Disclaimer: I do not own tales of Symphonia.

Chapter Twenty-Six: The Burial

They were almost to the entrance of the mine when they heard voices. There were three men. Two soldiers and a very large man who had a small tuff of brown hair on his almost bald head and a handlebar mustache. He was addressing the two soldiers.

"It's no good," he was saying in a gruff voice. "There're no more Exspheres around here either..."

Regal caught sight of the larger man. "Vharley!" large man turned around. "Regal! So you're the one who destroyed the guard system outside."

"Who's that?" Lloyd asked Zelos.

The redhead's expression darkened. "That's...Vharley, the Exsphere broker. What's he doing here?"

"Why are you here?" Regal demanded. "Why has the Pope let you stay free? That's not what I agreed to!"

Vharley barked a laugh. "You think the Pope would keep a promise to a murderer?" He eyed Colette. "And you've forgotten your promise to bring us Sylverant's Chosen! You joined them instead!"

"Silence! If the Pope will not fulfill his promise I will punish you myself!" Regal stood in a battle ready stance as if he was about to attack the man before him.

"No way! I'm getting out of here!" Vharley turned and rushed out with the two soldiers.

Regal's face was twisted into a snarl. He stood, rooted to ground, trying to compose himself.

"Regal, who was that man?" Colette asked.

"He called you a ..?" Lloyd asked, turning around. "murderer, yes." Regal answered, nodding his head. "I am a prisoner trying to atone for my crime." "Crime?" "Explanations would be excuses." Regal interrupted. "I committed a crime. That's all that needs to be said. I understand if you look down on me."

"...My stupid actions have killed many people," Lloyd said darkly. "I don't know what you did, and your crime won't go away. But when you're suffering, it's all right to at least say so."

"Perhaps one day I will have the opportunity to tell you my story. I apologize...can understand if you feel uncomfortable around my presence now. But don't worry. As soon as Presea is better I will take my leave."

A silence passed around the group. They made their way to the entrance and no one said anything else on the subject. Outside, they boarded the EC and went straight back to Ozette. The weather seemed to be on their side. The breeze was cooling and the waters were calm. Even Raine didn't get as seasick as she usually did.

They got to the dock nearby the forest and walked the rest of the way.

Genis walked next to Regal and looked up at him. "So…you killed a human…"

Regal looked at the younger boy. "I am very sorry...I understand how uncomfortable you may be traveling with a murderer. I hope you can tolerate me a little longer, just until we save Presea."

"I'm a murderer too..." Genis said.

Regal's eyes widened in surprise. "What?"

"I've hurt countless people in order to protect myself. I had to take a life too...I don't know your crime but...I won't tell you to leave just because you killed people. Because in a way...we're the same."

Regal looked at Genis' young face and nodded solemnly. "Yes...I suppose we are. Thank you."

Genis looked away from Regal. "...But that doesn't mean I have to like you..." He muttered quietly.

The group walked up the path to the center of the village, only to find the pope's Papal Knights waiting for them. They were talking to a civilian. When the civilian saw them approach he pointed and said, "That's them! The wanted criminals!" Then he ran away.

"Ah crap, not this again..." Zelos sighed.

Sheena looked around at the knights. "Why are they always showing up where we're going?"

Some knights came up behind them. Others blocked their way to Presea's house.

"Capture Colette alive!" The head Knight yelled.

A battle ensued, but it didn't take long. They defeated them easily, and soon the knights left.

"Well, we managed to win," Lloyd sighed.

"It's my fault again..." Colette said sadly. "I'm sorry everyone..."

Zelos patted Colette on the shoulder. "Don't be silly. They're after my life too. The professor and Genis are wanted because they're Half-elves, Sheena is from a village now considered as traitors, and Regal is considered a traitor as well."

Colette smiled softly. "Thanks."

Zelos gave her a half hug and Lloyd shook his head half-smiling.

"Stop thinking everything is your fault," he said amusedly.

"I'm sorry, Lloyd."

