Hello everyone. I just thought I write a little Prequel Story featuring Marta Lualdi, the maim heroine from Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World. As we know, while Marta escapes during the Blood Purge and meets up with Emil six months after, we never really see what she's been up too in between those events. Well, why don't we have a look see into how that would play out?
Please note that this story will take place after the fact and these will be major Endgame spoilers. You have been warned.
Please enjoy.
Grass Field Outskirts
The sun was starting to go down for the day as a group of eleven were setting up camp as they prepared themselves to face their enemy, Richter Abend, a young Half-Elf man who was preparing to transform this realm into a demonic realm in an attempt to take revenge on the Summon Spirit, Ratatosk, for the murder of his best friend, Aster Laker.
Emil Castagnier, who happens to be Ratatosk himself, was preparing himself to face Richter and atone for the action his other self committed against the man he considered a mentor and a friend, despite their clashing views and ideologies. As Emil was setting up the fire, he took a look around at the ten friends he made during his journey, eight of which are the Heroes of World Regeneration. Those eight heroes included...
Lloyd Irving, a hero who is well known in unifying the two worlds of Sylverant and Tethe'alla. While initially thought to be an enemy responsible for the murder of innocents in Palmacosta and Flanoir, Emil found out he was being framed by Decus, a member of the Vanguard. After clashing with each other and clearing everything up, the two came to an understanding and made peace, becoming true friends. In spite of his amazing feats, he's just a good guy that is easy to get along with, on top of being an idealistic man who works hard to make his ideals a reality.
Colette Brunel, The Chosen of Sylvarant and the Chosen of Regeneration. A very kind young woman who always thinks about others over herself, but is also very clumsy, which can lead to some lucky results. She also happens to be Lloyd's childhood friend and as of late, his girlfriend.
Genis Sage, a young Half-Elf boy who is Lloyd's best friend. In spite of his age, he is really smart and is at the top of his class at the school he studies at.
Raine Sage, Genis' older sister and is the teacher of Lloyd, Colette and even Genis. She's a calm and composed woman with a love for archeological discoveries like ancient ruins and artifacts.
Sheena Fujibayashi, a ninja from the village of Mizuho. A powerful summoner who made pacts with every Summon Spirit, with the exception of Ratatosk, Sheena is also the current Chief of Mizuho, a position she inherited from her grandfather.
Zelos Wilder, The Chosen of Tethe'alla. While he appears to be nothing more than a flirt and a total womanizer who's made the butt of a joke by his friends, he is actually a very insightful and loyal friend who'll always have your back, no matter what.
Presea Combatir, a young girl who works as a lumberjack and makes good luck charms. Despite looking like a young teenager, due to the experiments from her Exsphere, her aging has been frozen until Lloyd and the others repaired it, making her older than she looks. Now that time has been restored to her along with her emotions, she has slowly but steadily opened up again. She is also the strongest of the group despite her small appearance thanks to her Exsphere.
Regal Bryant, the President of the Lezerano Company. After being forced to take the life of his beloved to save her from hurting others as a monster, he has sworn to never fight with his hands again. Now, he works hard to bridge the gap between the once split two worlds. He is kind and respectful, marks of a true gentleman, to the point of Emil seeing him as a father figure.
After Emil took a look of everyone, he than took a look of the two people he has been traveling with ever since he left Luin.
The floating black panther like creature is Tenebrae, The Centurion of Darkness. He is a faithful servant of Ratatosk and has done everything he can to protect him. Despite hiding the truth of Ratatosk from everyone, Tenebrae has grown close to the others during his time with them and seeks to help Emil, regardless of how this journey ends. While wise and insightful, he's very well known for being spiteful and mischievous, for he has caused tensions among the group more than once.
Lastly, there is the young girl with the two flower shaped barrettes in her hair. Her name is Marta Lualdi. In the beginning, while he was dormant in his Core Form after being slain by Richter for killing Aster, Marta would eventually end up with the core and run off with it to keep the Vangaurd from destroying Tethe'alla with a Mana Cannon. When she was cornered by the Vangaurd, she would call Ratatosk for help, bringing him back into being. After that, the two would not see each other for six months until they met each other again in Luin.
