Ladies and gentlemen, here is Lezareno Building Number Two part One!!!

Within you shall find…clumsy miracles, ventilation climbing, separation, psycho-daddies, super-sadists, Core-crazed Decus, and a very, very good old friend.

Disclaimer: Mystic Yoshie does not own Tales of Symphonia or the Sequel.


The parties had split; Presea, Genis, and Raine had gone off to create a distraction while Kratos lead Emil, Tenebrae, and Marta to find Brute. Their path was swift, as the dual distractions between the people of Mizuho and the Heroes acted like magnets, attracting every soldier to the immediate threat. The elevators and corridors had tightened security, creating a complicated maze of halls and passages that they navigated, hoping to find Brute at the end.

Every way they turned, they saw more evidence of Vanguard graffiti. Entire walls had been vandalized with names, logos, inappropriate words and insults, Vanguard banners had been hung from the walls as they had in the city. They had destroyed decorations, art, plants; the expenses must have been enormous. Every so often, they came across a stray soldier; all were easily picked off, their bodies subtly hidden from obvious sight as the party continued.

Kratos took point, as he always had in the Desian Ranches, while Emil and Marta hung back, Tenebrae taking the hind, as they moved. Though Kratos focused his eyes forward, his ears were sharp and open, he was aware of soldiers moving ahead and above them, the dangers they presented. But more so, he was aware of the soft speaking and intimate gestures exchanged. He turned away, gave them their privacy, though he would have thought this the wrong time for such activities.

He had known of their growing affections for months, but in the short time that he had been away, something had blossomed, and they were far more…aware of each other. Kratos heard the sound of skin against skin and Marta's soft "thank you Emil" and knew that the child had taken her hand. The only way that Marta was capable of facing her father was with Emil's help; however, he wished they could focus better.

Kratos was tense. One could hardly blame him, he was one of the prime targets for the Vanguard, though their reasoning was inaccurate, but simply the act of being in enemy territory was getting to him. His hand was constantly gripping his sword and his shoulders were tensed.

For some time they were able to pass without much trouble other than the fallen that marked their path, but soon enough, Kratos heard the whisper of footsteps and the soft whistling of a rapier slicing through the air marking the appearance of Alice.

"I thought that you would be taking the long way while your friends caused a distraction." Alice smirked, but it was weak, distracted.

"Alice, what the hell do you want? It's not like you not to bring an army to back you up, and you can't take all three of us!" snapped Marta, Kratos had to agree with her assessment, Alice was rarely seen without backup of some sort, be it men or monsters. Now, however, she was completely alone.

"Oh, Mart-mart, do you think I can't take you? No, I suppose I couldn't, you've got Ratatosk on your side, but if it were just you and the little Pet you wouldn't last long. But I'm not here to fight, I need your help."

"And what makes you think that we would help you?" Tenebrae seemed almost amused at the idea.

"If you help me, I'll take you straight to Commander Brute. I swear no tricks!" She seemed to be sincere, but Kratos knew her far too well from their few encounters to trust. "Please, it's Dumbo Decus! Ever since Commander Brute took the Centurion's Core back, he's lost it!"

"Lost it?" Marta seemed concerned, despite herself.

"Yes, he pines for it! That's all he can think about!" Alice's eyes seemed to harden, and Kratos could not help but think her jealous of the theatrical man's new obsession. She was obviously fond of thinking herself his only love, his only passion, playing with his heart. Now that it was not hers, she was growing in resentment. "You're the Ratatosk Spirit; you must be able to do something!"

Though Kratos doubted that he could have done a thing for Decus, Emil and Marta made the decision for him, following Alice as she flounced off down the hall. Kratos and Tenebrae pursued only because Emil and Marta were following. Kratos had a very bad feeling about this expedition, and, from the dark look he shared with Tenebrae, he felt so as well.

Alice lead the way to a large room, the floor was covered in decorative shapes and the walls hung with more Vanguard banners. At the back of the room was Decus. His breathing was loud and shallow, and his hands were bound, held by the iron maiden that he had so proudly displayed. His head was hung and his clothing lip and dirty, as did his periwinkle hair, as if he had not bathed for some time.

"Give…me…Solum's…CORE!!!" He roared, his voice was low and raspy; he had been shouting…or screaming. His legs flailed as he attempted to free himself from his iron bindings.

Kratos and Tenebrae hung back as Marta and Emil moved forward, Marta's feet clicked softly as they moved over the mosaic tiles that decorated the floor. Suddenly, Kratos realized that it was not the girl's heels that were making the noise, but a mechanical mechanism. Kratos went to call out, but it was too late. As Marta stepped over the center of the mosaic, her feet did not meet with the ground and she plummeted to some unknown destination several floors below.

