A/N: I'm continuing the story called Dearly Beloved by Cataclysmic Eclipse. This chapter is very gamescripty but necessary for the narrative so I'm releasing two chapters today.
Disclaimer: I do not own Tales of Symphonia.
Housekeeping
The sun shone brilliantly that day, and brought down it's rays through the trees so that it sent sun dapples on the ground. It sent the water from Lake Umacy sparkling, and Anna could see into it's clear depths. She didn't think that she had seen such pristine water before. She could see the way to the bottom which showed the dirt and branches and the unicorn that was caught under those old branches. The unicorn was a beautiful and elegant creature what with it's white fur and beautiful horn.
"Okay, go on, Sheena!"Lloyd said as he shifted from foot to foot. "Ask Undine to take us over there."
"Wait," Kratos said which stilled the movements of Lloyd and Genis. "That's not going to work."
"Why not?" Genis asked.
"The unicorn," Raine said as she surveyed their group like it was another classroom. "Can only be approached by a pure maiden."
"At the very least," Kratos said. "Lloyd, Genis, and I are out."
"Hmmm," Lloyd said and paused in thought for a moment. "So only females can go?"
"So then, just Raine and Anna and..." Genis said.
"I'll pass myself. But I don't know what we're going to do. We can't send Colette alone..."
"Hey! Are you saying that I'm not qualified?!" Sheena said angrily.
"Qualified?" Lloyd and Genis said at the same time.
"...Then we shall send Colette and Sheena."
"Wait a second," Lloyd said. "Why can't mom or the Professor go?"
"Because I'm an adult," said Raine.
"That doesn't explain a thing to me at all," said Genis.
"I can't go because I'm married," Anna said with a small smile because of some of her companions.
"Why would being married disqualify you, mom?" Lloyd asked.
Anna smiled at his innocence. "You'll find out when you're older."
"O...okay then. I'm going to summon now!" Sheena said and brought herself into a proud stance. "I call upon the Maiden of the Mist. I summon thee...come, Undine!" There were shimmers and flashes of light before Undine appeared before them. "Please, Undine, take us to the unicorn."
And they were off. Anna witnessed a beautiful scene of the unicorn floating above the water to meet Sheena and Colette. It glistened above the water and looked ethereal what with it's beautiful white fur that now glistened in the sun that hung high in the sky. The conversation between the girls and the unicorn held her rapt attention. And she noticed that the girls looked quite at home next to that ephemeral unicorn. She smiled at their innocent amazement, they looked quite amazed to be in the presence of a unicorn. Before long they floated back towards land, unicorn horn in hand.
"Are you two alright?" asked Lloyd.
"Sheena, are you crying?" Genis asked.
"The unicorn," Sheena said as she wiped away tears. "Gave us his horn."
"I see," Kratos said. "Then the unicorn is dead."
"You knew?!" Sheena said angrily.
"When a unicorn loses it's horn, it dies," said Raine and by her tone of voice she sounded like she was giving a lecture. "By dying, a new unicorn is born. That's why the unicorn is the symbol of death and rebirth."
"A new unicorn will be born?" Lloyd asked.
"Yes. I'm sure one has been." Raine said.
"The unicorn gave us this horn at the cost of his life. We must make good use of it." Lloyd said to Colette who held onto the unicorn horn that shone and glimmered in the sun. She walked towards Raine and handed her the horn.
"Now I've studied from the Boltzman's book my healing skills will improve. I'll be able to heal Pietro and Clara now."
"Where is this Clara person?" Sheena asked.
"We'll just have to look for her." Lloyd said.
"The only thing we can do is analyze her previous actions and search for her," Kratos said. "For now, we should go to Hima to heal Pietro."
WWW
Hima stood unchanged from what Anna remembered. It never changed, even from all those years ago when she visited it. The rustic cabin still looked as if it needed a new roof, what with all the shingles that had disappeared from it. She felt herself walking uphill and kept her breath and her place walking next to everyone else. The weather worn path was one of dirt and rocks that was well travelled. The sun still shone through the clouds and shared it's warmth with Anna who felt that warmth. They made it to the cabin in quick movements and went inside the cabin. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the inside of the cabin, and they went upstairs to where Pietro was.
"I'm going to try the healing technique now, alright?" Raine asked Sophia who gave her an earnest nod. Raine approached the bed that Pietro was in and knelt down with staff above him that glowed white with mana.
"Where am..." Pietro said as his eyes opened and he sat up from the bed.
"He woke up!" Sophia exclaimed with glee and had a big smile on her face. "Thank goodness!"
"Sophia!" Pietro exclaimed. "Then...I reached Hima?"