"You don't need to apologize for it."

Colette started to smile. But suddenly her expression changed. Her face twisted in pain and she sank to her knees.

"Oww! Ow…ow…"

"Colette!" Lloyd exclaimed. "Professor! Colette's..."

Raine put a hand to the girl's forehead. "She's running a fever. But what's causing this much pain?"

Colette was clutching her arm, her squeezed shut in pain. She was turning pale.

"Move...please leave this...to me..."

They turned to see Presea behind them. Raine nodded and stepped aside.

Presea walked towards Colette, looked down at her, and then spun around quickly. She slashed a circle in the air all around her, forcing the others in the group to step away from Colette.

Presea hit Colette with the back of her axe, knocking the blonde out.

The sound of wings beating the air reached Crystal's ears. She looked around searching for the sound, but couldn't see where it was coming from. Until she looked ahead again.

Rodyle was riding between two great, mean-looking dragons with yellow teeth and claws. He landed right behind Colette and Presea, cackling at the scene before him.

"Good work, Presea," He sneered as one of the dragons picked up Colette. He flew back up, laughing at his success. "The Chosen of the failing world with aid me in my plan!"

"No...COLETTE!" Lloyd yelled as Rodyle disappeared from view.

Presea remained motionless, like a wind-up toy that needed it's key turned. Regal looked at her sad state and stepped next to Lloyd.

"Lloyd...will you help Presea?"

Lloyd nodded and took the crest out of his pocket. He walked towards Presea and attached the ore to her crystal. "I carved the charm. With this, she should return to her real self."

The crystal glinted fleetingly and Presea blinked. The light had returned to her eyes.

"Are you alright?" Lloyd asked.

"I...where am...daddy...where's my daddy?"

Raine looked at the girl sadly. "Presea...you're father is-"

Presea didn't wait for the end of the sentence. Her eyes widened and she turned and ran towards her home. The others quickly followed.

The girl stepped into her house as if it wasn't her own. The stench made it hard for her to breath. She looked around in confusion and spotted the bed. Something caught in her throat.

She stopped when she was just a few feet away from the bed. By this time the others were behind her, Regal closest to her.

"W-what...have I...?" Presea mumbled as she took a wobbly step towards the bed. Then she saw what was underneath the covers.

Shock and horror engulfed the small girl. It felt like the room was closing in on her. She let out a piercing scream and fell to her knees.

Genis ran to her and tried to calm her down, but to no avail.

"We have to get her outside!" Raine said.

Genis tried to pick her up but he was too small. Lloyd saw this and knelt down. He scooped her into his arms and ran out of the house.

Once Presea was outside, Raine knelt down beside her and tried to calm her down. Gradually, her screaming turned to dry sobs and eventually she was calmer, though still shaken.

"Listen..." Raine said gently after Presea had been quiet for a while. "There's not much we can do for you...but would you like us to give your father a proper burial?"

Presea nodded, and the others set to work.

"So..." Raine started. "We need to dig the grave and we need to prepare the...body. Who will do that do the latter?"

Regal raised his shackled hands and Lloyd, Sheena, Genis, and Crystal raised their hand.

Zelos looked at Crystal and then turned to Raine. "Professor, could you give me a moment to speak with Crystal?"

"Uh, yes, go ahead..." She said with a questioning look.

"Thank you," He said with a cheery smile. "Just carry on, alright? We'll be right back."

He waved to the others and began pushing Crystal in a direction away from them.

She began to protest. "Zelos, what are you-"

"Juuust want to have a little chat with you, Hikari-chan," He said.

He dragged her out of earshot of the others, then stopped and turned to face her.

"Why did you raise your hand?" He asked.

She looked at him curiously. "Because I can help."

"No, Crystal," Zelos said. "You shouldn't get your hands dirty with a task like this."

"I don't care about getting my hands dirty, I can help," Crystal said, a hint of defiance in her tone.

"The first time we entered that house you had a strong reaction when you saw the body. Do you really think you can handle it?"

