Tales of Cosplayers

by Nightfoot

They were just cosplaying. They did not expect to be pushed through a door by some freak and forced to relive Tales of Symphonia, taking the place of the characters they're dressed as.

25. Do You Miss Kratos, Too?

Chapter Twenty-Five: Do You Miss Kratos, Too?

Wind raged outside. It had been blowing strongly ever since they got back to Rosalyn's house, and few dared to brave the violent winds outside. Will, Ellie, Genis, and Raine sat by the fireplace, nobody in the mood to talk. Will and Genis were still sore from the beating Raine had given them, glaring at Ellie who had gotten off with just a scolding.

It also just felt fundamentally wrong to not have Kratos with them. Will had been thinking about where he scampered off to, and imagined a scene of him going back to Cruxis and trying to explain to Mithos that he got fired. Will wasn't sure if Mithos would be angry and punish him, or laugh his ass off. Or both. It sounded silly, but he hoped Kratos was ok. And to top it all off, Kratos had taken Noishe with him. More likely, the big stupid dog-thing had simply run off with him, a big fat 'screw you, not-Lloyd!'

'Don't call my dog stupid!'

'He's not really a dog, Lloyd.'

'I know! But still... he's the smartest dog I've ever met!'

'That's because he's not a dog!'

He could almost see in his mind Lloyd sticking his tongue out at him.

They heard a thunderous crack, and all four ran to the window to see what was wrong. Will blinked in surprise as a huge windmill rolled down the street, blown by the wind towards the chasm before dropping off the edge.

"Holy cow!" Genis said. "This wind is really strong!"

Raine glared at them and said, "You know this is your fault, right?"

"What?" Ellie asked. "So you're blaming bad weather on the Chosen too, now?"

"No," Raine said. "You disturbed the wind spirit. He's taking his wrath out on the town, now."

"This is… our fault," Will said, staring out the window at the wind-battered town. Dammit. Every time they diverted from the game's plot – even just a bit – it seemed something bad happened. They should stop changing things…but sometimes, it came down to saving someone's life. How could he stand back and let someone die just because 'fate says so'? Wasn't there always the chance that fate was wrong? 'The way it was meant to be' didn't necessarily mean it was the way it should be.

Raine sighed. "This wind… it matches descriptions of the calamity that struck the Balacruf Dynasty. Perhaps they somehow angered the Spirit as well?"

"So then…" Genis said, "if you go through with the ritual tomorrow night, will the wind go away?"

"Perhaps," she said with a frown. "I'm not entirely sure."

"That monster is going to try and kill you," Will pointed out grimly. "We may have to fight. Gee, I sure wish we had an über-skilled mercenary to help with the battle."

Raine glared at him, but luckily didn't follow through with a smack to the face. Eh, he was already bruised enough from her earlier beating.

"What are we going do?" Ellie asked.

"There's nothing much we can do," Raine said. "Just wait for the wind to die down."

Will sighed, feeling helpless. He turned away from the window and went back to the couch, trying to block out the raging winds outside. Ellie curled up on the couch next him and Raine went back to the book she was reading.

They sat like that for about fifteen minutes, until the sun had finally sunk behind the mountains. Suddenly, the door crashed open, aided by the force of the wind. Sara came in, hair a tangled mess from the wind, clearly showing her pointed ears. Without bothering to close the door, she said rapidly, "Please, we need help! Peter's house is going to collapse!"

Will, Ellie, and Genis jumped up, eager to help. Raine, however, hesitated. "Wait, it might be dangerous to go out there."

'Ignore the Professor,' Lloyd said quickly. 'We can't just let someone's house get destroyed.'

"Sorry, Professor," he said. "It's a risk we're going to have to take."

Raine sighed, closing her eyes and putting the book down. "Alright. Well, I suppose I can't let you go by yourselves."

"Let's go!" Genis said. "We have to hurry!"

They followed Sara out the door, struggling to pull it closed. Then they took off after her, as fast as they could against the strong gale. Will raised one arm in front of his head as his crazy Lloyd-hair was plastered against his skull, and he squinted his eyes to keep the dust and debris from getting in them. With his other hand he held onto Ellie, while Raine did the same for Genis.

"This way!" Sara shouted over the wind, leading them down the stairs and then down the street, pushing against the wind the entire way. After several minutes of struggling, they came to a small house near the edge of the chasm, with people running franticly around it with ropes and boards and nails to keep it in place. Will glanced nervously towards the edge of the pit, the wind pushing pieces of wood over the edge. The house already looked somewhat rundown, and this area of town didn't have a fence built to protect the gorge. If they didn't do something, this house was going down.

"Sara!" A young man ran towards them and took Sara in his arms. "What are you doing here?"

"We're here to help," she said.

Will and the others had already run forward to help, taking hold of the ropes keeping the beams in place. Ellie had tried to pull her wings out, but quickly found that without her feet solidly on the ground she had no way to resist the wind. Raine and Genis joined him while Ellie grabbed some nails and helped the group with nailing supports in place.

Peter and Sara, meanwhile, ran in and out of the house, carrying all their important possessions out to a small alcove in the cliff where the wind couldn't blow them away. Peter's younger brother and sister shivered over there, watching with fearful eyes as their home was being devoured by the storm.

The rope was taught under his gloved hands, and Will grit his teeth as the wind made his eyes water. He strained his muscles to try and keep the beam from falling over, and he saw Harley and Linar amongst the other volunteers fighting the wind.

