Disclaimer: I don't own Tales of Symphonia
Chapter Thirty-Six: Sister
With everyone else's approval of the small detour, the group set out for Mizuho the next morning. They arrived early in the small village and made their way towards back. Beams of early morning light lit the tops of huts and splintered through the leaves of the tree. As they approached the well behind the chief's house, Sheena called a guard to bring the transup. A few of the others went ahead first and then Lloyd stepped in and held out his hand to Crystal. She took it and allowed him to help her step into the trans. As they stood there, Crystal wondered if Lloyd felt as tense as she did.
"Okay, bring it down," the guard called from above the well.
Crystal caught a glimpse of Lloyd's brown eyes and relaxed expression before the trans lurched and they plunged into the darkness of the well. She felt her shoulders release some of her tension as her eyes adjusted. If Lloyd could be relaxed, she could try to do the same.
As they reached the bottom of the well, Crystal caught the red sheen of Hina's hair, made visible by the dim light of the torches. The young ninja smiled as she saw Crystal approach her.
"Hello young Princess of Light," Hina said respectfully, bowing to the brunette. "I am Hina, and I guard the Alter of the Angels."
Crystal looked taken aback. "Did you just…call me Princess?"
"The princess of the Sundrith family of Veluna," Hina said it as a statement, not as a question. "The one who can vanquish Rinoa again. Crystal Sundrith…" Hina smiled. "…I would recognize you a mile away."
"Who are you?" Crystal asked, her voice taking on a commanding tone.
"Hina Jeganshi, here to serve you milady."
Recognition flashed in Crystal's eye, as the name reverberated in her mind. "You can't be…"
"I have the proof," Hina said and she turned around and lifted her long red braid to show Crystal her neck. Crystal approached her slowly and took a closer look at what was there: a small tattoo of an eye with a small sun set in the pupil.
"The all-seeing eye of Veluna…" Crystal said in amazement. "You are the second branch of the Yami clan…the seers who help the Yamis protect the Sundriths."
"Is anyone else confused?" Zelos asked no one in particular.
Crystal turned to her companions, unable to hide the delight in her tone. "I'm sorry. Hina is a member of a prestigious family on Veluna. They assist and protect my family."
"So you knew Hina all along?" Zelos asked.
"No, I didn't. But the tattoo is proof of her heritage. The Yami clan was in charge of the Sundrith's protection; it has been that way since Midina's days."
"I recognized the power emanating from the Princess," Hina said. "Especially last time when it was so unstable. The Sundriths have unique mana signatures that cannot escape our eyes."
"Good thing you spotted me, or I may have missed out on meeting an ally from my homeland," Crystal said, elated that a connection to her home was standing right in front of her. "Hina, my companions have told me of the Alter. May I see it?"
"Of course," the redhead said. She turned and led them up the path that Raine and Lloyd had taken before, the one that Crystal was now seeing for the first time.
Through a small passageway in the back of the safe house Crystal found herself in wildly bright field. Flowers in every color of the rainbow dotted the grassy hill the group hiked over. Mountains were visible in the distance and Mizuho disappeared behind them. Once they were a ways away from the safe house they came to a large slab of flat dark stone embedded into the side of a small mountain.
Crystal looked closer at the wall. Pictographs of ancient angelic language more often seen in Veluna were carved into the stone slab.
Hina held something out to Crystal. "Here."
Crystal looked at the winged key, turning it over and over in her hand. She looked at Hina who nodded as if to say go on. Crystal touched the key to the stone and light started to filter out from where the metal touched. Each carving glowed, and Crystal could make out the words for 'Protect' 'Light' and 'Angels.' Then the stone door slid away to reveal a short dark hallway with another doorway further in.
Crystal looked at the group behind her. Some of them were watching her, while others—like Presea, Raine and Regal—were examining the surroundings.
Crystal shrugged. "Well…in we go."
The tall crystalline door at the end of the hall beckoned the young princess forward. The stone angels above the door reminded Crystal of the decoration in the palace on Veluna and she was filled with a strange sense of déjà vu. She stopped just before the door and touched the smooth surface. Light bounced off the door, tiny reflected rainbows covering her body and the walls of the now glistening hallway. She heard a small gasp behind her and turned to see Colette's wide eyes and the surprise on everyone else's face, save Hina.
"What…?" She began.
"You're…glowing," Zelos said slowly.