Crystal hesitated. She wasn't sure she could handle it, but she didn't want anyone to think she was weak.

"I-I can handle it," She said.

Zelos wasn't convinced. "I saw the look on your face earlier today. You know you can't."

Crystal looked at him with a mingled expression of stubbornness and that of someone who has to admit they're wrong. "Yes, I can..."

"You seem to be convincing yourself more than me."

She stayed silent.

Zelos sighed. "Look...if you won't do it for yourself, do it for me. I can't stand it when girls are put in bad positions."

He took her hand in his and bowed down into a kneel. He brushed the back of her hand with his lips and kissed it. Then he looked up at her and smiled. "Please?"

Crystal suddenly felt like it had gotten much warmer out.

"I-If it means that much to you, I don't care," She said, not looking at him.

"Good!" He said happily, standing up again. "Now let's go join the others and tell them we'll dig!"

Still holding on to her hand, Zelos began to skip back towards the others, forcing Crystal to do the same while she tried to speak to him.

"H-hey I didn't say I'd dig! And why aren't you helping with the body?"

He grinned. "I'm a delicate boy, I can't deal with corpses! Besides since you won't be helping with it, you'll get to dig with me!"

"W-wait!" She said. "You mean that whole speech was just so that I'd dig with you?"

"Well, yeah. Don't you want to watch me take my shirt off and dig, so you could stare at my glistening pack of beautiful abs?"

"Why would I!" Crystal protested, yanking her hand away from Zelos.

He whined. "Awwww, Hikari-chan, you're no fun..."

So it was decided that Genis, Zelos, Sheena, and (in spite of herself) Crystal assisted in digging the grave, while Lloyd, Regal, and Raine went inside with Presea who insisted on helping prepare what was left of her fathers corpse.

A while later, the job was complete. Lloyd helped Presea make an appropriate grave-marker. A wooden cross with an Ax tied to it. Presea wrote her Father's name into the marker and put the finishing touches on the grave.

When she finished she turned to speak to them. She had returned to normal but her eyes still held a bit of emptiness.

"Thank you for helping me with Daddy's burial."

"Have you calmed down?" Raine asked.

"Yes…I've been a great burden to you all.," She said.

"You remember?" Lloyd asked.

"Yes, mostly."

"Why did you have an Exsphere like that on you?" Genis asked.

"I received it from a person named Vharley."

Regal's anger seemed to flare up again. "I knew it...Vharley!"

"I wanted to save my sick daddy," Presea explained. "I wanted to learn how to weld an axe so I could work in my daddy's place. So Vharley introduced me to Rodyle, and I was taken to the research academy in Sybak."

"The experiments on you were carried out by order of the Pope, right?" Zelos asked.

"That would mean that Rodyle is in league with the Pope," Lloyd said.

"Presea," Regal began. He spoke softly. "Do you have an older sister?"

"No."

"Do you have any other family?" Raine asked.

"I have a younger sister. She left to go into service for a noble and that was the last I saw of her. And my mommy died when I was a child."

"When you were a child?" Zelos repeated. "You're still are one."

"Oh, yes…I suppose I am…"

"At any rate, we can't just leave you in the village by yourself if you have no one to turn to," Sheena said.

Raine nodded. "Yes. The people of this village seem to avoid her."

"I...uh...I'd like to go with all of you, if that would be all right," Presea said.

"Huh? Why?" Lloyd asked.

"It's my fault Colette was taken away, so please, let me help in her rescue."

"If I may…" Regal said turning to the rest of the group. "I would also like to accompany you. It seems my fate is linked to your enemy."

"Is that alright with you guys?" Lloyd asked the others.

Sheena rolled her eyes. "We've come all this way together. Do you really need to ask at this point?"

"I think we've gone though this a few times already," Crystal said.

"Yep," Zelos agreed.

"I'm okay with it," Genis said.

"Truthfully, I'd like to oppose this," Raine said. "But I knew it'd end up like this."