In truth, Peter's house looked rather rundown and Will was surprised an everyday breeze hadn't blown it over yet. Still, his mother and father seemed rather arrogant about their home.

"Hey! You!" Peter's father screeched as Peter and Sara emerged from the house carrying a quilt. They looked up in alarm as his father roared over the wind, "Get your filthy half-elven hands off of my stuff!"

Sara dropped her arms and hung her head in shame, while Peter started an angry retort that wasn't loud enough to be heard over the wind. Will wanted to run over and slap him, and apparently Lloyd felt the same way.

'How dare he! That stupid, bigoted jerk.'

'Hey, you know the word 'bigoted'! I'm so impressed!'

'What? Really? Thank – heeey, I fell for that one last time!'

Will just smirked and continued to work. He looked over and saw Linar currently restraining Harley from running over and giving Peter's father a piece of his mind, while Sara had run over with Genis and Raine to help them on their rope (Genis wasn't really helping that much... too short).

Really, though, it was disgusting that people could feel that way. Sara was just trying to help, and he yelled at her just because she was a half-elf. Humans could be so cruel.

Will glanced up just in time to see Peter's father slap him, and Peter turned and stormed away, toward Sara. His little sister, worried that her big brother had just gotten hit, started to run forwards.

It all happened so fast. One second she was running, the next she was being forced by the wind towards the edge of the gorge. The tiny girl screamed as she tried to keep her footing on the rocky road, and then she was careening over the edge while everyone else looked on with horror.

Just as fast, Ellie took action, pulling out her wings and running as fast as she could, leaping into the air and letting the wind push her along faster than her legs could go. She swooped into the gorge after the child, while all activity seemed to freeze as they waited to see what would happen.

It took what seemed like forever, but after probably a minute or two, Ellie emerged with the girl wrapped tightly in her arms. She flapped her wings as hard as she could to try and gain air against the wind.

"Genis! Professor!" Will shouted. "Help me!"

Linar and Harley came to help, too, along with Peter and Sara. Peter grabbed the rope, and the rest of them linked hands until Will could stand by the edge of the gorge, hand clasped tightly in Raine's. He reached out for Ellie, and she let go of the child with one hand to reach for his hand.

Her cold fingers wrapped around his, and he pulled her back to solid ground. With her feet on the ground, she pulled in her wings and carried the girl to her panicked mother.

"Oh thank you, Chosen!" she sobbed. "I don't know what I'd do if you weren't here!"

"Don't mention it," Ellie grunted, while the human chain behind her broke up.

"Genis," Will said. "This gorge is dangerous. Can you do anything about it?"

Genis frowned, but then quickly nodded. "I think so." He ran forwards, calling, "Harley! Sara!" The other two half-elves looked at him questioningly, and he continued. "Can you guys do magic?"

Harley nodded once, and Sara mumbled, "Yes, a bit..."

"Can you do Stalagmite?"

They both nodded again.

"Great! Help me build a barrier so no one else falls down the gorge!"

Understanding his plan, they nodded one more time and the three half-elves lined up and began casting. The humans watched them fearfully, and about a minutes later there were three shouts of, "Stalagmite!"

Three pillars of rock thrust up from the ground by the edge, but instead of disappearing like they usually did, the casters maintained their concentration a bit longer. When they finally looked down, the stalagmites remained where they were, forming a stony wall. The half-elves did it again, expanding the wall further until it reached the end of the fence. When they were done, Sara panted and Peter took her in his arms, and Harley skulked off back towards Linar.

"Good job!" Will said to Genis, shouting over the wind.

"Uh..." Genis said, looking around. "I don't think everyone else is so thrilled."

"How dare you!" a man shouted. "When we let you half-elves into the village, you promised to never use magic!"

"Yeah!" a woman shouted. "You've gone back on your word! I told you," she looked around at the other humans, "half-elves can't be trusted!"

Genis was clenching his fists, and Will stepped forward, looking furiously at them. "What the hell are you guys talking about? These half-elves just saved all your lives and you're complaining?"

"We didn't need them!" another man shouted. Meanwhile, the others scrambled to finish on the house. By now it was so covered in support beams and ropes hammered into the ground that it would probably be able to stay up.

"It's the half-elves' fault we're dealing with this wind in the first place!" a woman said, pointing accusingly at Sara and Harley. "Think about it! The last time Asgard suffered wind like this was just after the Ancient War, when the mountains were filled with runaway half-elves! The Summon Spirit is trying to telling us to get rid of them!"

Sara paled, and Harley just got madder, his face rivalling his hair in complexion.

The angry mob of humans pressed in around them, and Raine was now next to Will and Genis, her hand on her brother's shoulder. Her cloak billowed around her legs in the wind, which, paired with her stony glare, gave her quite the epic look. "Hey!" one man said. "If the Summon Spirit wants us to get rid of the half-elves, why don't we sacrifice them in the ritual?"

"No!" Aisha said, pushing out of the crowd to stand next to Linar and Harley. "Professor Sage has already volunteered to do the ritual!" She grabbed Harley's hand, glaring down her fellow humans.

"Yeah, well she's a half-elf too!" someone said.

Raine and Genis both snapped their heads to look at the red faced man, and Genis started to protest, "N-no she's not! Raine is an elf, just like me!"

"Nonsense!" the man replied. "There haven't been records of elves in Sylvarant since the Ancient War! Besides, in all the old books, pictures of elves have huge ears, whereas yours are just barely pointed!"