Despite not remembering her, Marta recalled him as the one who saved her during the Blood Purge and wished for him to be her Knight of Ratatosk. After seeing Richter, who Emil looked up too after the man defended him from bullies, try to kill Marta, who saved his life from a monster, Emil forged a pact to become her knight to protect the core on her forehead, as removing it from her prematurely would result in her death.
Although Marta was his first friend, she built up the idea of Emil being this heroic knight in shining armor instead of seeing him for who he really is. While he put up with it at first, he eventually got tired of this treatment and told her off for doing so. Ever since that moment, Marta has become more respectful toward Emil and started to see him for who he really is, a kind boy, who despite being timid and afraid, gives it everything he's got and even admitted that the real Emil is much cooler tha the fantasy in her mind.
While Marta would fall back on old habits of flirting with him, she never did so with the image of a fantasy knight toward him and would correct herself now and than. Soon enough, Marta's kindness, support and care for his well being in addition to her bright, excitable and cheerful personality eventually made Emil fall in love with the young girl. Although it wasn't him who saved her during the Blood Purge, as it was Lloyd who saved her from the Vanguard, Marta made it clear that she no longer cared about that and still loved him for who he is. She even loved his other half, who despite his aggressive behavior, was still him. Sadly, she would fall out with him due to his disregard for other peoples lives, but after seeing she wasn't being fair to him, comparing him with Emil and after Ratatosk Emil tried to cheer her up, they reconciled. Emil even returned the courage Marta gave him by encouraging her to face her father, Commander Burte Lualdi of the Vangaurd, who she became afraid of due to being controlled by Solem's Core. After Marta hatched Solem, Brute was freed from it's control, but due to being injured by Decus, he is currently hospitalized and will stand trial for his crimes.
When Lloyd joined them and after hatching Lumen by forcefully taking it from him, Emil was scared that Ratatosk Emil would hurt everyone in an attempt to get revenge on Richter, he sealed him away with the help Verius, The Summon Spirit of Heart, and while Marta understood his decision, she admitted in their shared Travel Journal that she would miss him. After checking in with his friends and coming to an understanding with his Uncle and Aunt, he went to Alitimira to talk about the future with Marta. Marta told him that once they stop Richter, Alice and Decus, she intends to turn herself in and pay for her crimes with her father. Eventually, in a heartfelt moment, the two confessed their love and shared their first kiss underneath the night sky.
While they were heading to where the Otherworldly Gate is, which would lead them to the Ginungagap is at, the ten heroes explored the world a little while to prepare themselves and finish some unfinished business. Once they had some fun at the Hot Springs and took care of what they needed to do, they set up camp to where they can see the Otherworldly Gate from afar so they can rest and be ready to face Richter, along with Alice and Decus, two members of the Vanguard that supported Richter for their own goals.
While Emil didn't want to fight Richter, considering he was the first person to give him courage and taught him many things as a mentor, he knew that in order to convince Richter what he's doing is wrong, he needs to face him.
While looking at Marta, a thought came to Emil, something he never thought about before.
'I... wonder what she was up too before we met again in Luin?' Emil thought to himself, as he was curious about what sort of adventures Marta went through up to that point.
Sometime after setting up camp and after cooking some curry, all eleven friends were sitting around conversing and eating (minus Tenebrae, who didn't need to eat food as he survived on Mana). Emil however remained quiet, something that didn't escape his beloved's concern.
"Emil? Is everything okay?" Marta asked Emil with some concern. While he was eating, he remained quiet the entire time.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I was just thinking about something." Emil said. Technically, he's not wrong, but he wasn't sure how to ask her.
"Oh, was it about Richter?" Marta replied. She knows that Emil trusts Richter, just as much as he trusts her, and is concerned about how he needs to face the person he considers a friend.
"No, it's... actually about you, Marta." Emil said as everyone looked at him.
"Huh? Me? About what?" Marta said with a slight blush on her face. What could it be about? Was it about something personal? In front of everyone!?
"W-well, I was wondering what you were up too before we met again in Luin." Emil said, asking Marta what she was doing during the six month gap between the Blood Purge and their reunion in Luin.
