A/N: This is late. For a few reasons, but one is because I spent a huge amount of time going through a lot of the story and either majorly editing or rewriting several chapters chapters (the main idea is still there, but there are some significant changes I made); the most important changes, though, are in chapter 9 (10. Chapter 9) and chapter 12 (13. Chapter 12). There's also an extra conversation in chapter 25 (26. Chapter 25). Other reason is at the bottom note.

People are either going to love or hate the change … I fear it may be hate, but there's a reason for the change. I hope it doesn't chase away readers, because although I may have made it into something people don't like, it'll come into play later. The rest of the stuff isn't as major, it's just more me fixing inconsistencies and bad writing. If you'd prefer to not go searching for what was updated, I have a list up on my profile of what was changed and added.

Tales of Symphonia © Namco

Volt's temple — or rather, the Temple of Lightning, is huge. Massively huge. At least from what I can see from the outside; the tower spans several stories high, with dark, heavy clouds covering the sky around it. It's been raining since we close enough to actually see the temple and, now that we're here, the storm is much worse.

A feeling of unease washes over me. A flash of lightning strikes the temple, making me and the others jump in surprise, and Lloyd's expression changes.

"So, this is where the eye of the storm is …" Raine murmurs to herself. "Understandable. The Temple of Water was surrounded by water, after all."

"Are we gonna be alright in there, though?" Lloyd asks. "What if we get hit by a lightning bolt?"

Genis crosses his arms under his cloak. "Lloyd, the lightning is striking outside, not inside."

"I will wait for you with the ship," Orochi tells us. "Sheena, you can do it."

The sudden switch to Japanese surprises me; it's not exactly something to hide from everyone. But then, when I think about it, I understand why.

Sheena nods, thanking Orochi, and then we enter the temple.

It's … dark, to describe it simply. There are occasional flashes of lightning striking above head, but otherwise the only thing that's keeping the room are the dull, glowing statues scattered throughout the room.

"See?" Lloyd turns to Genis. "I told you—there's lightning inside! If we stay here too long, we might get fried to a crisp."

"It seems as if the building is electrically charged," Regal notes, and I nod. The air has a heavy, static feeling to it, similar to when you rub your hands together and touch metal—and it's uncomfortable, especially when we're all wet from the almost-downpour outside. "Whether the lightning will strike only here, or in the central hall, we must see."

Genis looks at him strangely. "Aren't you a little bit concerned at least? You're the tallest one here, and lightning strikes what's tallest."

"I will not be struck down by lightning," he simple replies. Genis waits for him to continue, and when he doesn't a frustrated look crosses his face. Regardless, he lets the topic go. "We should hurry."

"Yes; time is of the essence." Raine looks over at Sheena, whose shoulders are tense with nerves. Although her expression is neutral, there's an obvious fear lingering underneath it. "Sheena, do you remember the way to Volt?"

"I … yes, I think so," she replies. "There were puzzles, the first time. But they were all solved. … I don't know if they've reset or not."

I shiver when another strike of lightning hits somewhere. The static in the air spikes for a moment before dying back down to its usual level.

Lloyd suddenly says, "Hey, wait—there's no oracle stone here."

Raine responds, "It's likely that this temple is not functioning as a seal right now. We are in the flourishing world."

Since Raine is leading with Sheena, I move to Genis. "Hey … Genis," I start, "do you feel it?"

He looks at me. "Feel what?"

"You know—" I make a swooping motion around the room with my hand, "—it. The air. It feels all staticy."

His eyebrows raise. "You can sense it? That's the Mana in the air. Humans shouldn't be able to sense it."

I give him a flat look. "Oh … yeah, I forgot. You're from Earth." Genis shrugs. "You said there's no Mana there, right?"

"Right," I agree. "All this is new to me."

"Well, I guess it makes sense that you can feel it to." He pauses. "Hey, does that mean you can do magic too?"

"Huh?" I blink. "No? I doubt it. I'm still human."

He thinks for a second before nodding. "Yeah. You're right. Humans can't do magic, no matter where they're from."

I eye the taller people in our group—Zelos and Regal, that is. I decide to stay next to Genis and Presea; as the shortest three, we'll be safer if we just group up together instead of staying with the tall people of our group.

But speaking of what Genis said … I turn to Presea. "Hey, Presea. What does it feel like in here for you?"

She blinks. "What do you mean?"

"Like … the air. Do you feel anything wrong with it?"

She pauses, before slowly shaking her head. "Um … no, I don't. It simply feels like a thunder storm would."

"Alright, thanks." I nod at the girl, who offers a confused nod back at me. Genis looks at me strangely, but says nothing.

Like a thunderstorm … I think back to Earth, how it felt during a storm. I compare it to what this temple feels like—

I guess regular humans really can't feel Mana.

Eventually, through the dim lighting, we find a staircase leading to a door. However, as we're preparing to walk up, a strike of lightning slams down on the pillar there, making us all back up. There's a short silence.

"We'll need to fix that," Raine finally says. "It's likely there is a switch around here that will lower that rod … but walking in this lightning is dangerous."

Sheena looks around. "I remember this part of the temple, actually—there should be several other rods that we can raise with a switch. We just have to raise the highest one."

I hear Zelos snort in the background but everyone ignores him for the time being. Considering how dark it is we'll have to be careful about navigating this place.

"It's going to be dangerous, whoever's lowering the rods," I point out. "Who's gonna do it?"

"Someone fast?" Lloyd replies. "That way, the lightning won't hit them!"