"No-" Genis started, but Raine stopped him.

"No, Genis, it's alright," she said, stepping forward. "It seems we've played this charade for too long." She looked around at all the humans, and said, "Yes, my brother and I are half-elves. But so what? If it hadn't been for his and the others' magic, more victims might have fallen into the chasm!" Genis, meanwhile, looked horrified up at his sister, and then fearfully at Will, as if afraid his best friend would suddenly turn on him as well.

Will just gave him an encouraging smile, to assure him that he really didn't care what blood he was, before leaping to their defence as well. "Yeah! These guys haven't done anything but try to help as well as they can! Killing half-elves isn't going to stop this wind! It's just going to serve as fuel for the fire between us and the Desians!"

"Sacrificing people is wrong," Ellie said. "It doesn't solve anything! The spirit that's hurting your village is the problem! Kill it, not these innocents!"

The humans were silent, the only sound the rushing wind. They looked at each other, and a few were now wearing sheepish looks. Will was starting to feel proud for stopping the mob, when finally someone said something.

"Kill them anyways!"

The crowd immediately reverted to their previous fervour, and Will gaped at them. After everything they'd said, the Chosen had said, they were still bloodthirsty. The mob swarmed towards them, and Will hesitated, not wanting to pull out his swords. After all, these villagers weren't enemies, so he didn't want to hurt them. At the same time, though, they were rather dangerous.

'No,' Lloyd said. 'Don't hurt them. They're idiots, but killing them makes you no better than a Desian.'

'Right. I wasn't going to.'

Before he could do anything else, the crowd mobbed over them. Will was pushed away with Ellie and Peter, while Raine, Genis, Harley, and Sara were rounded up. He didn't want to use his blades on the villagers, but that didn't stop him from using his fists to try and get Raine and Genis back.

"Lloyd!" Genis shouted. "Lloyd! Lloyd!"

The villagers wouldn't let him through, even as he punched and kicked to try and get to his friends. Ellie was too afraid to pull her wings out in this wind, so she was stuck on the ground, not doing much good. Man, he really wished Kratos were here right now. There was no way Kratos would let something like this happen.

The mob was moving away, taking the half-elves with them.

"Dammit!" Will shouted, standing helplessly as they left. "Goddammit!"

'Genis!' Lloyd yelled. 'Dammit! Go after them!'

'I can't. I'm sorry, Lloyd. There's nothing we can do right now.'

"What do we do?" Aisha asked, Linar holding on to her.

They were still standing in the wind, so Linar said, "We... we should get inside. You guys can come home with us," he added, looking at Will, Ellie, and Peter.

"Thanks," Peter said. "But I'm going to stay with my family."

Will and Ellie, though, gladly accepted the invitation, and followed Linar and Aisha back up the street towards their home. It was easier going this way, with the wind at his back, but Ellie's hair was whipping round her head like a medusa, and Will's lips were already chapped from the dryness of the strong wind.

In Linar's house, they sat down at the table in the main room. Ellie rested her chin in her hands, while Will crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair. It was hard to believe that their party had been reduced to just him and Ellie. He felt so alone, a stranger in a strange land with just a voice in his head to guide him.

"What do we do now?" Ellie asked forlornly.

"We rescue them, of course," Will said.

"How are we going to do that?" Linar asked. "They'll have been taken to the city jail to await the ritual tomorrow night, and there's no way we can break in and spring them."

"Well..." Ellie said. "What if we wait for the ritual to take place? They'll be released then, right? We just need to team up with them and help them take on the monster."

"Take on the monster?" Aisha asked. "Are you suggesting we fight the Summon Spirit?"

Ellie shook her head. "I don't think it's the Summon Spirit. The Spirits are benign; there's no way they'd demand human sacrifices. I think it's just some monster, and it needs to be killed to protect this town."

Will nodded. This was probably the best plan. They couldn't just leave Asgard without defeating the Windmaster; they'd screwed up the game enough as it was. "I agree with Colette."

Linar sighed. "Well, if that's what the Chosen decides, then that's what we'll do. We just have to save Harley."

"And Raine and Genis and Sara," Ellie said.

"Of course, them too," Aisha said. "Raine volunteered to take my place. I can never thank her enough."

"Even if she's a half-elf?" Will asked.

"Don't be silly," Aisha said. "Harley's my best friend; do you think I care about that?"

Will smiled. It was good that some humans at least weren't racist fools. "Hey," he suddenly said. "What happened to Rosalyn? She's a half-elf, too, right?"

Linar frowned, then said, "They probably left her alone. Most people are afraid of her, so I doubt they'd storm up to her house and try to sacrifice her. Most people avoid her, and try to forget she's there unless she's bribing them with her huge sums of money."

Will just nodded. "I'm kind of tired."

"You guys can take our room," Aisha said. "It's just upstairs. There are two beds up there."

"Are you sure?" Ellie asked. "Where will you guys sleep?"

"Aisha can take Harley's bed," Linar said. "I'm fine on the floor for one night."

Ellie said, "I don't want to take-"

"Oh, no," Aisha said. "I could never make the Chosen sleep on the floor! Please, it's an honour to have you in our house."

Ellie sighed. "Fine. Thanks."

She and Will trooped upstairs, where they did indeed find two beds low to the floor. Ellie sat down on the first one and leaned against the wooden wall, sighing deeply.

