you, and I wouldn't hesitate to let you freeze to death if it weren't for your sister."

Genis, eyes wide and still shivering, stuttered, "I-I-I'm sorry, Elise. You kno-" Genis said more, but I wanted to find Marty as soon as possible. I quickly made my way further into the building. Through a hallway, another room held two rows of beds, two of which were occupied and lit up. One held Seles and the other held Marty. I rushed to Marty's beds side leaving wet snow tracks in my wake.

"Marty…" I shook her shoulders lightly. "Marty, wake up." Nothing. I trembled as I slid to the floor. "Marty, I'm sorry," I sobbed, "I'm sorry I couldn't save you. I tried, but… I'm sorry."

"I know it's hard, but you've got to hold on and keep hope," someone from behind me said. Her voice was like that of an angel. I turned slightly and saw an average height blond woman coming toward me. Looking down on me kindly, she put her hand on my shoulder and said, "Even if everything seems lost, you mustn't give up. As long as you never give up, there's always hope."

I wiped my eyes and nodded. As I stood up, the blond woman walked over to look down upon Seles, well she attempted to, but she tripped and fell flat on her face. In the process, one of the floor boards came loose and flew into the air. It landed top of Zelos' head just as he entered the door way.

"Oh no, not again!" the woman cried in shock, "Oh no, Zelos, I'm sorry!"

"It's… nothing Colette, don't worry about it my sweet angel," Zelos replied while rubbing his head. "I just came to see how Seles was doing. I'm glad you and Lloyd could make it on such short notice though."

"Oh it was easy, Mr. Zelos. This is our home town of Iselia after all." While those two talked around Seles' bed, I sat down next to Marty and watched her sleeping in her peaceful coma. It was at that moment that the anger I'd buried earlier dug its way to the surface again and I found myself clenching my fist once more. Marty, one of my closest friends, was in a coma because of something those people did.

I leaned down real close to Marty's ear and whispered, "Marty, I swear. I'll find those men and make them pay. They will pay dearly for taking Lloyd and even more for hurting you. Just stay safe here, and I'll be back with the cure." I stood up and started walking out of the room.

"H-hey, kid, where do you think you're going?" Zelos shouted at me as I passed him. I kept on walking out of the room without answering him. I made it into the hall before he came up behind me and grabbed onto my shoulder. "What do you think you can do, huh?" the older man rasped. His words burned my ears, made me want to reach out and sock him in the face. "Don't you think if there was something that could be done right now, I'd be the first one out there doing it? That's my sister in there! My only family left in the entire world!"

I didn't know how to respond to that. He was right. There was no denying that he felt something like what I was going through. I don't even really know why I was this worked up over a friend. It wasn't like Marty was blood relations, but I still couldn't help feeling this way. She and Colin are my best friends, my only friends. And just like me, those men took away something precious from…

"So what can we do about it?" I asked him without turning around. "What are you doing about it?"

Zelos let go of my shoulder, turned, and walked back into the patient ward. I was about to walk off before I heard his answer. At first I wasn't sure what he said, but the more I though about it, the clearer its meaning became. He said, "When the bastards show their faces again, I'll rip their throats out."

I though on what he said for a few minutes. He was right, if there was something he could do, he'd be doing it. But if that were true, then why was he staying here? Why wasn't he out looking for those bastards so he could rip their throats out faster? Could it be that he knew where they were likely to show again? How? I intended to find out. And the first thing I wanted to do was look at what they did once more. Maybe they left some kind of clue behind.

My thoughts were jarred from their track when the front door opened and in walked Raine, holding the two pieces of the white staff that I broke on one of those men's back. It and Raine had pieces of snow stuck to it from the storm outside that was now slowly melting in the interior heat.

"Oh, hello Professor Raine," Colette greeted from behind me.

"Raine! Get her away from me!" Genis bound into the room from another hallway opposite the one that held the patient ward. He had lost his shirt somehow and was covered in what looked like red dots. "She's gonna kill me."