Kratos felt Alice's little hands grasp his wrists from behind; her nails digging into his skin, though, thanks to angelic traits, it did not pain him. He was able to twist away easily enough, and his sword was drawn and held to the girl's neck, her pale skin parting to let for a thin line of red.

"A-Alice, you lied to us!?" It seemed like such an obvious question, of course she had lied to them.

"N-no I didn't!" she trilled, stepping back and moving a hand to wipe at the trickling red on her throat. "Decus really has lost it! But Commander Brute really wants Mart-mart and Ratatosk, I'm really just doing my job! But I'm not stupid enough to think I can take an all-powerful Summon Spirit on my own, I'll let Decus take care of you and come back in for what's left of you. Have fun!"

Alice's flight was hurried, and, though Kratos lunged for the closing door, it was slammed in his face, the sadist's laughter still echoing in the empty room.

"This is really bad…" Emil did not remove his eyes from the struggling form of Decus. "How are we getting out?!"

"Perhaps we could pry the cover from the passage…" speculated Kratos, still glaring at the door. However, his thoughts were interrupted by a sharp cracking and Emil's horrified gasp.

"Decus! Kratos, Decus is breaking free!"

Kratos spun around to see Decus struggling to free himself; one arm already free and the other being tugged hard enough to dislocate it. He was stumbling forward, his crystal eyes glazed, much like many of the zombies that Kratos had fought in past Temples (though, in reality, zombies were not the reincarnated bodies of deceased humans, as was thought, but a specific type of monster…ugh, Tenebrae was getting to him.)

"Damn it, Emil, move!"

Kratos rushed in, sword drawn, expecting to merely ward off the possessed man, but the plan failed when Decus mindlessly blocked Kratos' strong swing with his unprotected arm. Kratos was forced to pull back, lest he sever the man's arm, and, though he was the bastard who had imitated his son, Kratos had no desire to cause him limb loss.

"The hell?" he hissed, Decus obviously had lost all semblance of self-preservation.

"SOLUM'S CORE!!!" roared the other man, stumbling forward. "WHERE IS SOLUM'S CORE?!?!"

"H-he's completely lost it!" cried Emil, but this only caused the crazed man to turn on him, the boy's green eyes widened and he stumbled back a few steps, only to hit the wall behind him. Decus moved forward, and Kratos was torn: save Emil by cutting down Decus, or attempt to remove the danger without hurting him? He had to make the decision quickly.

As Decus lurched forward, Kratos sheathed his sword and, feeling completely moronic, leapt at the Vanguard, causing him to lose balance and tumble forward onto Emil. From the struggling pile, a small bottle rolled and the cap popped off, releasing the fowl smelling liquid.

The stench made Kratos' eyes water and he heard Emil cough, but Decus' struggles had more or less ceased. Kratos wondered humorously if the zombie, Core-crazed Decus had more of a sense of smell then the norm.

"W-what the-?" he gasped, his voice, though still gravely with misuse, was lower, its normal tone. "Where am I? What the hell is going on here?!"

"That nasty cologne brought him back to his senses!" cried Emil, but this only served to confuse Decus more. He struggled to gain his footing, and Kratos happily moved off of him.

"Y-you, your that kid, my Fan, and you're Ratatosk!" Kratos mentally sighed; he was growing utterly sick of this misconception. But Decus' eyes were beginning to glaze again, Solum's controlling power stronger than even the stench of the cologne.

"Kratos, we have to get out of here!" cried Emil as he too watched Decus' decent into darkness.

"Agreed, but how-?"

Somewhere, someone was pulling strings, Kratos was sure of this, for at that moment, the far wall bonked. There was a loud thump from the far side of the wall, and voices echoed through, intelligible to human ears and perfectly clear to Kratos' own.

"O-oh no, I did it again…"

"Colette, hunny, are you okay? Hey, why's it beeping?"

"What?! Oh, I broke it!"

"I'm actually not sure you did…"

Suddenly, the wall on the far side of the room slipped open and Colette Brunel tumbled through, landing dizzily on her back. Kratos doubted he had ever been more pleased to see her.

"Emil? Kratos? Hey, who's your friend?" her blue eyes twinkled as she looked at what must have been an odd scene normally, portrayed upside-down to the blond Chosen. From the dark corridor where Colette had fallen through, Tethe'alla's Chosen Zelos poked his red head into the room.

"My, my, Hunny, you've done it again," He beamed, "And it's Emil and Kratos too! …And that bastard who kidnapped my sister!"

Colette stood, "They look like they're in trouble, come on guys"

Without a second's hesitation, Kratos grabbed Emil's arm and dragged him through the new door. From behind, he heard Decus call "Hey, wait!" but he did not hesitate, quickly sliding the door closed behind him.