Genis sighs. "Lloyd, that's not how it works."

Sheena crosses her arms. "I suppose I can do it … I should be able to get it done quick enough."

"We need to … uh …" I pause, looking through the darkness in search of the rods I know are there. "There's one over there," I point to the right, "I think that's the highest one."

Sheena quickly goes up the staircase, and another strike of lightning hits the center rod as she's going. It's done quickly and she's back at our side almost immediately. "Alright—I raised that one. We should lower the middle one, just in case."

Raine nods. "Yes. It's better safe than sorry."

The lightning crashes down on the rod Sheena raised just a minute ago, and I make sure to keep to the middle of the group as we move into the seal room. It's a massive room with two staircases leading up to a balcony where a metal rod sits, already raised; almost exactly identical to its game counterpart. On the bottom floor is what looks to be a sorcerer's ring changer from the game and I frown. I haven't seen the sorcerer's ring be used, yet—I wasn't expecting for it to have to be. There shouldn't be anything set up, after all; unless Cruxis reset them?

I wince at that idea. Does that mean when we do the other seals in Tethe'alla, we'll have to solve all of those puzzles as well?

"Oh—it's one of those things!" Lloyd exclaims, and I see him reach into his bag for something. He takes out the ring and says, "Professor?"

"Yes, Lloyd; place it there."

It lights up when placed down, and once the light has gone away Lloyd picks it back up. "OK—let's see …" he shoots it in a random direction and a ball of blue sparks comes flying out, much to my surprise. It's weird to see this in person.

"Wow, it shoots lightning now!" Lloyd shoots the ring again. "I wonder what it'll be used for?"

"Perhaps there is something that can only be destroyed by this lightning," Raine muses. "We'll have to see."

As I mentioned before, the seal room looks like it does in the game, down to the shoots on the side and everything, except without the weird coloured boxes holding the lightning rod up. In fact, it's already raised—yet Volt doesn't appear.

How odd.

"What do we do now?" Lloyd wonders. "There has to be more to it."

Raine brings a hand up to her chin, climbing the staircase leading to the altar. We follow her and she crouches down in front of the rod. "There are three orbs here; perhaps we have to light them in order to summon Volt."

"Light them, huh? So should I shoot it?" Lloyd asks. Raine nods, stepping away, and Lloyd shoots the ball of lightning at the rod. As expected, one of the orbs lights up a bright blue.

"One down, two to go," Genis comments. "If it only lit up one orb, then there's probably something that'll change the sorcerer's ring to another colour deeper in the temple."

Lloyd sighs. "And here I thought it was gonna be easy …"

"There are doors here," Raine comments as we descend the staircase. "We should continue through the temple as if it were a seal."

Lloyd scratches the back of his head. "At least there's no monsters."

He turns to Sheena and asks, "How did Mizuho get the puzzles done if they didn't have the sorcerer's ring?"

Sheena shakes her head. "I don't know." She looks towards the door directly ahead of us. "Let's try there first."

It leads to large room with what looks like a power generator and a door on one side and two staircases on the other; one leading to the lower floor, which is covered in water, while the other leads up to yet another door.

There's lightning hitting the rod in the center of the water and I wince. If anyone falls in there, they're screwed.

There's also a pedestal for the sorcerer's ring next to the lightning rod, and Lloyd jumps to attention—Genis catches his arm before he can go running into the electrically-charged water.

"Lloyd, there's water there," he starts. "You're gonna get electrocuted if you go in!"

Lloyd frowns. "How are we going to get to the thing, though? Colette isn't here."

"There's gotta be a lightning rod somewhere higher in here," I say, looking around the room. I crane my neck up, noticing a balcony overhead. "Maybe up on that?"

The group looks to where I'm pointing. "It appears so," Raine agrees. "We should make our way there. The door at the top of this staircase likely leads to it."

We climb the staircase and enter the room it leads to and … well, are immediately encased in darkness. Everyone freezes, and both Raine and Genis try to light up the room with magic only for it to fizzle away. The small fireball burning in Genis' hand extinguishes rather quickly as well, and a strike of lightning crashes down, illuminating the room for a few seconds before dying away.

"… It appears we must use the lightning to guide us," Regal says. "We must be cautious of where we step."

I wring my hands out. "Maybe … we should all just grab hands and make a line or something …"

My idea is shot down rather quickly, though it is agreed that we'll break off into pairs and go through one at a time, with a few seconds between each pair. I end up with Raine, and I resist the urge to latch onto her hand for reassurance. If I fall, I don't want to drag her down with me.

… Hopefully falling will just lead to us being shot out the shoot like in the game.

Hopefully.

We go second, with Lloyd and Presea being the first to set off, and I wince when another lightning bolt strikes down in the room. We quickly follow the path, taking care not to trip, and when the light dies away Raine grasps my arm quickly.

"You'll fall off if you keep going that way," she tells me. "We turn here."

I nod. I was too busy looking at the floor, to be honest.

Eventually we all make it through, and find ourselves on a balcony that leads to a single lightning rod—but it's behind a field of electricity. There's a door on the other side as well and I frown.

"What do we do now?" Lloyd asks, crossing my arms. "Should we just climb the railings?"

"Absolutely not!" Raine replies. "A fall from this height would be fatal, especially considering the water below. There has to be another way around it; perhaps we can find the passage that leads to that door."

I look up and see another platform on the other side, with … a lot more unstable of a foundation that this one. If I remember right, in the game you had to raise the lightning rods and let them strike so the floor fell out from beneath it.