"I hate being the Chosen," she said, staring at the ceiling. "I wish everyone would stop treating me differently just because I have a shiny rock stuck to my chest."

"At least you're not being discriminated against," Will said, looking around the room.

"True," she sighed. "Though admittedly what I hate most about being the Chosen is, y'know, dying. Dying sucks."

Will didn't really know how to respond to that, so he just reached out and took her hand, still cold from the wind outside. Soon they'd go to the Wind Seal, and she wouldn't even be able to feel the warmth of his hand as he tried to comfort her. He wished there was some way he could help, but all he could do was trust in the Wonder Chef and promise her it would be ok.

It felt so weird that he and Ellie were the only ones left of their party. Raine and Genis would hopefully be re-joining them tomorrow night, though, but Kratos... man, where was he?

"Hey, what's this door?" Ellie said, having gotten up. In the back corner of the room was a door, and Ellie pried it open against the wind. "Hey, cool! It's like a balcony!"

Will went over to her, her hair streaming back away from her face as wind rushed in. "Close it!" he shouted. "It's too windy!"

Working together, the pair managed to get the door to click back into place, the howling wind muffled beyond. "Phew," Will said. "Damn this wind."

"It's our fault," Ellie said, frowning and looking at the ground. "No, my fault. If I hadn't been so stupid and dragged you and Genis down the chasm, then none of this would have happened."

"Hey, don't be so hard on yourself," Will said, looking over at her. "You can't predict the outcomes of all your actions. And if we never took chances, where would we be?"

"This is all my fault," she said, slumping back to the bed. "I'm so sorry, Will. You didn't even want to go to the con, but I made you. I should have listened to you. I was the one who dragged you off after Yggdrasill in pursuit of those stupid 'super-real Exspheres!'. We should have just stayed at your house and played Symphonia like you wanted."

"Hey," he said, sitting next to her. "If I'm not allowed to blame myself for Iselia, then you're not allowed to blame yourself for this, ok?"

She said nothing, just stared at the sheets.

"Ellie... look, if I didn't want to go to the convention I could have just turned around. I was driving, after all. But I didn't act on my doubts, so isn't this technically my fault? I was the one who didn't want to go, but I caved."

"But that's-"

"Shut up. The point is, we're both to blame. Both of us went to the convention despite its reputation for disappearances. Both of us were tricked by Yggdrasill. And you have enough on your plate to worry about beyond feeling guilty."

"...Yeah. I guess so. Sorry for bitching."

Will laughed a bit. "You've been talking to Colette too much."

She smiled. "Heh. Yeah. As nice as she is... it gets to you after a while." She was silent for a second, her eyes glazing over as she apparently talked to Colette for a bit. Then she said, "Sorry 'bout that. And you know what? You're right. I should quit griping so much that people bend of backwards for me. Compared to how half-elves are treated, being singled out as fantastic seems like a really petty thing to whine about."

She smiled, though it didn't reach her eyes. Will half-wanted to try and reassure her that she was going to be ok, but he also knew that when all he could say was 'we'll figure it out, don't worry' that wasn't really helping.

"It's really frustrating," she said. "How can humans be so cruel? Ugh, I can hardly believe I'm supposed to sacrifice my life for these bastards who want to kill my friends just for not being pure humans. Humans suck."

"Well... yeah," Will said.

'Hey, don't say that. Sure some humans are bad, but then a lot of them are good too. More of them, I bet.'

Will continued, ignoring Lloyd. "But you're human too, you know."

"Au contraire," she said. "I'm an angel."

Will rolled his eyes. "You know what I mean."

She pouted. "Is it so wrong to be opposed to dying for bastards who try to kill your friends? If I have to die for this damn world, I'd like to at least think that I'm giving up my life for people who deserve it. I just... don't want to give up my life for a bunch of assholes."

"It's just human nature," Will said.

"Human nature to discriminate against someone else just because?"

"Yes," Will said. "It's like with Jaws."

"Racism... is like Jaws." She raised her eyebrows and said, "Okaaaaay. If you mean that people became prejudiced against sharks after seeing that movie, then ok, maybe I can follow you there."

"No," Will said. "I'm serious; hear me out. See, the animatronic shark used in the movie kept malfunctioning, so they couldn't really show much of the actual shark. They just used creative camera views and stuff. Steven Spielberg unwittingly tapped into our primal fear of the unknown. People are afraid of what they don't see. Of what they don't understand. Of what's different. And when you're both afraid of something and more powerful than it, you act on that fear and it turns into discrimination. Half-elves are like unseen-robot-sharks. In actuality they're totally harmless, but because the viewer doesn't understand them, their imagination fills in the blanks and turns a harmless hunk of rubber and metal and wires into a horrifying monster that will plague the minds of beach-goers for decades. Not that I'm implying half-elves are hunks of rubber, of course."

Ellie gave him a bemused grin. "That was the strangest analogy I've ever heard. I'm not sure whether to agree with you, or laugh at the image of Genis being an animatronic shark."

"Both?"

"What the hell, sure. Just remind me never to go swimming with Genis. And geez, maybe the reason Raine's afraid of water is that when she gets wet it reveals her true shark-y form?"

"Raine is a wereshark?"

"Yes. It explains why she can't cook: the only thing she has a taste for is human blood."

Will laughed. "When we get to the beach in Altamira, remind me not to take Raine." Then he added, "We should probably get to bed. I'm kind of tired and we have another big fight tomorrow, probably."

