DISCLAIMER!!!
I do not own the Characters of Tales of Symphonia!
In this fic the only character I own is the "anti-assassin" Dustin
Yes, he is my own OC but unlike other OCs HE'S NOT PERFECT!!! You'll see...
Oh yeah... this story is sorta misleading at points... but for now... let's just say that this takes place right before Gnome's cave.
Enjoy it!
Chapter 2: To trust or not to trust?
The next morning Sheena told the others who she saw and talked to because she decided that Colette must have forgotten that she may have been talking to someone after her "trip" the night before.
"What?! That strange person visited you last night? He was a type of anti-assassin named Dustin?" The whole party asked in unison.
"Uh... yeah..." Sheena said in an unsure voice"
"What did... he say?" Presea said.
"He asked to join us on our journey..." Sheena answered.
"Hmmm... seems a little suspicious..." Regal replied.
"Yeah... We barely even know the guy and I think he might be planning something big... remember how fast he killed the Penguinist?" Genis added to the conversation.
"Maybe we give him a little test for trust..." Lloyd added.
"What do you have in mind? Will it involve a cave or ruins of some sort?" Raine replied to Lloyd.
"Uh... Sheena you haven't made a pact with Gnome the Earth Spirit right?" Lloyd said.
"Yeah... Why are you asking?" Sheena said back.
"Well... maybe we can see if he really will help us... we'll go through Gnome's cave and see what he does and-" Lloyd explained before getting interrupted by Presea.
"You!" Presea threw her axe to the roof of the inn they were standing outside of.
"Heh... I knew you were observant, but sensing me no matter how silent it was?" Dustin said, "I think you'll need this if we are going into Gnome's cave." Dustin World-Phased to the roof grabbed the axe in one hand, and Phased down and gave back Presea's axe.
The party was amazed at the speed and strength of the new visitor. "How can you do that?" Genis asked.
"Heh... it's a skill I developed when I was growing up... that's not the only 'portal' skill I have... here give me your cards Sheena" Sheena looked hesitant, "look, I'm not a bad guy... I'm just showing my second skill that I can do..." Sheena got the cards and gave it.
Dustin made a new portal... A portal with swirling colors and looked flat. The portal also had a size of a waiter's tray and then Dustin said, "Feel the portal..." the party felt that the portal was like a smooth rock... "Okay clear out... Watch as I fix these cards." Dustin put the tattered cards on the portal and yelled, "Regenerate!" the cards sank into the portal and re-emerging a few seconds later were new cards, shiny and without any sign of withering. Sheena took them back and had stars in her eyes.
"Do you guys trust me now?" Dustin asked.
"We'll see... Let's get to Gnome's cave." Lloyd said.
When they got to the cave, Sheena just stopped.
"You okay Sheena?" Dustin and Zelos questioned in unison.
"Uh..." Sheena looked confused because Zelos is usually the one who says that. Sheena blushed then said, "Oh... I'm just sort of scared that Gnome will be a dangerous spirit..." while she said that she was really thinking, "Why would he be worried about me? There must be some reason... No... no it can't be..." After that Dustin and Zelos stared at each other with lightning in between them... Dustin just looked like he didn't care... While they walked in Zelos still looked mad at Dustin.
When they changed the function of the Sorcerer's ring, Colette asked to wear it and she did. Bad Idea. Colette trips and activated it making a Sand Worm come out of the ground. Dustin seemed a little freaked out but still Lloyd, Kratos, and Genis would help him. The battle started...
Dustin World-Phased onto the Worms back and tried stabbing but he missed and hit a spike, which enraged the worm MUCH more... The Worm Bucked and Dustin was sent flying through the air... Of course he would attempt a World-Phase but he remembered that he couldn't do it while flying. So he tried Air Escaping, as he saw Lloyd do in a battle before but landed on his back halfway through the form. Dustin was on the floor dizzy but jumped up once the Worm was going to eat him... That's when he transformed... His clothes turned into armor for him and because of his near death experience, the whole party got new armor around them too... Lloyd, Kratos, and Zelos didn't know what came over them, but they yelled, "Omega unison attack! Delta Sky Slash!" The three grew wings and flew up and slashed in a triangle formation. The three then softly floated down and their armor disappeared. Dustin slowly tilted down but Kratos caught him before he hit the ground.
When Dustin came to, the whole party was standing over him, relieved that he was alive. Then Regal was about to give him curry, but then someone stole it... Not any of the party, but it was really small. No matter to Regal, so he made another Curry dish. Dustin ate it and was instantly rejuvenated. He was about to walk deeper into the temple but the party stopped him and sat him down.
"Dustin... We demand an explanation on what just happened!" Raine and Genis exclaimed at the same time.
"About what?" Dustin said all confused.
"ABOUT THE THING THAT JUST HAPPENED BEFORE KRATOS SAVED YOU!!!" the whole party except for Zelos and Kratos yelled.
"Huh?" Dustin said scratching his head, looking confused. "All I did was see the Sand Worm about to eat me..."
"Yeah, we know. But right when that happened you pushed it up, then we all started glowing and our clothes turned into armor. Not only that, Lloyd, Zelos, and I did a crazy move where our armor sprouted wings and we flew at the sand worm slashing it in a triangle flight formation." Kratos explained.