Lloyd seems to get that idea in his head somehow because he exclaims, "Look—that spot up there is all cracked! Maybe we can make it fall somehow so it'll drop us on the other side."

Raine doesn't look amused by his idea. "Lloyd … that's also a fall that we should try not to have to take. Perhaps simply raising that rod will be sufficient."

Lloyd sighs. "Fine."

So back through the darkness we go. We take the door near the generator this time, with the same partners as last time, and I nearly scream when my foot lands on air.

Raine manages to pull me back before I can fall but I'm shaking for the rest of the walk. "Be more careful," she scolds. "Who knows where you'll end up if you fall."

I nod wordlessly.

There are more staircases in this path and we end up even higher than we were last time. There's a lightning rod on unstable flooring and I can see chords connecting it to the wall.

Only Lloyd steps onto that area, with the rest of us hovering just in case something goes wrong, and he quickly hits the switch to raise the rod, turning to run back to stable ground when—

CRACK

"Agh!" Lloyd cries out as he slams into the floor below. There's a loud crash as the rod snaps from the cords, hitting the railing and tumbling all the way to the ground floor, smashed to pieces. We all huddle at the edge.

"Lloyd! Are you alright!?" Genis cries. Lloyd winces, sitting up and rubbing his elbow tenderly. He doesn't look too badly injured despite the rubble underneath him. Thankfully, it wasn't too large of a fall.

"I-I'm fine!" He calls back. "Um … there's another one of those things here, though. And no door."

Raine groans. "It looks like we have no choice but to raise the rods and let the floor break from the lightning strikes. Lloyd!" She calls, and the boy looks up at her. "It appears there is no other choice but to continue the same way—be careful not to stand too close to the lightning rod."

He grimaces, but nods. "Alright! I'm gonna do the next one!"

There's another crash. Lloyd doesn't cry out this time, but I'm pretty sure he hit the ground hard if the smashing of the lightning rod is anything to go by. Hopefully it didn't hit him on its way down.

Once more, and then, finally we hear a faint, "I got it!" from the bottom. I look over the edge and see Lloyd flick the switch of the final lightning rod, redirecting the lightning from the one in the water to the one on the platform. He sends us a thumbs up. "I'll meet you guys out there!"

"Where's 'out there'?" Genis wonders. "Who knows where that door down there leads to?"

Zelos sighs. "We just gotta trust in the 'bud. It's not like we can get him back up here, after all."

"Let's hope he didn't injure himself too badly with all those falls," Raine says simply as we head back into the darkness.

There's suddenly a scream and we all start, only to hear Zelos cry out in pain. "You pervert! What the hell are you doing!?"

"It wasn't me!" Zelos whines. The room lights up from the bolt and I see Sheena glaring at Zelos. Beside her, Regal looks a bit dumbfounded.

"Who else would it be!? You're the only one behind me!"

"What happened?" Genis asks.

The room is dark again. Sheena snaps, "The idiot took advantage of the darkness to grope me. You're lucky I don't hit you for that!"

I imagine that, if not for the fact that none of us know where the darkness leads to she would've. I guess that's a good thing for Zelos, but …

She'll probably just hit him once we're out.

It takes Lloyd considerably longer to get back to the generator room than it takes us and as soon as he enters Raine checks him over.

"I am glad Lloyd is alright," Presea says from beside me. "It must have hurt to fall so many times."

I nod. "It's lucky he didn't smack his head into the ground. That would've been a problem …"

A concussed Lloyd is not the kind we want running around in the dark.

"You don't understand—I had to go through two of those pitch black rooms; two of them!" Lloyd tells us once Raine is finished. "The first one lead into this really massive room with a ton of bridges and a massive staircase—there was even another thing like that one." He points to the generator in the corner of this room.

Raine hums. "How interesting … we should check it out after we finish this room."

Now that the higher rod is risen, we're able to make our way to the water. Water splashes around Lloyd's feet as he hurries to the pedestal, switching the rod down while he's at it.

After the ring has been changed we turn our attention to the generator. "How do we turn it on?"

Genis stands on his tiptoes, taking a few steps back. "Well, there's that one rod right there—it's lowered, though. Hey, Lloyd—" he turns to the swordsman, "—lift me up so I can check that one!"

Raine pulls herself away from examining it to protest but Genis quickly says, "I'm not gonna raise it! I just wanna look." Reluctantly, she agrees.

Lloyd hefts Genis onto his shoulders and the mage scrambles onto the generator. I hear him hum and ask, "What'd you find?"

He leans over the edge of it to peek at the back of the generator. Raine is clutching her staff a bit tighter. He pulls himself back up and returns to looking at the rod. "So … this one is connected to this machine," he pats it, "by some wires. And those wires also go through this small hole on the bottom of the wall. So I think if we can raise this rod and get it to be shocked by lightning, the machine might turn on."

"Hm …" Raine returns to examining the generator, but finds nothing more than what she did earlier. "Perhaps. We should lower the rod up there, then."

Lloyd sighs. "I have to go back through those rooms again?"

"We could send someone else this time," Sheena suggests. "Whoever feels like they can navigate through the best."

We all exchange a few looks.

"Should they go in pairs again?" I ask. "Or by themselves?"

"A pair would be ideal," Regal states. "In the chance that one were to step off the edge, there would be someone to pull them back up."

"Or fall down with them …" Zelos mumbles. "So who're the sacrificial lambs this time?"

Sheena glares at him. "No one's being sacrificed, idiot."