"Oooh Genis!" a voice sing-songed from the hallway he'd come from. "You know your treatment isn't finished. Why don't you come back here before I put you into more pain from which to heal you from?" Genis shuddered upon hearing the voice and ducked slightly when a hand reached out from the hallway and grabbed him. He gave Raine one last pleading look before he was dragged backwards down the hallway he'd run from.

I looked at Raine for an answer, but she had a bemused expression on her face. Apparently, this wasn't the first time Genis has had trouble with Elise. Before I could move past Raine and out the door, she put a hand on my shoulder. I looked at her and she gave me a troubled expression.

"I want to talk with you about something." I had to suppress that irritated feeling in the pit of my stomach. I wanted to get out of here and look around the burned down village. Nodding at Raine I turned and trudged back into the patient ward. Raine stayed behind for several moments to talk with Colette alone. When I arrived in the ward, I sat down on the bed next to Marty and closed my eyes.

How did this all happen? Why did it seem to be happening to us? Who were those men? How did they get there? Where did the come from? What did they want? My recent experiences force me to wonder when they were from. I let these questions roam freely in my mind but no answer came.

"Alex?" I opened my eyes and watched Raine sit down on the bed across from me. Then she looked me straight in the eyes. "I wanted to ask you about this staff. Before, Martel was able to explain that she was aware of a technology that could replace the use of Mana. But she was vague in describing it and only said that it wouldn't be invented for an extremely long time. Since that fight several days ago in Neudon, I've been thinking about what she said, you being from the future and how she was a Mana Guardian. Everything she said about that technology seems to be present in this staff." I felt my jaw slowly dropping. Zelos, who'd been sitting in a chair next to Seles, then spoke up.

"Are you saying that those staffs were not Magi-technology?" he asked, putting the book he'd been reading down on Seles' bed.

"Yes, this staff, and I also believe the others were as well, are of a type of technology I've never seen before. It uses impossible mechanisms to achieve the same result of Magi-technology. But all the same, it is not Magi-technology. Whatever it is, it's on a completely different level than what I'm used to."

"But Raine…" She looked at me and I went on. "You brought up the fact that Marty said something about a technology from the future. You think that technology is what makes up that staff?" I had to confirm what she thought before I could be sure.

"Yes," she nodded. "I can't fathom any other way that technology such as this existing. It's completely illogical, not to mention impossible for our current technology to use anything but Mana. Even Cruxis used Magi-technology, and theirs was the best technological know how on or off the planet."

"Okay then," I said, taking a deep breath. "I think I know what it is then. But what I want to know now is how it got here, how they had it, and what in the world is really going on?" Raine and Zelos looked at me expectantly. I sighed bitterly. "If what you're saying is correct, and it is what I think it is. Then that staff, and the staffs of the other men, were in fact created from V-tech."

"V-wha?"

"V-Tech. It's the technology we use in the future where I'm from. I must say I'd not heard of magic before the fight in the museum that started this whole mess. V-tech was-is what our whole world depends on for our way of life. Our airplanes use it, our communications technology uses it; heck, we even use it to make food."

"Okay, hold on. This V-tech stuff sounds great and all, but so what? That doesn't really tell us anything other than how many uses this stuff has. What exactly does V-tech do? And what does the 'V' stand for?" I gave Zelos a nod.

"Alright, I'll start from the beginning, but I feel like I'm talking to a bunch of kindergarteners. Well, no, even they know how to use V-tech."

"Just humor us," Raine said flatly.

"The word V-tech stands for Virtual Technology. It's a type of technology that pulls its power from virtual space, or as some call it, imaginary space."

"So wait," Zelos interuped, holding a hand in the air. "You're telling me you guys in the future literally pull stuff out of thin air?"