"Yes, Pietro," Sophia said. "Sheena...she saved you."
"Yes, I remember. After leaving Luin, I was attacked by Desians...then she...thank you so much!"
"Ah, don't mention it," Sheena said as she moved closer towards Pietro. "And besides, the reason you regained consciousness is because of Raine here. If you're going to thank someone, thank her."
"Oh I see. Thank you so much," Pietro said and looked directly at Raine. "Now I can await the Chosen."
"The Chosen?" Sophia asked. "What do you mean?"
"The reason I broke out of the ranch was because I have something I need to tell the Chosen," said Pietro.
"If you're looking for the Chosen," Sheena said. "She's right here."
"What? Y—you're the Chosen?"
"Oh, Goddess Martel! Thank you!" said Pietro. "The Desians are trying to revive something called the Angelus Project."
"Angelus Project," Anna shuddered. "More people are going to suffer just like I did."
Kratos wrapped an arm about her. "It's alright," he whispered words that were only meant for her.
"They're also developing a weapon called the Mana Cannon."
"Mana Cannon?" Kratos said and Anna remembered those words from Kvar's ranch. "Do you mean Thor's Hammer, from the Ancient War?"
Anna frowned. A weapon from the Ancient War? And something she hadn't heard about until this moment. There's so many things that he's keeping from me. I can't stand it.
"I don't know the details," Pietro said as he brought a hand to his head. "They are using things called Exspheres in these sinister experiments. Please, stop this Angelus Project with the power of the Chosen, and save us all."
"It's alright, don't worry," Anna said. "Kvar—that bastard is dead and that human ranch has been destroyed. Everyone that was a prisoner is now free."
"It's because of that jewel you had," Sheena said.
"Is that true?" Pietro said enthusiastically. "I knew we could count on the Chosen!"
"But I'm concerned about that Mana Cannon," Raine said. "It sounds very dangerous."
"But we won't get anywhere pondering it here," Kratos said.
"Could this technique be used to save Clara as well?" Genis asked.
"Yes," Kratos said, "I'm sure we will be able to save that poor woman when we have the time."
"Thank you very much," Pietro said. "But because of me, Luin is...I want to use this life that you saved to rebuild Luin. Are you going to be going to the area near Luin?"
"Yes we are," Lloyd said. "Do you want to come with us?"
"Could I? I need to get there and it's safer travelling in a group."
"Sure, as long as that's okay with everyone else." said Lloyd. Everyone murmured their agreement before they set off.
WWW
They found Clara when they entered Luin in the area with the fountain. Anna gasped as she saw her try to attack an unarmed man.
"Clara calm down!" Colette said as she soared in the skies with her pink wings. This stopped Clara's attack. "Raine, now. Please heal Clara."
"Right," Raine nodded and ran towards Clara with her staff outstretched towards her. It glowed white and bright with mana. Suddenly a woman appeared in place of the monster. Anna felt her eyes widened. It worked. It actually worked. She had her doubts but it...it worked.
"Hello everyone, thank you for saving me," Clara said and looked straight at Raine. "I know that it was you that saved me. Thank you. I have only a vague memory of when I was a monster but I still remember that you saved Palmacosta. I want to return to the city as quickly as I can."
"Maybe you should wait here for now," Anna said.
"It appears that I have no choice."
"Don't worry, I'll help her while she stays here," said Pietro, as he surveyed the destruction of Luin. "So this is the city that I will help to rebuild... so be it. I didn't realize it was this bad but I won't give up. I swear I'll rebuild this city for those who were killed, as well. But in order to accomplish that, I need both people and money."
"We have to help them rebuild the city. This city...it's so important to me," Anna said and Kratos stated his agreement.
"Of course we can," Lloyd said and Colette nodded her agreement. "We can afford to give away...uh, Professor, could you help me figure this out."
"Of course," it took a few moments and much jingling of gald before they were satisfied.
"Here," Colette said as she handed over a lag full of money. "It's all we can afford to give you right now."
"How much is in here?" asked Pietro.
"Twenty thousand gald," Colette said.
"We'll help rebuild the city, too," Lloyd said.
"No, I couldn't! I can't take money from you! This money should be used for your journey of world regeneration."
"We can't save the world if we can't even save a town, can we?" Lloyd said. "We want to help everyone in need."
"Yes that's right," Colette said in agreement. "Once we get more money we'll be back to give it to you."
"I thank you for this generous donation. This will be the beginning of the restoration of Luin."
Anna smiled at that. She looked around Luin and thought what it could become and saw people milling about. The old inhabitants were slowly returning to the city. The people of Luin could make it even better than before if they got the resources and the right manpower. She would help in whatever way was possible and she knew that her companions would as well.