"Good, then it's settled. Welcome to the group, Presea and Regal," Lloyd said with a grin.

"Thank you," Presea said.

"I am in your debt. I shall not betray your trust," Regal said.

"Now let's hurry and find Colette," Raine said.

"They headed east," Lloyd said.

"So, you've lost the chosen," a deep voice said. Crystal twitched.

They turned to see the auburn-haired man standing before them, leaning against a rock.

"What do you want? What's happened to Colette?" Lloyd demanded.

"Rodyle is ignoring orders and acting on his own. I know nothing of it," Kratos said.

Raine's eyes narrowed. "Internal strife? How pathetic."

"It doesn't matter. He will have no choice but to abandon the Chosen. She is useless in her current state. You can let her be."

"I will go and rescue Colette," Lloyd snapped, his hand on the hilt of his sword. "And if you interfere-"

"Then you should find the Rheairds," He said. "Mizuho's information network should have located them by now."

"Why are you telling us this?" Lloyd asked.

"I am telling you nothing of consequence. Now if you'll excuse me..."

Kratos walked past the group, and they thought he was going to ignore the rest of them. But then he stopped next to Crystal and looked at her.

"How are you feeling?"

Crystal was so surprised by his attitude that she nearly choked on her words. "I-I'm feeling better..."

"Good," he said. He reached into his waist pouch and took out a small folded cloth, and handed it to her. "In that cloth is lonan herb. The next time you expend your mana, mix this herb with Kirima fruit. It should alleviate the symptoms at least."

Crystal took the cloth and stared at it. Now what was going on? Kratos was acting the same way he used to. The way he acted before he betrayed them.

"T-thanks…" She stuttered.

"Don't mention it."

Without another word, he walked off, leaving a slightly stunned silence.

"Come on, let's go to Mizuho," Sheena said, motioning them to continue out.

They followed Sheena's lead and didn't mention what had happened. Well most of them didn't, with the exception of one.

"Hikari-chaaann," Zelos sang. "That was nice of him, wasn't it? Giving you an herb to make you feel better?"

"Shut up, Zelos…" Crystal muttered, hoping that it was just getting warmer out.

"Aww, are you turning red? Does that little gesture make you happy?"

"Shut up, Zelos."

He laughed. "Okay, okay. But seriously though…"

Crystal went rigid. Zelos put his arm around her and drew her a bit closer.

"If you were my girl…" He continued. "…I'd give you all the herbs you could want and I'd take care of you…" He whispered in her ear. "Personally."

Crystal turned bright red and punched Zelos in the gut with such force he was sent toppling backwards into Lloyd, causing them both to fall. She stomped over to the red-head and towered over his withering form.

"Let get one thing straight!" Crystal yelled. "I am nobody's girl, and I am not, nor will I ever be one of your 'Hunnys.' SO LAY OFF!"

Everyone had stopped walking and watched the scene in utter shock. They looked from Crystal to Zelos, to poor Lloyd who was buried beneath Zelos' body.

Crystal noticed the attention she had gained from the others. She gave a small huff and continued walking.

"Oh, man..." Zelos sighed. "I didn't know she could be so violent..."

"...Zelos, would you please get off me."

The redhead looked for the source of the muffled voice to find is was coming from underneath him.

"Oh, sorry Bud," Zelos said, moving off of the smaller boy. "You cool?"

Lloyd, who was face down in the dirt, rolled over and looked above him at Zelos' face.

"Why are there two, Zelos'?" He asked blearily.

Zelos sighed and grabbed his hand. "It's the question of the century, Bud. C'mon up you go."

He lifted Lloyd to his feet. The younger swordsman wobbled for a moment and rubbed his head.

"Man, she's strong..." He said, before he looked at Sheena, who had an odd smirk on her face.

"What are you smiling about?" Lloyd asked.

"Well...it's just that," Sheena gave small laugh. "Crystal...her attitude...she's back."

Lloyd watched Crystal who was walking ahead of the rest of the group, and then he grinned as well. "Yeah, she is."

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