"Yeah," Ellie said. "Dream some good dreams for me, ok?"

"Right." Stupid. He hated bringing up sleep around her. He went back to his (Linar's) bed and got under the blankets. It was hard to sleep with the wind whistling loudly outside and Ellie just sitting there, unable to sleep, but eventually he managed.

---

Ellie woke Will up late the next morning. They had nowhere to go until the ritual that night, so she let him sleep in.

'That sure was nice of you!'

Ellie rolled her eyes. 'Colette, giving me all his homework from last year when he was in Algebra 2 is nice. Letting him sleep in doesn't even begin to make up for everything he's done for me.'

'Oh... well... it's still nice!'

'Yeah, well, I'm bored.' Seriously. She been up all night, unable to even go outside and fly like she often liked to do because the wind was blowing too hard. So she'd stayed in the room, and, well, explored. Of course, Linar and Aisha weren't very rich so there wasn't much in the room to explore. She'd ended up playing Twenty Questions with Colette, but Colette wasn't very good at it. This might be because of Ellie's tendency to without-thinking pick an Earth related answer. Needless to say, Colette had been unable to guess "Paul McCartney".

"Willlll," she finally said around ten. "Wake uuuuuup." She plucked a feather from her wings after briefly pulling them out, wincing a bit as it came out. That was unexpected: feathers flying off during Angel Feathers didn't hurt, after all.

She took said feather and carefully tickled his nose with it. He twitched a bit, and wrinkled his brow in a frown. It was pretty cute. "Willll," she said again. "Come on, you're going to be late for school."

"Huhwazzah?" he mumbled eyes still closed.

Ellie rolled her eyes. "Idiot male." She grabbed the front of his t-shirt and yanked him out of bed with all her angelic strength, smiling in satisfaction as he stumbled to stay up after she threw him aside.

"Ellie? What the hell?"

"You weren't waking up," she explained simply.

"You're a basket case," he said with a smile.

"Who is the greater basket case? The basket case or the basket case who follows her?"

Will just shook his head and slipped on his jacket. "Let's go downstairs; I'm hungry."

"I'll wait up here then," she said. She hated being around food. It always smelled so good, but if she tried to take a bite, it was tasteless and made her throw up.

Will looked at her guiltily, but she waved him on. "Don't worry about me. Blame our dear friend the Ygginator for throwing me into this, not yourself."

He smiled a bit, then said, "Alright. See you later."

Ellie sat back down on the bed and relaxed. 'Hey, Colette?'

'Yes?'

'What was the first food you ate after getting the rune crest?'

'Um... Lloyd tried to make me a strawberry shortcake. He and Genis snuck into a town to get the ingredients. But he messed up and got baking soda instead of baking powder, so... it didn't turn out exactly right. But it was still really yummy!'

'Ha! That is so Lloyd. Personally, I want a pepperoni pizza, with a nice cold can of Coke. And I want to eat it curled up on my couch, arguing with my little sister over what to watch on TV, because I want to watch something like House or Seinfeld, but she wants to watch Hannah Montana...'

'Um...ok!'

'Heh. Did you understand a word of that?'

'Um... not much. I'm sorry.'

Ellie rolled her eyes again. 'It's not your fault I ramble about Earth too much.'

'I wish I could see your world. The way you describe it makes it sound so magical! Like, giant cylindrical Rheairds that can carry hundreds of people across oceans within hours! Or that magical web thingy that connects everybody in the world to each other.'

'The internet.'

'Yeah! I think... that if everyone in the world can connect like that, then there wouldn't be as much hatred.'

She could smell bacon downstairs. It smelled so good. Her mouth watered, and she turned away, wishing her nose wasn't so sensitive. 'Hmph. Keep believing that. Maybe one day you'll be able to see Earth, though.'

'Really? How?'

'Um... I don't know. But I'm going to go back eventually so maybe you can come with me somehow? I dunno. It's really not all that great though.'

'I still want to see it. And I want to meet your sister.'

'Trust me. You don't. She's a pain in the ass.'

'But she's your sister...'

'Beth's obnoxious. She intrudes in my life. She annoys my friends. She runs to Mom or Dad the second I do something wrong. She's an annoying brat. And...' She sighed. 'And I miss her.'

'Of course you do. She's your sister.'

'Stupid brat, getting in my way even a universe apart.'

Will came back up the stairs a few minutes later, and said, "Hey. We're just going to hang out here all day until it's time for the ritual. So... there's nothing much to do."

"Great."

The day passed slowly. Oh so very slowly. They were stuck inside with nowhere to go and nothing to do, so Ellie sat down to play Dots and Boxes with Colette again. Colette was getting better at the game, but Ellie still managed to win. After her humiliating defeat to Kratos, she was going to win every game for the rest of her life in order to reclaim her pride.

Finally, it was almost sundown. "It's time to go," Aisha said. "Are you two sure you're ready for this?"

Will nodded. "Yeah. We don't have much choice, do we?"

They left the house, and the wind was still raging. Ellie's lips were chapped, and she'd tied her hair back in a ponytail borrowed from Aisha so it wouldn't get in her face as much. They walked down the street with the wind at their backs, following the rest of the crowd as they moved towards the villagers.

'Don't be scared,' Colette said.

'I'm not.'

'Um... I can tell you're frightened. But the Windmaster isn't that hard. Really. Everything will be fine.'

'What exactly do you mean by 'fine'?'