"I think … Lloyd should go again," I say, and hold back a wince when everyone's attention turns on me at that. "Because he's gone through it once, right? So he'll know the way." If the room is anything like it is in the game, there are multiple doors you can go through … the last thing we need is for someone to get lost in here. Plus, Lloyd did describe it as massive.

"But who will go with him?"

Genis says, "I can."

Raine nods. "Very well. Then … one of us will need to return to the main room and use the sorcerer's ring for Volt."

I raise my hand. "I can do it, Professor."

She nods. "Alright. Lloyd, give Eden the ring."

I take off one of my gloves so I can slip it onto my finger, and then frown. "So … how does this work?"

Lloyd shows me, and then him and Genis set off the way Lloyd came. I head out of the room and back into the previous room.

"I really do wonder what'll happen if someone falls into the darkness,"I think, glancing at the shoots on both walls. "They should end up here, right?"

"Hopefully you don't have to find out," James replies. "But yes, it's likely. I doubt Cruxis would create a seal that could kill the Chosen simply by falling."

" … But there's the fire seal,"I point out, climbing the stairs to Volt. "In the game, there was lava everywhere."

James argues, "But you could see it and avoid it. This time, you can't always see where you're going."

I sigh. "Fine, you're right."

I shoot the ring at the lightning rod and a yellow light comes to life. I stare at it for a moment before looking down at the ring.

"Sorcerer's ring, huh …" I sigh. "I didn't see how the seals were in Sylvarant, but if this is anything to go by …"

James hums. "You'll all probably have to solve quite a few puzzles for the seals."

I sigh. "I know."

Suddenly, out of nowhere, I hear a scream—and I whirl around to see Genis and Lloyd come flying out of one of the shoots. They smash into the ground rather hard, tumbling a bit, and Genis groans from his spot on top of Lloyd.

"Lloyd!" he snaps. "Why'd you have to pull me down too!?"

"It was an accident!"

I call out, "Are you guys OK?"

The two of them look up. Genis huffs, rubbing his shoulder tenderly. "Yeah, we're fine," he calls back. "Lloyd slipped and grabbed a hold of me, causing us both to fall into the darkness."

I sigh. "Well, at least we know where it goes, now …"

I meet them at the bottom of the stairs, sliding the ring off and give it back to Lloyd. He puts it back on. "So … you fell?"

"Yeah," Lloyd replies. "If you fall off the edge, it shoots out out of there." He motions at the shoot they came flying out of. "Anyways, we're gonna try again."

The two boys go off and I make my way back to the generator room and settle down on the steps of one of the staircases, nearby Regal. He nods at me in greeting. From our spot down here we can see the platform with the lightning rod on it and I keep my eyes fixed on the door, waiting for the two boys to step out of it.

"The seal process is fascinating," he simply says. "I never believed I would see the inside of a temple."

"The only one I saw was the Tower of Mana …" I shiver at the memory of that place. "The stairs nearly fell out from under us."

Regal inclines his head, and I continue with, "It was a defence mechanism or something—we were walking up this … really, really long staircase. The flames would go out sometimes and at one point a flying sword attacked us."

"A flying sword?" He asks, bemused. I nod.

"But then after everything else, the stairs just started falling. We barely made it to the ground before they were all gone." I sigh at the memory. "That was … really scary."

"It sounds so," Regal agrees. "I do hope that any future seals we encounter do not have such defense mechanisms."

I hum, saying nothing, but I can't help but think of the Temple of Darkness. That puzzle was a pain in the game … I really, really hope it isn't like that in real life.

I see Lloyd and Genis exit the room after a while longer. They wait until the next lightning bolt cracks down on the rod before Genis hurries in and switches it off, scrambling away as fast as he came.

'Hey, James,' I start. 'Do you … think that I could save Corrine?'

"… How?"

I look at Sheena, who's simply petting Corrine and talking softly. 'I don't know. Maybe … I could take the hit for him—I'm bigger, so it shouldn't do as much damage to me. Right?'

James sighs. "I thought you got through this phase of doing dangerous things that could potentially cost you your life," he says dryly. I bristle a bit at his tone. "Yes, you are bigger than than Corrine. But you're still small. That lightning bolt could very well kill you."

I remove my glove and stare at the Exsphere on my hand. 'But I have two Exspheres. That should be enough protection against it, right?'

James groans. "Please tell me you aren't actually considering this?"

'… I'm not actually considering this.'

"Now's not the time to be a smartass," he snaps. "You've brushed death too many times already—why risk another one?"

'Because Sheena needs Corrine.' I put my glove back on and flex my fingers. The group is gathering, despite the fact that Lloyd and Genis aren't back yet, and I get to my feet. 'I don't want to see Sheena suffer.'

"So now it's just this one, right?"

"Right," Raine agrees. "We'll wait for Genis and Lloyd to return before switching it."

Zelos crosses his arms over his chest. "Why wait? We've got two other people who can get up there." He motions at Presea and me and I instinctively move away from the generator. That is not something I want to be put on top of.

"Who will lift them, though?" Sheena asks. "It's a bit tall for me to be of any help, and Regal has shackles on."

Zelos frowns. "Y'know, I'm here too."

"Why would we let you lift them? You'd probably take the opportunity to try and grope them!" Sheena shoots back. Zelos' face darkens.

"Dammit Sheena, since when have I ever gone after kids?" I jump at his tone, and he simply hisses out a breath and turns his head away. "Whatever. Let's just wait for the brat and Lloyd to come back so they can do it."