"Oh, right. I never did tell you about that, did I?" Marta said as the blush faded away. While she loved Emil, she didn't want to rush their relationship THAT far. The incident at the Hot Spring showed her that Emil's not ready for that step either, not that she intended for it to be seen that way. Thank the Goddess she was able to clear that mess up after the other thought Emil as a peeping tom.
"Well, he didn't ask you before hand, Lady Marta. Besides, we were looking for Centurion Cores before we met up with Lord Emil." Tenebrae clarified in that snarky tone of his.
"Really? Surely the two of you didn't just wander around for six months aimlessly?" Genis chimed in, now curious himself about what Marta did.
"Well, it's kind of a long story. Because, while we did go looking for the Cores, we did get involved in some other things before we even arrived in Luin." Marta said as she put her empty bowl down after finishing her curry. She than fidgeted one of her twin tails as she wasn't sure how to explain it.
"If you don't want to talk about it, it's okay Marta." Emil reassured his love that she didn't need to force herself to talk about it if she wasn't comfortable.
"N-no, not at all! Besides, it's only fair that I fill in some gaps. Is everyone good with that?" Marta asked everyone if they're okay with hearing this untold story of her adventure before arriving in Luin. Everyone all nodded in agreement.
"Alright Marta, let's hear it." Lloyd said with interest. Marta felt a bit nervous recounting this story, as she never once told anyone else about this before.
"Not to worry Lady Marta, I will fill in the blanks or correct any misinformation in your recollection." Tenebrae said, earning him a slight glare from Marta in regards to the 'misinformation' crack. After clearing her throat...
"Well, it all started from after I first saw Emil, during the Blood Purge..."
Palmacosta [Blood Purge, seven months earlier]
Darkness. That was all Marta saw. How did it get this far? It all started during when Richter Abend, a high ranking official in the Vanguard known as the Chief of Staff, brought in a black panther like creature to Brute. When Brute mentioned about how the creature known as a Centurion has an item called Ratatosk's Core and mentioned about a weapon called a Mana Cannon, Marta had a feeling she couldn't let this go on. She was scared by how her once warm and loving father turned into a cold leader figure. Sure, he still loved and cared for her, with Marta feeling the same, but he has become WAY overprotective with her and they rarely spend much time anymore, on top of encouraging violence toward anyone from Tethe'alla. While Marta didn't care for the prejudice Tethe'alla gave the people of Sylvarant, she didn't want countless innocents to die either.
After trading in a few favors with some members of the Vanguard, including her acquaintance Decus, she was able to visit the captured Centurion, who introduced himself as Tenebrae. While Marta was surprised that he could talk, the two got to know each other a little bit before he explained how he got there. He was avoiding Richter while trying to revive the Lord of Monsters, Ratatosk. Richter was trying to slay Ratatosk, which contradicted with Brute's goal. While Marta didn't view Richter as a bad guy, due to him defending her and a young boy from a Tethe'allan noble and healing her in the past, the fact he wanted to kill an important being like that struck a nerve in her. Tenebrae revealed that the reason for the bizarre weather across the world is because Ratatosk and the other Centurions besides himself and Aqua, The Centurion of Water, are all dormant. He said that if Ratatosk and all eight Centurions are awaken, the world's weather and the balance of Mana will be restored.
While Marta had a feeling that Tenebrae is hiding something, she still felt like she can trust him. Besides, if she can awaken Ratatosk and the Centurions, she might be able to stop Brute's plans, killing two birds with one stone. Marta knew this was cowardly on her part, but she was afraid to face her father with how he is now, but she hoped that with enough time, he may hear her out. This would be the first time she ever rebelled against her father and hoped he would forgive her for doing what she believes is the right thing to do. Having snuck a key from the guard, she unlocked Tenebrae's cage and made off with Ratatosk's core while Brute, Richter, Alice, Decus and Hawk where at a conference meeting in the middle of Palmacosta.