'I'm sure you'll all get out alive!'

'Alive does not necessarily mean fine.'

'Sure it does! As long as you get out ok, you're fine!'

Ellie frowned. '...I don't think I like your definition of 'fine'.'

'Oh...' She sounded hurt. 'What would you say it is then?'

'Not injured. In good condition.'

'Well... then... I'm sure we'll be fine!'

Ellie sighed. 'Thanks for the encouragement.'

They reached the altar. Ellie stood close to Will and they pushed to the front of the crowd. The wind was especially strong up here, and Ellie shivered a bit as goose-bumps ran up her arms.

The crowd separated, and the four half-elves were forced forward. None of them were wearing the special costume, which disappointed Ellie greatly because she'd love to see Harley in it. They climbed up onto the stage, Genis clinging to Raine's arm and Sara looking around in terror. Harley just looked pissed.

Raine took charge. She looked thrilled to be on the dais, and, staff in hand, prepared to do the dance. Sara said something to her that couldn't be heard over the wind, probably along the lines of 'Oh god, you moron, don't summon the fucking monster', but Raine just gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder and set out for the middle of the altar.

Ellie had a really bad feeling about this.

The dance was simple. Genis, Sara, and Harley hovered in the corner, obviously terrified, while Ellie overheard a woman whispering to her friend that she was glad they were finally getting rid of the half-elves. Ellie wanted to smack her, and only Will's tight grip on her hand prevented her from doing so.

Then, there was a rush of wind. A flash of light. A rumbling in the earth. And slowly, an only-too-familiar shape materialised on the dais before Raine. It hunkered over her, claws twitching in anticipation of the kill.

"It's go time," she said to Will, and he nodded.

"Help me up."

They shoved past a man standing in front of them and Ellie grabbed Will and threw him upwards with all her angelic strength, just as Raine jumped back from the creatures' initial slash. Ellie pulled out her wings and jumped up after Will, but pulled them in again before she blew away. Then she knelt to help him up the rest of the way, and drew her chakrams.

There was a shink of metal on metal as Will drew his swords, and he and Ellie stood there in their ass-kicking poses, ready to fight.

"Lloyd! Colette!" Genis called. "What are you guys-"

"Shut up and fight!" Will shouted, as Raine ran back towards them. Ellie threw one of her chakrams at the Windmaster as he started towards them, but the wind threw it off and it landed uselessly on the ground. Crap. No chakrams.

'Use your magic! That can't get blown away!'

'Yup, yup, already casting.' As Will ran forward to drive the Windmaster back from her and Raine, Ellie began to cast Holy Song.

While casting, she heard Will shouting orders to the others. The gist of their plan was that Will would tank and keep the Windmaster back, while the other five would stand back and use magic. This wasn't the best plan, and Ellie could already foresee Will getting really hurt up there all by himself, but none of the rest of them had melee weapons. This would be so much better if Kratos were here, but nooooo. Someone had to go firing their best fighter. And Raine was supposed to be the smart one.

"Holy Song!" she shouted, just as Harley released Grave. A burst of light swept across all the combatants, and Ellie felt pleased with herself for being able to help like that. She went back to casting, this time good ol' fashioned Angel Feathers.

---

This was a difficult fight. Will was already scratched and bloody, even with Ellie's Holy Song to boost his defence. Raine was trying to help, too, and he knew that his attack power had been increased as well. Still, it was hard taking the brunt of the damage. Sure, being a tank was a decent strategy in a video game, but when every hit actually hurts, it's not so hot of a plan.

"Fire Ball!" Sara shouted, and Will dove to the ground to avoid the burst of flame.

He could smell singed hairs from the top of his head, and shouted, "Aim next time!"

He wasn't really mad, though. More terrified for his life and that tended to bring out his more jerkass tendencies. Like yelling at someone for almost setting him on fire.

The Windmaster spun in a circle, slicing its tail through the air like a pendulum. Will dove to the ground once again and it barely missed him, and then rolled out of the way when Harley's icicle shot up practically on top of him. Dammit, people, learn to aim! Clearly Sara and Harley weren't experienced at combat.

Ellie had managed to hit it with a couple Angel Feathers, but even that was having difficulty as the wind through them all wildly off course and half of them ended up hitting Will anyway, leading to the bloody gashes on his face.

He got to his feet and looked at the Windmaster, already turning around to face him again. "Two can play at that game. Psi Tempest!" He leapt into the air, spiralling around and slashing his swords like a devil. He arced over the Windmaster, slashing up its head and shoulders, before landing on his feet in front of it, facing away. "Whoa."

His head spun and he stumbled a bit, even as Lloyd said, 'That was awesome! Do it again!'

'Not 'til I get over how dizzy it makes me.'

The Windmaster screeched as Genis hit it with Eruption, and but when the spell died away the monster rushed towards the half-elves (plus Ellie.)

Crap, no, Will was supposed to be keeping it occupied! "Get back here! Beast!" The blue lion barely reached the Windmaster, but it was enough to distract it. The monster turned back around to face him, glaring at him with its evil little eyes.

It started towards him, and Will backed up a bit. "Uh, I mean, go away," he said weakly, glancing at his friends in the middle of casting. All of them were anxiously trying to get a spell out before the Windmaster reached him, but Will himself froze as it loomed over him, his legs cemented to the ground as he stared at it.

'Do something,' Lloyd urged as he stared at it, utterly paralysed. 'Demon Fang at least!'