Everyone just goes quiet after that and I see Sheena frown before turning away to go join Raine in examining the generator. I look over at Presea, who looks … a bit confused.

"Why would Sheena imply Zelos do such a thing?" She asks quietly, when I move to her side. "He does not seem to be … one of those people."

I shrug. "I dunno … it might just be because he's a pervert," I guess. "But it's gotta hurt to have someone think that about you."

Presea nods. "Zelos … is a philanderer," she agrees, "but he is not unkind."

"Sheena will understand that eventually," I conclude, after a moment of thought. Lloyd and Genis enter the room again after that statement and they approach quickly.

"So now we just have to raise that one, right?" Lloyd asks. "Should I lift Genis onto it?"

Raine hesitates. "I am unsure what this apparatus will do once power is flowing into it. However, it appears we have no other choice. Make sure to get down as soon as possible, Genis."

"I know, sis."

He does it quickly, and after hitting the switch he hops off the generator just before a lightning bolt crashes down on the rod. Immediately the machine roars to life, a loud buzzing filling the air.

"And now it works," I say. "What do we do with it, though?"

Raine shakes her head. "I'm not sure. There are no buttons to press and the screen doesn't respond."

"Like I said; there's another one of these thingies in the room we were in. There's a huge staircase that goes above it, too." Lloyd rests his hands on his swords. "Maybe that one has been turned on, too."

"Genis did say the wires went through a hole in the wall," Sheena replies. "What do you think, Raine?"

Raine nods. "We should examine that machine as well."

And so off we go, back into the seal room and through the single door on the wall of the left staircase. I look over at the right one; it's still charged with electricity … I guess it isn't too important, then.

We go through another dark tunnel and, I have to say, I'm really getting sick of walking around in the dark. It's terrifying; we can't move too fast or else we risk falling off, and it just all around sucks.

"At least you got over that … problem with darkness," James comments. I'm holding onto Raine again, and thankfully the healer doesn't seem to care. It's probably preferable than having to pull me back into place every time I step the wrong way. "How's the Exsphere been, anyways?"

I say nothing for a moment. A lightning bolt illuminates the room and shows we still have a staircase and two turns to go before we reach the door. Finally, I say, 'Well, for the past week it's been quiet.'

"And before that?"

I shrug. 'It was aggressive like usual. But it's been awhile since it's done anything.'

I wish I had wood to knock on after that statement.

Lloyd wasn't kidding when he called this room massive. Like he said, there really are paths everywhere; down below, right across from us—there are at least four different doors in here, but they're all blocked off by an electric fence. All but two, that is.

The one we came through, and the one that Lloyd and Genis probably went through.

A series of platforms are connected to the staircase above the generator, and I notice that the lights are flicked on.

"How peculiar," she mumbles, a hand raised to her chin in thought. "This one has a switch we can press."

"Let's press it, then," Lloyd says, and he goes to do so only to yelp in pain when Raine smacks his hand away. "Ow!"

"Do not touch it Lloyd Irving," she says sternly. "Until we figure out what it does, I don't want anyone to mess with the machine."

I crane my head up to look at the upper floors. In the game, it involved destroying specific blocks so that you could get an electric current to travel up to the top, sending a massive boulder smashing down into the walkway. But … if that happens, we have no way to get back up. I can't even remember how the seal plays out after that part.

Raine wanders up the stairs, examining each floor, and I see Regal go along as well. I simply lean back against the generator and wait, staring down at the lowest floor.

I really, really hope that this doesn't involve a bolder.

"I wonder if Sheena's alright," I hear Genis mumble from his spot next to me. "This has to be hard on her."

I turn to look at the half-elf, and after a moment nod in agreement. "Yeah … she's trying to be brave, but I can tell she's scared."

Lloyd sighs, wandering over to the railing and glancing over the edge. "Either way, it doesn't matter. We have to believe in her; if we don't, then who will?"

"She doesn't believe in herself at all," I note. "Even though it's been … ten years, I think, since she last came here, and even though she successfully made the pact with Undine."

"She's grown stronger."

I glance at Sheena. She's mainly stayed to herself during this whole process, and I can't really blame her. If I was in her position … I don't think I'd want to interact, either. It must be terrifying.

Zelos sighs, wandering over and leaning his arm heavily on Genis' head. He snaps at the redhead, but Zelos takes no mind. The half-elf shoves him away and Zelos winces before saying, "What a beautiful mutual trust you all have."

"Don't joke around!" Lloyd snaps, though he keeps his voice to a minimum to avoid attracting Sheena's attention. "This is serious!"

Zelos holds his hands up in defense. "I'm not! Just think for a moment. If I were the one making the pact with Volt, not even Lloyd would be able to freely put all his trust in me, right?"

"Of course not," Genis responds. "You're irresponsible."

"You can shut up, brat," Zelos snipes. Genis glares at him. "So, anyways, I was thinking how you all have formed a beautiful mutual trust because of all the time you spent with each other."

I frown at his words. "Zelos, you'll gain our trust too, in time."

"Yeah—you're a part of us now, Zelos. So I trust you, too."

"Hm." Zelos simply shakes his head, a wry smile coming to his face as he looks away.

I return to my own thoughts, letting my back slide down against the generator until I'm seated with my back against it. I draw my knees to my chest and rest my chin on them.

"I have a bad feeling about this all," Genis admits, his voice quiet. I look up at him and he continues with, "Nothing bad has happened so far, but … I just feel like something will."