Crystal looked down at her hand and found a white shimmer was coming from beneath her skin. "I've done this before…" she said, remembering the dream she had at Altessa's house. She looked at Hina, and said to herself more than to her ally, "I think I know what's behind that door."
Crystal turned back to the door and closed her eyes. A tall, familiar figure was printed on the back of her eyelids. With a deep breath, Crystal pushed the ornate key into the door and turned it. The clicking sound of the internal lock echoed in the silent hallway. Ribbons of light lit up more carvings in the doorway to reveal the picture of a sun with rings around it. Then the sun split in half as the doors parted and revealed the inner chamber.
The room was so bright it sparkled, although there was no way for sunlight to enter from outside. The center of the gold alter held a pedestal with a gold box atop it. The box was intricately carved and designed with sharps of crystal. On the ground around the pedestal it stood on, were rings of topaz and angelic scriptures. Behind the alter was a tall figure that had entered Crystal's dreams; the statue of her ancestor.
"Hello Midina," Crystal said softly.
As if in answer, the topaz eyes of the statue glowed. Crystal stared into its eyes and felt something pull her forward. She walked towards the gold box in the center pedestal and reached out to put her hand on it. Heat radiated from it as if the box was on fire. Crystal's skin also increased its temperature as it glowed brighter, and she felt a bonfire light inside of her chest the closer her fingertips got to the box. The rings on the floor started to glow as well, as she stepped past them. Finally, her hand brushed the burning hot metal.
In an instant, a spear of light shot out from under Crystal's feet and ran her through. The force of it arched her body backwards and lifted her so that she was suspended a few feet above the ground, held in place by the spear going through her abdomen and up into the ceiling.
"Crystal!"
"Crystal, no!"
Crystal heard her name be called, but it was getting farther away. She had slipped away into unconsciousness.
A single cherry blossom tree was in full bloom, anchoring the small island. The breeze carried the petals of the tree so that pink rain filled the air, and the green grass shimmered. The blue sky all around was empty of any clouds and in the distance the sky was tinged with pink and purple, as if the night sky was looming just under the horizon. The moon was visible, even in the light of day, and it was bigger than it ever looked before. A second smaller moon was a distance behind it.
Crystal looked at the scene before her as if in a dream. She stood a few yards away from the tree as her body started to wake up. She felt the warmth under her skin, in her finger tips and toes, her face, her torso, her hips, in every crevice of her body. She shook out her legs and then realized that she never could feel her legs move in her dreams.
So this was not a dream.
She walked to the edge of the island and looked down expecting to see land or water, but the air was just empty and blue like the sky above. Even though the air was cool, Crystal was very warm. She looked at her arm and realized that her skin still had a shimmer. Her clothes had changed as well. She was wearing a thin, light white dress and nothing else. She looked at her surroundings and walked towards the tree, which seemed to be the only thing the island held.
The tree looked ancient, with a thick dark trunk and wide expanding branches. In the tree trunk there was a carving on a sun with rings around it, but this one had a tiny pair of wings in the center. Crystal touched the crest, and a circle of ring appeared around it and pushed itself in, like a button. There was a flash of light that blinded her sight for a moment.
"Hi, Crystal."
Crystal froze at the woman's voice, so warm and familiar, like when she was young. She turned around to see a slender figure with long, pin straight hair, as dark as the tree bark, and hazel eyes that turned green in the sunlight.
"Anastasia…" Crystal said wonderingly. "You're alive?"
Anastasia shook her head. "I am just a projection. It is likely that I am now dead. This is my last letter to you Crystal. To explain things. Why I left Veluna, why I disappeared, and what this place is…I will tell you everything."
Confusion washed over Crystal. "You aren't…real then?"
Anastasia looked at Crystal the way she always did when she was teaching Crystal, all those years ago. Except that this was just a recorded version of her. "This is just my letter to you, sis. I am so glad you found this place…I always knew you would. Please sit, and I will relay my last message to you. Crystal, my dear sister…I'm sure your journey hasn't been easy thus far…and I'm afraid it wont get any easier for a while."
Zelos watched as Crystal walked towards the alter. She seemed to be hypnotized by the glow of the statue, or following some voice that only she could hear. The room seemed to react to Crystal's presence in a way that it hadn't when he first entered with his companions. Crystal herself was reacting to the room as well. Her skin glowed, making her look unearthly.
"Is she…okay?" Sheena whispered.
"She knows what she's doing, even if she doesn't realize it," Hina answered.