"So, may I ask where the lovely Lady Marta is?" asked Zelos, never one to waste time, "Aren't the two of you usually inseparable?"

"Alice kidnapped her and locked us in there with Decus, he's gone crazy from the Core, and now we have to find Marta!"

"Alice sure causes a lot of trouble, you'd better be careful, but since we're all here, may as well work together. You looking for the leader dude too?"

"Yes, Brute is Marta's father, he's being possessed by Solum's Core, that's why we have to talk to him and make him see reason!"

"Somehow I don't think that'll go over to well, most guys like that, Core or not, tend to be a little unstable…Hey, wait a second, where are Sheena and Regal, I thought you were traveling with them too!"

"They, too, are lost somewhere in this building. Regal stayed behind when the Vanguard first attacked, and Sheena saw us to the edge of town before returning after him. Presea, Genis, and Ms. Sage are all here as well."

"Wow, then everyone's here!" cried Colette, clapping.

"Everyone? You mean Lloyd's here too?"

"Yeah, Lloyd and his creepy little Mini-Me friend. The cloaked one, you know him?"

"We finally met up with Lloyd outside Altamira last night, and he told us that we had to split up to cover more ground, we've been in here since last evening."

"For some reason, Bud thought we couldn't work together, so we've just been wandering around getting rid of those Vanguard idiots, I've only gotten rid of two Ranches, but from what I can tell this is a lot like that."

Kratos felt a grown sense of disease. From what he could tell, Lloyd's "friend" was not Yuan, though "short and cloaked" described the half-elf well. Why would Yuan be hiding if it were he? Too many unanswered questions, ones that he assumed he would know soon, Lloyd had never been particularly good at keeping secrets.

"Wow, getting rid of Desian Ranches sounds terrifying!" Emil shivered, "But how did you get in here without the Vanguard noticing?"

Both Chosen smirked and drew their wings, filling the tight space with pink and orange light. "We have our ways." Zelos' smirk widened. They pulled their wings back in, and the Chosen sobered again, "So, you were saying that we needed to look for Marta, huh, well, I guess we'll just have to wander around for awhile and hope we find something."

"Or you could just follow me…" The four spun around to see Sheena leaning against a wall behind them. "I wondered what was up when she landed in the room I was checking out, but then I heard you guys and I figured I'd find out what was going on before I dragged her with me."

"Sheena! Did you find Regal?" cried Emil.

"Haven't seen hide-nor-hair of him, but I see you managed to find the most obnoxious help in the place."

"Hunny!" whined Zelos, "That was completely uncalled for!"

Kratos sighed softly and said loudly, "Where exactly was it that you saw Marta, Sheena?"

Sheena, who was about to slap Zelos, looked up guiltily, obviously embarrassed at being so easily distracted and said, "Oh, r-right, come on, follow me!" Using her exsphere, she leapt up into an open vent, probably the way she had snuck up on them, and her purple-sheathed fingers beckoned from inside. "Come on!"

After a few seconds, the entire party was crammed into the ventilation system, following Sheena as she retraced her steps. It was a tight fit, but after a few moments, the tunnel widened enough that they could actually all stand, and Sheena pointed to another grate in the vent, through this one, they could see down into a plush room where Marta and her father seemed to be fighting.

"No, no Daddy, it's the Core! The Core is possessing you; this isn't even Ratatosk's Core! Please, you have to listen to me!"

"Marta, my poor daughter, once we eliminate that horrid spirit, we will remove the Core from your forehead and you will understand what we are doing! Ratatosk has been controlling you, that is why you have been misled."

"No Daddy," wailed Marta, "It's you who's being controlled! You have to listen to me!"

As Brute moved better into their limited line of sight the light glinted off of his shaved head. He was still carrying his large, decorated staff. "Have you already forgotten that the Church is responsible for the destruction of Palmacosta and your mother's death?!"

"Why are you so impossible?! You don't care about Sylvarant; all you want to do is rule it!"

Brute's eyes were mad, insane and unforgiving as he eyed his teenage daughter, "I will return soon, and then we will remove that accursed thing from your body." He left, his regal robes billowing behind him.

"Well," whispered Zelos, "this is turning into a real adventure, complete with psycho-daddies. Now where have we seen that before…?"

Kratos felt anger bubble in him; he had never liked Tethe'alla's Chosen, and the man had expressed his own disregard for Kratos dozens of times, however, the idea of using the Chosen's thick skull to break through the metal guard through the ventilation appealed to him at that moment.

"Be nice Zelos, Mr. Kratos helped us out a lot!" Colette scolded him, "But we should focus on saving Marta."