"I never experienced that." Dustin replied.
"Then we have deduced one way to try and figure out how this may have happened..." Genis and Raine said in unison, "Dustin, tell us your story..."
Dustin hesitated, looked sad for a moment, and then started...
"Okay... this is how my story is..."
"I was born in a very small village that worshipped the "Type 0" creature... The Phoenix... I was born into one of the high-class families, but I still wanted to feel what it was like to be a lower-class person... I never really liked the high-life, which was because all I thought was, if you are rich, tragedy will happen... My prediction came true..."
"Serves you right..." Zelos said snickering, but now much before Sheena and Raine whacked him upside the head.
"Okay... Well let me go on..." Dustin said, "Well, other villages became jealous of our secrets to winning in a grand Coliseum in our world... How did wee win? Our village was notorious for coming back to life after a severe beating and gaining extraordinary powers-"
"STOP RIGHT THERE... For now..." Genis and Raine jumped up and pointed at Dustin, who still looked a little dumbfounded at their expression. Genis continued, "That explains why you transformed! Okay, when we first saw you, you were wearing a ring, one that was shaped like a phoenix... but unlike other rings, you wore yours as a necklace..." Genis pulled down the collar of Dustin's shirt to show that he indeed, was wearing a white-shell necklace with the phoenix ring hanging at the bottom of the necklace.
"Should I continue?" Dustin asked.
Kratos said, "That's enough for now, let's get to an inn after we're finished in this dungeon. Then you can tell the rest of your story." The whole party, except for Zelos, nodded their heads in unison.
The rest of the party stood up and right before they could walk deeper into the cave, Dustin suddenly collapsed. "Dustin, are you all right?" Regal asked.
Dustin replied, "Aw man, not this again... Every time I blank out, I could barely do anything for about fifteen minutes after the blackout." Lloyd and Kratos put him on their shoulders so he could walk easier. "Thanks... you two... for trusting... me..." Dustin fell asleep while on the two's shoulders and they carried him through the tunnel, with Raine and Sheena holding him while the rest were fighting.
Dustin finally came to 20 minutes later and was on a bridge. He can hear a faint voice going, "One, two, THREE!!!" he couldn't tell what was going on, but he could tell that he was now falling at a quick pace, finally landing. Then he realized that this must've been the bottom of the Temple.
"Ah... so Sleeping Martel is finally awake I see..." Kratos said jokingly.
"Wow, I'm finally awake... I thought I never would after my latest blackout." Dustin stirred. "What the... Are we at the bottom of the Temple already?" Dustin stood up quickly and started bowing to them, "I'm so sorry I couldn't help you!"
"It's okay... We needed the experience anyways." Lloyd said with a grin on his face.
"Well since I'm up now... should we get to Gnome's seal?" Dustin said.
"Are you sure you don't need to rest anymore?" Colette said.
"Nah, I'm okay." Dustin replied.
"I'm sorry for asking, I should have known..." Colette said.
"Hey, don't be so hard on yourself, it was my fault I screwed up in that battle." Dustin said.
They walked towards the Seal of Gnome, and Gnome came before them. Dustin started cracking up. "This is what you were afraid of?!" Right after he said that, Gnome whacked him with his shovel, Zelos punched him in the back of the head, and Sheena slapped Dustin straight across the face. Everyone else just thought, "THIS is who we're trusting to help us?" Even after that severe beating, Dustin just came right back up. "Sorry..." Dustin said scratching the back of his head. Gnome was still pretty pissed off, and the battle started.
Dustin said, "Transform!" and his sword transformed into a bow with arrows. Dustin aimed for a split second and launched it... instead of hitting Gnome in the bow on the back of Gnome's head, Dustin hit Gnome's tail by accident. Gnome... was... pissed! Dustin would World-Phase but the blackout takes away his major powers longer than the recovery time. So Dustin transformed his sword again back to the sword and U-turned and attacked Gnome. Gnome staggered under the power of Dustin's fierceness while Gnome staggered, Sheena had gone into overlimit and summoned Sylph. Not only did Gnome get hurt, Dustin accidentally didn't get away and got whacked in the back of the head by a giant shield. Dustin was knocked out for a few seconds but then go right back up and kept up the attack. Eventually with the help of Sheena, Genis, and Raine, the party overcame Gnome and Sheena made a pact with him.
When they got out, Dustin suggested that they go to Flanoir and he'd be waiting for them. Then he remembered that he could World-Phase everyone there at the cost of losing is powers for half an hour. He did and everybody met Abyssion and they agreed to get the Devil's Arms for him. As Dustin walked around, everybody kept running away from him. Dustin just wondered why. Then someone spoke up and said, "You fiend! How could you destroy life? What is wrong with you?"
Dustin suddenly stopped because he was having another flashback. He then ran straight for the inn and everybody followed. When he got there he gathered his breath and thought, "No, he can't be here. Why would he follow me? Is he still jealous? I thought I worked it out!"
"Are you alright?" Sheena asked with Zelos looking really mad.
"Guys, remember how I said I would tell you the rest of my story?" Dustin questioned. The others nodded. "I need to tell you the rest so you can understand why I acted so strange after that townsperson spoke."
Kratos said, "It's okay you can tell us..."
"Thanks... okay please don't be mad and the next things I'm going to say..."