I wince. Corrine will die if I don't do anything. If I let him die … Sheena will lose a close friend. I can't do that to her.

But my only other choice is to take the hit for him—take a hit of electrically charged Mana head on. My past experiences with large amounts of Mana … haven't ended well.

First the field, then at Kvar's ranch—both aren't memories that I look back on fondly. Although I'm not entirely sure what happened at Kvar's ranch; not that it matters.

The point is; potent Mana + Eden is a bad combination.

But if I don't …

I rest my forehead on my knees and hug myself a bit tighter.

'I don't have any other choice.'

Raine and Regal return after a while. "It appears that there is some kind of mechanism at the very top of this room. However, there are no wires that directly lead to it. I believe we may have to sever some of them in order to send Mana up to the mechanism."

"From this machine?" Genis asks. "Is that what it does?"

Raine nods. "I believe so. However, with how many wires there are, there is a risk of severing the wrong one."

"And then we'd never get this room solved," I mumble. "Did you figure out which wires to cut, Professor? Regal?" I look at the both of them.

Regal raises his shackled hands to his chin. "We have come up with a possible path. However, we only get one chance. We must be certain about it."

"How can we help?" Lloyd asks. "Do you want us to watch the wires or something?"

Raine shakes her head. "No. We've simply returned to inform all of you. Regal and I will be working on which wires to sever."

"So more waiting," Lloyd mumbles with a sigh. "Great."

Sheena is barely paying attention to the conversation at this point and I stare at her for a moment before looking away.

'What do I do?' I ask. 'Should I go to her?'

"Ultimately, it's up to you." James yawns, and I have to resist the urge to do so as well. "But imagine if you were in this situation … how would you want to be treated?"

I frown. In this situation … in a place I fear, that holds many bad memories—

I wince at the thought. 'I'd want to be left alone,' I manage, after a long pause. 'Since it'd be hard enough to deal with by myself. If people keep reminding me about it, I wouldn't feel any better.'

"Then there's your answer."

I see Zelos go over to Sheena and immediately prepare myself for a bad reaction—only to pause when I see nothing out of the ordinary happen.

The two of them are far enough away that I can't hear their conversation but, judging from the way Sheena's expression changes, I'm guessing that Zelos has thrown away his usual persona for now.

Eventually, when their conversation continues going on, I look away. I distract myself with thoughts of the future seals—how to solve them. My memory is pretty fuzzy for the most part, but I remember the gist of it … I think.

By the time I've gone through all of them and scoured my memories for anything I could've forgotten, Raine and Regal have returned.

"Sheena, will you come with us?" Raine requests. The ninja glances up, blinking a few times. "We've figured out which wires to cut."

"Ah, sure." I see her hand fall to the dagger I know is concealed beneath her top, and she mumbles something to Zelos before heading towards the adults. "Which ones?"

After a while Raine orders us to press the button and when Lloyd presses and there's no change from the electrical field I can't help but fear that they did it wrong. Then, suddenly, there's a loud rumbling—and the wall shifts, pulling apart until a door has been revealed.

"… There's been a door there the entire time?" Genis mumbles to himself. "I didn't even notice …"

"Maybe the walls have electricity in them, too?" Lloyd guesses. "It doesn't matter—let's go check it out!"

"Hey, wait, Lloyd—" Genis cries out, but it falls on deaf ears as Lloyd takes off through the newly revealed doorway without hesitation. He looks between the three descending the stairs and me and Presea before hesitantly telling us, "C'mon, let's follow him."

"Shouldn't we wait for Raine?" Presea asks softly. "She will be upset if we all head on without her."

Genis shakes his head. "Who knows what trouble Lloyd will get into without someone watching him?"

I sigh, but get to my feet. I spare a look at the adults of our group as we go; they still have another four flights of stairs to go.

There's no darkness to walk through thankfully. Simply a long hallway that eventually opens up into another room. Lloyd is standing in front of the altar, sorcerer's ring already in hand, and he turns when we come in.

"Found the last one," he tells us, before shooting the ring out in front of him. The lightning fizzles for a moment before dying away. "So now we can go and make the pact with Volt."

Raine rushes in, expression unamused, but thankfully she doesn't make any move to yell at any of us. "What've I told you about running off?" She lectures, but I can't tell whether she's actually upset or not.

Lloyd shrugs. "Sorry—I just wanted to see where it went, is all. And like I said; this is the last one! So now we can go and meet Volt."

Sheena's expression wavers, but she quickly recovers it. I tilt my head in response, frowning, but she simply shakes her head.

Reluctantly, I leave her be.

The trek back to the seal room is long and I'm tempted at one point to just jump off into the darkness and let myself be carried out of the shoot. I chicken out in the end, though.

"Right … the last one." Lloyd turns to look at Sheena. "You ready?"

She simply nods. Her face gives away no signs of apprehension or fear but, from the tenseness of her body, I can tell she's terrified.

Having to face your worst fear …

It must be awful.

Once all the lights have been lit up, there's a moment of silence before it starts to shoot off rapid bolts of lightning. We all jump back and there's a thundering crash that lights up the entire room. When the light finally dies away Volt is there, hovering above the seal.

He … looks exactly like his game counterpart. The static in the air worsens and I wince, feeling like I've been burned almost. Genis and Raine look similarly uncomfortable.

"Sheena," Lloyd starts, turning to the girl, "you can do it. We're all with you."