"Well, I don't know the specifics, only what they teach us in school. But I guess since what V-tech creates isn't really there, then I suppose so. But that's not all V-tech does. It can also create objects, from a spoon to a living being. Again, I don't know the specifics, but somehow, the technology uses its vast virtual computing power to rearrange the molecules in the real world so that they become the desired object."

Raine lifted the two pieces of the white staff in front of her. For a moment I couldn't read her expression but then it became quite obvious and I became slightly frightened. The look on her face wasn't that of a calm teacher or a caring healer, but that of an overly obsessed maniac. Her cheeks were flushed as she started running her fingers lovingly over the surface of the broken staff. That is until Zelos pulled them from her grasp. It took seconds for Raine's eyes to narrow to mere slits.

Genis and Elise were brought into the room by the ruckus. It was fifteen minutes before Genis and I could pull Raine off of Zelos, who'd wound up with several large bruises and many bumps on his noggin. Zelos, in a shaken and shocked state of immobility, was guided from the room by Elise. Meanwhile, Genis was cowering underneath Raine in a corner. She was just standing there, glaring.

I glanced sadly at Marty before I started making my way out of the room. As I passed Raine and Genis I said, "I want to get a better look at the town they destroyed. If they were using V-tech, perhaps they left other things behind, other clues. Besides…" I glanced at Raine who was now holding Genis up by the front of his shirt while leaning over him almost completely. Genis wasn't that distressed however. Apparently, this sort of thing happens a lot. Both the Sages were looking at me curiously. "… I still want to know more about the Summon Spirits. I remember Zelos saying that Efreet was in the desert. Maybe this Efreet will know more about what's going on or how to heal Marty and Seles."

"Uh, Raine, I know you still have work to do here in Iselia, but I'm free. I could go with Alex and make sure he doesn't get into trouble. And I'll take Zelos too." Raine nodded and stood up, letting go of Genis' shirt, and dusted herself off.

"Okay then, the more the me-"

Raine cut me off and said, "Genis, promise me you won't get into any trouble." Genis responded with a wry grin before he grabbed my arm and pulled me out of the room. Genis sure does seem anxious to get out of here, I wonder why. We moved down the hallway to the front room where we ran into a furry Zelos and Elise. Why did Zelos have a coat on already?

"Zelos, why are you wearing a coat?" Elise through a coat on top of Genis head, muffling his next sentence. Zelos shrugged.

"I figured I'd go for a walk outside, but before I could even get out the door this…" Zelos glanced warily at Elise, who was tapping her foot and glaring at him irately. "… lovely woman helped me by giving me a coat." Elise 'hmphed' and walked off.

"Well, Alex and I are going to go back to Neudon to see if there's anything missed clues," Genis said through the coat as he pulled it down over his head. "Alex also wants to see if Efreet knows anything about the coma Seles and Marty are in or the strange attackers. Wanna come?"

"Sure, I'll come. Seles should be safe up here for a while, especially with Lloyd around." Lloyd? Oh, he must mean the older Lloyd. Hmm, I don't have time to meet him now, but if he's still here when we get back, maybe then I'll get to meet him.

I clenched my fist and tried to move around Zelos to get out the door. All this talking and thinking was taking too long. As soon as my hand touched the door handle, another furry coat fell over my head. Oh yeah, it's still cold outside. By the time I fixed the coat around myself and stuck my head through the neck hole, Genis and Zelos were already out the door and moving through the snow.

I turned to Elise and said, "Thanks. Please, take care of Marty. I swear I'll be back with the cure." Elise nodded and I left, pulling the door closed behind me with an audible click.

Ahh, that took a while. But it wasn't because I didn't know what was going to happen. I was in the process of fleshing out Alex's character. Hopefully he's even more beleivable now. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this story so far. Please review. Thank you for reading.
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When Genis disappears on the quest for half elf equality, everyone assumes he is dead. What happens when he turns up eight years later? Why hasn't he contacted anyone? What has he been put through? Genis is no longer the sweet little boy he once was...

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By whatsername427