The group watched with baited breath as Crystal reached out to the box, and the floor lit beneath her. Suddenly, a spear of light pierced her body violently, skewering her right in front of the alter. Colette screamed.
"Crystal!" Zelos yelled.
"Crystal, no!" Lloyd began to run to her, but Hina threw her arm out in front of him.
"No, you mustn't!" Hina commanded. "This is her trial, she must overcome it herself."
Lloyd looked over at Crystal's arched body, his expression pained. "How can I just sit here and watch her?"
"I don't even think she's conscious!" Zelos said. "That can't be okay!"
"Leave her!" Hina said, stareing Zelos in the eye. "She is undergoing the trial of the angels, of her world. We cannot interfere with such matters. It would be a disservice to her."
Zelos cursed, his stance still rigid. Sheena walked up to him and put a hand on his shoulder. He looked and saw his expression reflected in the lines of her worried face. He let his shoulders relax and simply said, "Yeah," as if answering her.
Crystal sat down on the grass under the tree and watched the projection of her sister.
"I will begin at the beginning," Anastasia said. "In our home, after you were born, and we realized what power resided in you, my parents gave me the task of guarding the alter. I was surprised at first; all I had ever done was run away from Veluna and from the lessons that I didn't want to take with our tutors. I never found the classroom interesting. But I was friends with the Yamis, our shadow guards, and I excelled in skills that had to do with camouflage and information gathering. The usual shadowy work. So our parents sent me to this planet before you turned ten. I learned that this alter was a safe place for the "child of light" to unlock her powers. That's you Crystal. So I was supposed to stay here until you needed this place…because we knew you would. The moment you were born precautions were taken. Because my parents knew that Rinoa wasn't dead. I think they knew that something was coming.
"So I stayed on this planet to guard this place, but while I was here something unexpected happened. I met someone. And I brought him to our planet. You wouldn't remember this, and neither does he…the Yamis insisted on erasing everyone's memories except for our parents. You see, the Yamis thought that an outsider having information on Veluna's location was dangerous. But I wanted you all to know about him so badly, so I'm telling you what's no longer in your memories. You were ten years old and playing in the flower garden. I hadn't been home for a while so as I greeted mom and dad, he wandered around the palace grounds and I suppose he found you. Because when I found you guys in the garden you both had flower wreaths in your hair, and he seemed to be helping you make one for me." Anastasia smiled. "You made it out of daisies and he helped you put a pink rose in it.
"He and I returned to the world and I stayed here, but I was always scared of what could be happening in Veluna. I used to go check in and…I found out about our brother...and I couldn't even come home. Because someone in Cruxis found out who I was, even though I had changed my name. They had taken my blood sample from a clinic I was in—the simplest thing—and they found traces of light mana in it. It was just enough information to realize I was valuable. So I fled to Mizuho, found Hina, and created this projection for you to find.
"Crystal, this whole island is in your mind. The Alter of the Angels allows you to enter your own being and find the extent of your power. That's why I chose to leave this message for you in here, where no one else can reach it. So here's what you must do: when you leave this place, your own hand must remove the spear of light that pierced you. Only someone with light mana in his or her blood can touch the spear, so no one can help you. If you cannot remove it from your body…you will die. If you succeed, as I know you will, you will have taken the first step towards unlocking your power, the power that will vanquish Rinoa. Make no mistake, she will come for you, and you cannot run forever—although I dearly wish you could.
Crystal stood up as her mind reeled, trying to understand the flood of information she had just received. "How do I leave this place?"
"I can release you from it myself," Anastasia said, walking up to Crystal. "Although I am a projection, I hold the essence of Anastasia's—my—personality. So remember, that I love you, Crystal. I pray for your safety and happiness."
Crystal nodded and didn't speak for moment, since her throat suddenly felt closed up.
"Oh one more thing before you go," Anastasia said. She was moving her hands now and the ground started to shake. The blue sky was getting darker, as if night was suddenly falling. "Cruxis—and the Desians—have me filed under a different name, that it might help you to know. I used our great-grandmother's maiden name and my nickname—" the sky was black and the island seemed to be falling through space. Anastasia remained fixed in space but Crystal's hair was whipping around her. "—so Cruxis knows me as Anna. Anna Irving."
The name hit Crystal like punch in the stomach. "What? Wait! Anastasia! What do you mean?"
But it was too late. Anastasia faded into blackness along with everything else.