Sheena hesitates, closing her eyes for a moment and taking a deep breath, before nodding. "Yeah." She steps forward. "Here I go …" She steps toward the ball of lightning, Corrine perched on her shoulder, and a loud … noise fills the air.

Noise is the best way I can describe it; it isn't crackling or buzzing like I expected it to be. It's obvious that it's some kind of language … but, at the same time, it's so weird that I can't even begin to understand or make out the syllables.

"W-What's this voice?" Genis stammers. "It's trying to communicate, right!?"

"He speaks in the ancient tongue," Raine says. "How interesting."

Sheena doesn't seem to think the same. "T-This is just like before!" Sheena cries, her voice shaking. "What the hell is he saying!? I don't—I can't understand!"

"Sheena!" Corrine cries, nuzzling his face to her cheek in an attempt to calm her down. "Sheena, you have to calm down!"

Raine agrees. "Yes; stay calm, Sheena. I can translate." Raine pauses, before stating, "'I am one who is bound to Mithos. Who are you?'"

"Mithos again?" Lloyd mumbles to himself, but he's ignored by the group.

"I—I am Sheena," Sheena states, and although her voice is strong I can practically hear it cracking already. "I ask that thou annulst thy pact with Mithos! And …" she hesitates when the noise starts up again, but finishes with, "a-and establish a new one … with me."

Raine takes a moment, her expression twisting into something confusing, before she frowns. "He says his path with Mithos has been broken. However … he has no desire for another one."

"W-Why not?" Sheena stammers. "I have to—" Corrine presses his nose to her cheek again, his tails flowing freely behind him. I keep my eyes locked on him. "Why?"

"… 'I will have no more dealings with people, therefore I desire no pact.'"

Sheena shakes her head. "No—we need your help!" She turns back to the Summon Spirit, her hands clenched into fists. The noise grows stronger and louder and I wince. The air has become even more potent now than before.

"Sheena! Be careful!" Lloyd shouts, but it falls on deaf ears. Raine opens her mouth to say something, only for a thundering crash to fill the room and then—

Pain.

I slam into the ground hard, my skull smacking against the ground and body burning from the lightning that just hit me—and the world is spinning so violently that I can't even bring myself to lift my head. Instantly I'm hit with a wave of nausea.

"Eden!" James calls out. "Hey—are you alright!?"

I gasp for breath, struggling to sit up. Maybe if I shut my eyes it'll be easier—

No. No, it isn't after all.

I hear Sheena cry out, a scream escaping her throat. "E-Everyone!" The panic is evident in her voice and I struggle to shove myself up. There's no time to be laying around like this. "No, no, this is—it's just like before!"

I hear a groan from beside me but don't bother looking. Sheena is panicking—she's alone and there's Volt and I can't—

I can't let Corrine die.

"No, no—" Sheena screams again and I manage to pry my eyes open. She's fallen to her knees, hands covering her eyes and shoulders hunched. I spare a look around me and notice the others are barely moving; but they're still moving, thankfully.

"Sheena!" Corrine cries. "Sheena, you have to calm down—they're alright!"

She shakes her head. "No … no, again, again I've—" she breaks off into a gasp. "I-I've killed my friends again, I've—"

Lloyd coughs. "D-Damn," he moans. "He just … attacked …"

The world is spinning even more now. It doesn't matter—get to your feet. Get up, get up you can't stay down.

Volt's noise becomes so loud it's deafening. The others are only now beginning to recover from the hit and I stumble as I stand, nearly tripping over myself when I finally manage to get up. Volt is hovering behind Sheena—she's not safe. Corrine isn't safe.

I can't stop.

"Sh-Sheena!" Lloyd attempts to cry out to the ninja, struggling to get up. His arms are trembling. "Sheena, w-we're all fine!" He coughs. "We're not dead!"

Corrine is pulling at Sheena's top desperately. "No one died, Sheena! Please!" His voice is desperate. "Please, get up! Volt is coming! Stand up and get away!"

Static is louder. Stronger.

Move, move, move—

It's going to be OK now.

Volt attacks and I see white. Then a blinding pain hits me—worse than that time in the field, worse than Kvar's ranch; so, so much worse.

I feel my body fall apart. I feel the skin rip from the muscles and I scream but my voice doesn't come out and then—

The pain is overwhelming—

And I can't breathe.

"Where are we exactly?"

James looks up from the book he was reading. "Does it matter?"

I frown. "Well … I-I want to know, y'know? I mean—it's … t-this place. It's become …" I'm hesitant to say home, because it's not. This isn't my home.

James sighs and puts the book down. "You know what you have to do. Right?"

I nod, slowly. "We aren't on Earth anymore. This base is located in the world you'll be entering."

"World, huh …" I bring my knees to my chest. "I … I-I wish … I wish Riven told me more. His instructions were too—too vague," I whisper. "'Your job is to get the world to a state where we can harvest its energy'. But how do I do that?"

James says nothing. I stare at him for a long time before reluctantly giving up. "I don't … I-I don't even know where I'm going. Why can't you tell me?"

Silence again. I grit my teeth together.

I don't want to be here. I want to go home already—but my only chances of going home are by doing what Riven wants.

I hate it. I hate him.

"And this stone on my neck; the thing around it. What is it even?" I ask. "You and the doctors and even Riven said it'll keep me alive. But … I was fine without it. I survived fine. Why do I need it now?"

James sighs. "You've only recently come to terms with the fact that you're not with your family anymore. Do you really think you can handle the answers to those questions?"

They're the same questions I've been asking for months now. The response isn't much different than what I've received over those months, either.