"D-De-" Too late. Even as he raised his swords, the Windmaster slashed at him with his claws, raking them across his chest. Will cried out and fell backwards, trying not to let the pain get the better of him.

The Windmaster struck again before he could get up, grabbing his shoulders and letting its claws sink deep into his back. Will could feel tears building up in his eyes, though a small part of him that still cared in the face of imminent death assured him it was just the wind.

The Windmaster spoke, in that same chilling voice he'd heard down below. "You are not the girl I seek."

Will would have returned with a sarcastic comment, had he not been petrified with terror as he stared into the Windmaster's dark eyes, vaguely aware of its tail pulling back, ready to swing up and finish him off.

"Icicle!" A nice move by Genis stabbed the monster in the back, and with a growl it dropped him, swinging around and letting its tail smack him as he fell like a baseball. It cut into his side, though thankfully non-lethal, as he crumpled to the ground on the altar.

The Windmaster, meanwhile, had pulled itself off the Icicle and was heading back to kill Genis, when Harley let lose an Aqua Laser and Sara struck it with Lightning.

'Are you ok?'

'I will be in a bit.' Ugh, ow, he felt like crap. He was bleeding all over, his clothes were ruined again and he was trying to be strong and hold in his tears but dear god he had inch deep gashes across his chest and they really hurt. Not to mention the holes in his back and the cuts on his face and the various other cuts and bruises he'd sustained during the battle. Yeah. He really missed Kratos. Even if he was a jerk, at least he made a pretty good meatshield.

Raine was running over to him. Oh thank god, or Martel, or whoever. Raine could magic all the pain away. Raine was the best person ever.

"Lloyd," she said, kneeling by him while the other four used their spells to hold off the Windmaster. Raine visible paled when she saw how much he was bleeding, and said, "First Aid."

Will sighed with relief as his injuries sealed over. They still hurt, but at least he wasn't bleeding to death anymore. Raine, though, looked like she wanted to slap him. "Don't you ever volunteer to be bait again."

"S-sorry," he stammered, getting to his feet and feeling a whole lot more human again. It was a pleasant change of pace from being a shaking ball of agony and blood. His shirt was kind of torn up, though.

"Genis!" Raine cried as her brother was suddenly struck by the Windmaster. She was already charging up a First Aid as she ran back towards them.

Sara shrieked as it turned on her, her spell faltering on her lips just as she was about to cast. Will started running towards her, certain that the others' magic attacks wouldn't be fast enough to save her. It was hard running, though, when his chest was still burning with pain.

'Be careful,' Lloyd said. 'Magic healing is like stitches. If you push yourself too hard, the wounds will open again.'

The Windmaster was now grabbing Sara the same way it had grabbed him earlier. This time, though, nobody seemed ready to cast anything. He had to use a long-range tech, and Demon Fang wouldn't hit it as the Windmaster was floating off the ground. Well, that left Beast then.

He opened his mouth to shout, just as Lloyd said, 'Wait! Don't use-'

"Beast!"

The blue lion rushed out and hit the Windmaster in the side. Unfortunately, it also hit Sara. She shrieked as it dropped her, and she flew through the air before tumbling to the hard stone ground. There was a sickeningly loud crack as her head hit the dais, and Will froze, staring in horror at the growing pool of blood around her motionless head.

'W-Will,' Lloyd said, his voice clearly indicating he was in shock as well. 'W-What did you do?'

"Sara!" The shout came from the audience just as Ellie unleashed Angel Feathers on the Windmaster. Then Peter was scrambling up to the stage rushing towards Sara's body. Her still-alive body. Will had no way of knowing if she was still alive, but she must be. This was a video game for Christ's sake! In a video game, people didn't die from falling and landing on their head! People didn't die because the heroes were too stupid to not hit them with friendly fire.

Only... Genis had done just that to Kratos while fighting Magnius. No... no, this was a video game! Friendly fire didn't come into play in Symphonia! Sara couldn't be dead because... because... the thought was too horrifying to accept. So he chose not to.

"Lloyd!"

Genis' warning came just in time to see the Windmaster turning on him again. He'd been too busy being in shock to pay attention to it, but the Windmaster obviously didn't care. It reared up to attack him again, and with a shout of, "Super Sonic Thrust!" he impaled it through the abdomen.

He didn't care that its clawed hands came around the slash his arm as it tried to free itself from his sword. He didn't care that Genis sent a Stalagmite his way to strike it in the back and ultimately crush it. He just pulled his bloodied sword out of the monster and watched it slowly fade away, not leaving a trace of itself on the altar.

As it disappeared, the wind died down until it was barely noticeable. All Will cared about, though, was seeing to Sara. He walked numbly across the dais to where Peter sat, cradling her head on his knees, eyes scrunched closed and face twisted in pain.

Oh god. There was so much blood. So much. Peter's pants were soaking in it, and the wind had whipped the blood against the pillar behind her as well, red splattered all over the scene. But Sara was alive. She just had to be.

No one said anything. Now that the wind was gone, the entire town was eerily silent, though only sound being Peter's muffled sobs. Why are you crying, Peter? Sara's not dead. She isn't. Will wouldn't let her be. If she was dead, then it was all Will's fault, and he couldn't let that happen.

"Raine," Genis said, tugging in his sister's wrist even as she pushed him away, trying to keep her brother from seeing the horrifying scene. Raine knelt in the puddle of sticky red blood next to Peter, carefully examining Sara. Then she stood up and turned away, shaking her head sadly.