They followed Colette down into the room, Zelos quickly shutting up and following his fellow Chosen. Marta's eyes were wide as she watched them drop down one by one.

"Y-you actually came for me?!" she cried softly and Emil ran forward, untying her with gentle hands.

"Of course, what would we do without you, Marta?" They shared a moment, green eyes met blue and Marta seemed close to tears. Of course, this was the cue for Tenebrae to arrive.

"Pardon me, but I do believe that several soldiers are coming this way, it may be in our best interest to continue on before they find us here."

Emil and Marta both turned to glare at Tenebrae, but Kratos cut across them. "Now that we have found Marta again, we should resume our search for Brute and the Centurion's Core. With our increased numbers, force is now possible, if necessary," he added at the end upon seeing Marta's eyes widen.

"Right," Sheena took charge, "everyone back in the vent, we can follow that to the top floor and sneak up the president's office, we can wait there to ambush him."

It was back into the vent that they went, their succession close and slow moving through the dark, cramped space, but it was not far until they reached the top floor. Sheena quickly peaked around, and, upon finding the coast clear, dropped down from the vent. "Come on you guys, hurry!"

They did so, and moved swiftly down the hall, as they turned to ascend the rather dramatic staircase that led to the president's office, the elevator, not far from their present position, "dinged" and the doors slide open. From the plush depths walked Genis, Raine, and Presea.

"Well, well, if it isn't the Super Gorgeous Ultra Beauty, my little Rosebud, and the brat."

"Nice to see you too, jerkface." Genis stuck his tongue out at the elder man.

"You guys are alright!" cried Marta, "I'm so glad!"

"Well what did you think?" Genis grinned, "We've taken on worse than the Vanguard!"

Raine raised a vicious hand threateningly, "Do not get cocky, Genis. Pride comes before a fall."

"Listen to your sister, Genis," The teenager blushed bright red as Presea's cool gazed turned from him to the rest of the group, "Are you going to confront Commander Brute now?" She asked.

"That was the idea…" Colette nodded, "But I hope we don't have to fight…"

"Somehow I don't think anything but violence is going to get through his thick skull," Sheena blushed, "No offence Marta."

Marta sighed, "None taken, I understand that Daddy's being terrible, but I still don't want him to get hurt…"

"Then let's go before someone finds us here." Emil led the way into the office.

When they entered, Brute was standing by the desk, apparently looking over a few papers with two of his cronies, when he turned and saw them. "What-? Marta, what are you doing here? And the "World Saviors…" He chortled darkly, "So you still think that you are on their side, my daughter?"

"Daddy, give us Solum's Core, I don't want to have to hurt you, but you are being controlled, if you don't turn over the Core, we will use force!"

"Please Brute, can't you listen to your daughter?!" Emil sounded desperate. "What you are doing is wrong and-!"

"I have heard enough of this blasphemy and lies! You will hand over my daughter and the Ratatosk spirit or face my wrath!" Brute's face was twisted into obscene hatred, his eyes dark and clouded as he glared. Power sparkled around him and lightning crackled through the air, directly toward Kratos, he leapt out of the way, and the others scattered as well.

Raine and Sheena tumbled out of the way, both colliding with the far wall while Zelos attempted to catch both Presea and Colette and, though he saved both of them, hurt himself quite badly in the process. Emil had saved Marta, the girl standing horrified as her father attacked her, and he was helping her to her feet. Genis had tumbled forward, dodging under the lightning and landing at Brute's feet.

Brute grasped the young half-elf by the collar and held him up, dangling a foot from the ground. "I am tired of hearing your preposterous attempts to stop me. Now, hand over the Cores or the boy suffers!"

Everyone was frozen, Genis was far too close to being hurt, they could not risk him, yet Kratos was not Ratatosk, and Marta would be hurt by the Core's removal. Brute would not see straight even when his entire life was destroyed before his eyes.

Luckily, all these questions were answer for them by the arrival of an unexpected guest.

"Get your hands off Genis, you bastard!" growled a voice from behind. All turned, and a collective gasp echoed around the room.

"I-impossible!" gasped Raine.

"But he is…" whispered Presea.

"Gods," moaned Zelos, "Tell me this isn't happening."

Sheena pinched herself, and her short yelp of pain answered the question: they were not dreaming. This was not a hallucination; he was truly standing in front of them. Mithos Yggdrasill returned from the grave.


I think I officially count as devious…Didn't see that one, did you?

Mithos: Hands off my boyfriend, bitch!

Everyone: O.o

Genis: Mithos, my hero! Wait, didn't we kill you!?

Yoshi is a very happy authoress right now.

R&R

~Yoshi