I pull my legs closer. "It doesn't matter, anyways … I'm going to forget it all." I hide my face. "I-I'm going to forget—everything. How I got here, where I am, why I'm here—why do I have to forget? How can I do my job if I don't even remember it?"

"Once you learn where you are, you may not want to continue with your job." Is the response I get. "It's … a protective measure."

I shake my head. "It'll … it'll get done either way. It shouldn't matter."

"Riven and …" he hesitates at the name and then simply skips over it, "a lot of work has gone into this. Riven won't let it fail unless he has no other choice."

I feel tears pull at my eyes. I don't want this; I want to go home. I want to lay in my own bed—not the hospital bed I spent months in, not the bed I'm in now—just … my bed. In my house, on my own planet.

I don't even know where I am.

James sighs again and I grit my teeth. Weakness; all I've shown is weakness while here. First with the testing, then the fixing, and then—then this. I never wanted this. I just wanted to go home and not do dishes and yet—

James pats my head softly and I bite down on my lip. "I'm sorry," he says, after a long silence. "I'm sorry this has been done to you."

"I hate you," I spit out. "I hate you, I hate Riven—I-I hate—I hate everyone. Just let me go home!"

My words are venomous but the anger fizzles away as soon as it came, leaving me empty. That's all I am now; empty.

There's nothing left for me anymore.

"In time," he mumbles. "In time. I'm sorry."

Raine was struggling. Volt's words were angry; he was screaming at this point, and along with Sheena's panicked cries Raine could barely focus enough to get a grasp on the situation.

Volt refused Sheena's pact—his anger towards the humans was far too strong for him to ever consider another pact. Raine wasn't sure the details that had led him to that state, but she strongly guessed it had to do with Mithos, his previous summoner.

But by the time she pulled herself up there was more than just Sheena to worry about—Volt was threatening them, telling Sheena to leave; never return. And when she refused—

Raine went to scream out a warning, only for her voice to fail when a body crashed to the floor in front of the summoner.

Her brain was still fuzzy from the attack, but fear settled on her heart. "Lloyd …" she struggled, wincing when a sharp pain shot through her muscles. "Lloyd—what's happened?"

"S-She—Professor! Eden's—"

Sheena's scream echoed throughout the chamber. Raine coughed again, managing to push herself to her knees with a bit of difficulty. She saw the rest of the group beginning to recover, and only when she did a headcount to check did Lloyd's words register in her brain.

'What did that girl do this time?'

Lloyd staggered to his feet in time to dash forward in front of the two girls and throw out a guardian to deflect the next wave of lightning shot out towards them.

"Shit …" Zelos, this time. The Mana in the air, filled with Volt's words, and the fact that she was still recovering from the shock, made it hard for the healer to figure out the situation. "This is not good."

He was the next one to his feet; but rather than help Lloyd deflect the lightning and convince Sheena to get up, he retreated.

A body was in his arms.

And then, her brain was clear—when the child was laid out in front of her Raine felt panic seep in. There was no rise or fall of the girl's chest—no twitch or groan to signal any life.

Eden had no pulse. Her Mana had fizzled to a stop in her body, just like Raine had seen happen to Dorr, to the elderly woman in Iselia who had passed away last year. On the altar, Lloyd was trying to talk sense into Sheena, who'd all but worked herself into a frenzy of panic and fear.

Raine locked eyes with the summoner, forcing herself not to look away when she saw Sheena blurt out a question through a haze of tears. She couldn't hear the words, but the question was obvious.

"Is she OK?"

Raine grit her teeth. Her fist clenched into the fabric above Eden's chest, where her heart should've been beating. Clenched her staff in the other hand.

Raine lowered her head and cast.

And cast, and cast—

But the child didn't move.

Distance was their friend, in this case. Lloyd had distracted Sheena, somehow, but the ninja still looked back, her eyes desperate for an answer—and Raine swallowed back her nausea.

"She's alive."

The lie felt filthy on her tongue, and the look of relief on Sheena's face made her throat burn with guilt. But the truth would destroy Sheena; especially at the moment. When the battle was over and everything settled, Raine would deal with the consequences of her lie. But, at the moment, she couldn't afford the luxury of telling the truth. There was too much on the line and too much to risk.

And when Volt caved and accepted the pact fight, Raine sat out and continued to cast, splitting her attention between the fight she wasn't allowed to participate in, and the body on the ground in front of her. Regal hovered at her side, saying nothing.

It was a waste of Mana; Raine knew that. But the profound sense and feeling of failure was almost stifling. The electricity in the air served only as a reminder of how she'd failed—how she'd been too weak to save a single child.

So she continued to cast.

A/N: Mm … I'm so sorry I've been gone so long, but I hope everyone is doing alright these days. I don't know how many people, if anyone, still reads this … it was partially why this chapter was so intensely difficult to write. It's been sitting around for over half a year, now; I've come back to it and read through it too many times to count. But writing has just been so, so hard. I don't like this chapter, still, after all the times I've gone back and fixed parts or changed bits. I've had urges to restart the entire series, but I'm holding back even though those urges are strong.

For those of you who still stick with me, thank you. I've fallen behind on updating everything, and life hasn't been kind to me recently. But I want to continue writing, for those of you who look forward to reading what I put out. I've drafted the next chapter, but my writing style has changed drastically. Still, I will keep going.

Thanks to everyone who reviews and offers comments, it's what keeps me writing. So please continue to review, let me know what you thought; the feedback is greatly appreciated.