No, Raine! Don't be silly! You can heal anyone who's not dead, and Sara most definitely wasn't dead!

'Will...'

'Shut up, Lloyd! Don't tell me she's dead! Don't tell me it's my fault!'

'I – I wasn't going to say that.'

"Lloyd," Raine said, putting a hand on his shoulder and trying to pry his attention away from the scene. "We should get going."

"But... Peter..."

Raine firmly took his arm, and dragged him, Genis, and Ellie off of the dais. Harley stood up there still, looking on the scene with glazed over eyes. Peter simply sat here, rocking gently back and forth, shoulders heaving, sobbing as silently as he could.

The entire crowd stood silently, until the mayor stepped forward. He pointedly spoke to Will and Ellie, ignoring the two half-elves. "How can we ever thank you for ridding us of the creature?"

Will said nothing. He didn't trust himself to speak. He would probably end up vomiting.

Ellie, though, said, "We don't need anything."

"Please, at least accept a night in the nicest inn in town. It's the least we could offer!" He smiled warmly, his face showing no distress that one of his citizens had just been killed.

This was too much for Will to take. Without warning, without being totally aware that he was doing it, he inexplicably found himself punching the old man in the face as hard as he could. "You bastard!" he screamed. "Somebody just died and all you can say is 'wee, thanks; have a free night at a hotel'? Have you no decency at all?"

"Lloyd," Raine said warningly, putting her hand on his arm.

The old man stared at him in shock, clutching his bloody and possibly broke nose, while the crowd around them started whispering, steadily growing in strength. Will caught only snippets of their conversations.

"...at least it was just a half-elf..."

"...that human boy, disgracing his family up there, sobbing over a half-elf..."

"...glad to be rid of one at least..."

"Argh!" Will shouted. "All of you sicken me!" He pushed past the mayor and stormed back down the stairs, barely aware of where he was going his eyes were so clouded with tears.

He'd done it again. He'd killed another innocent victim. It was all his fault she was dead. If he hadn't told her to use Stalagmite, she never would have been up there in the first place. If he had stopped Ellie like he should have, they never would have needed to use Stalagmite. His journey through this game was followed by a wake of destruction, leaving his bloody fingerprints over everything.

He ended up back at Aisha and Linar's house, and went upstairs. He found the door to the balcony, and went outside onto the stone ledge. He walked around to the other side of the house, then plopped down, leaning against the cool rock of the cliff the house was built against.

"I wish Kratos were here," he said to no one in particular.

'Me, too. I enjoyed the first part of our journey the best, because I always felt safer when Dad was around.

"Kratos... wouldn't have let that happen to Sara. He would have handled everything better. We need him, and I just hope Raine realises it." He put his head in his hands. "Oh god, what are we going to do when we get to Tethe'alla? It's just going to be me, Raine, and Genis lost in an entirely new world."

'I'll be there. I promise, I'll always be your guide. You don't have to worry about anything as long as you have your Exsphere!'

Will smiled a bit. "Thank you."

'Uh... you're bleeding again.'

Will looked down and, sure enough, his wild storming away from the altar had indeed reopened his chest wounds. They stung painfully, but they weren't so bad. Raine could heal him when she got there.

"Heh. Thanks." It was funny that he was chuckling. Certainly nothing even remotely funny had happened. But maybe all the stress and pain was finally getting to him and he cracked, his brain not capable of figuring out how to react anymore. In any case, he found himself sitting on the stone balcony, laughing softly even as tears ran down his face.

---

The next few days passed in a blur. They were still staying with Aisha and Linar, though Harley had retreated to his workshop and refused to come out. They'd gotten their stuff back from Rosalyn, who didn't seem all too upset that one of her maids was dead.

Peter was a wreck. Whenever they saw him around town, he stared at the ground and refused to speak to anyone. For the first day, he'd even refused to change his pants, and walked around town in a daze, still soaked in her blood. His father had had enough of that, though. His parents were still unable to understand why their son was so torn up over 'a filthy animal like a half-elf'.

There was no funeral for Sara. Nor was there a gravestone for her added to the town cemetery. The only thing anyone said about her death at all was muttered wishes that the rest of the half-elves in the village would follow suit. Every time Will heard statements like these, it took all he had not to clock them and tell them they were racist bastards. Screw the shark analogy. Screw human nature. Sara was dead and nobody gave a damn just because her ears were shaped differently. If that was human nature then... human nature was fucked up.

The worst part was that after everything that had happened, after Sara's pointless death, nothing had changed. The townsfolk were still just as hateful, half-elves still just as discriminated against. Will supposed that centuries of hatred would take a long time to wipe away, but he'd hoped that after witnessing an innocent girl die a horrible death the humans' racism would chip away at least a little bit.

Raine and Linar spent the days studying possible locations of the Wind Seal, and with some subtle hints dropped by Will and Ellie, they eventually figured out that they should head to the Balacruf Mausoleum. Will would be pleased to leave this town. Asgard was a cool little town of ruins but... it wasn't like he could even go up and visit the ruins anymore. They were still covered in blood.

There was still no sign of Kratos. If he planned on eventually rejoining them, he obviously wasn't coming back to track them down himself. Will really missed Kratos. He never noticed how integral he was to the group until suddenly he was gone.

In any case, Will was pleased to be on the road again when they finally left Asgard.