However, this did not go unnoticed as Richter and a few other Vanguard members started chasing them with Tenebrae holding some off some of the soldiers as she made her escape. At that point, suddenly Palmacosta was engulfed in flames, being attacked by The Church of Martel and Lloyd Irving, one of the eight heroes himself. This caught Marta off guard, as she didn't think that the Church, let alone Lloyd would do this to her hometown. Once again, she could do nothing as her hometown was destroyed again, like that time two years ago where a monstrous tree attacked the town, which also killed her mother, leaving Marta and her father heartbroken.
Eventually, Marta was able to rest briefly before Richter and more Vanguard soldiers spotted her. The soldiers chased her while Richter went off to pursue Lloyd, most likely to stop his murderous rampage. This confused her, why would Richter kill the Lord of Monsters while also trying to save the people of this town? Marta didn't know why, but for now, she can't let him kill Ratatosk. Unfortunately, Marta was cornered by the soldiers and with nothing but a prayer, wished for Ratatosk to save her before she blacked out.
"Ugh..." Marta moaned as she slowly woke up, with a throbbing headache on the left side of her forehead. She then saw the same Vanguard soldiers unconscious with a young man around her age standing over them. He had blonde hair, green eyes and wore what appeared to be a white lab coat. The boy then turned to face her.
"Are you all alright?" The boy asked Marta as she slowly pushed herself into a sitting position while clutching her forehead as the headache has not subsided.
"Are you the one who saved me?" Marta replied back to the young boy before hearing a familiar howl throughout the town. After having heard it once from Tenebrae during his time in captivity, she recognized it right away.
"That's Tenebrae's howl." Marta said as she heard on. While they didn't know each for that long, she hoped Tenebrae was unharmed and managed to escape.
"I have to go." The boy mentioned as he turned and walked away after hearing the howl himself.
"Wait! What's your name?" Marta asked, reaching out for the boy as he walked off, either not listening or couldn't hear her. If she had to guess, he was probably trying to escape the city as well or is trying to find his friends and family before escaping the city. While she wanted to know his name and thank him for rescuing her, Marta knew this wasn't the time for that and slowly got up onto her feet, wobbling for a moment while still clutching her forehead.
'Arg! This... this headache. What happened while I was out?' Marta thought as this headache was not pleasant in the slightest. She than noticed something was missing.
'Ratatosk's Core... where did it go?' Marta thought more. Did the Vanguard take it? She hoped that the boy who saved her didn't pick-pocket from her while she was unconscious.
"Lady Marta!" Said a familiar voice from behind an alleyway.
"T-Tenebrae..." Marta let out weakly as she walked over to the alleyway. Hopefully he can explain what happened to Ratatosk's Core, while trying not to pass out again from both the headache and all this smoke from the fires. Soon enough, she found the Centurion before leaning against the wall, trying to get the throbbing headache to stop.
"Lady Marta!? Are you alright!?" Tenebrae said is shock after seeing how pale Marta's face is in addition to wobbling with each step. He may have not known her for long, but it was thanks to her that he was able to escape to begin with.
"I... I don't know..." Marta let out as she slid down the wall into a sitting position with her eyes closed.
"Lady Marta, please tell me what happened." Tenebrae asked Marta as he wanted to know what happened after they separated.
"I... I was cornered by the Vanguard... and I asked Ratatosk for help before everything went black. When I woke up, all the soldiers were unconscious... a young boy with blonde hair and green eyes saved me..." Marta said as she fought through the pain of her headache, explaining to Tenebrae. Unknowingly to Marta, Tenebrae's eyes widened in shock at the boy's description, but chose to ask Marta something else as he noticed something missing.
"Lady Marta, where is Lord Ratatosk's Core?" Tenebrae asked as while he can sense it's presence close by, she doesn't have it on hand
"I... don't know... ARGH!" Marta grunted in pain as a red glow shined from her forehead again.
"Why? Why does it hurt!?" Marta shouted in pain as her head throbbed even more then before. At this point, Tenebrae realized what happened to the young girl.
"Lady Marta, look at your forehead in the window there." Tenebrae asked Marta to do so, earning him a confused look from her as she opened her eyes.
"What? Why?" Marta asked as she forced herself up and did what he asked. Upon looking in the window's reflection, she saw a red glow, which worried her. She lifted up a part of her hair covering her forehead and saw a red jewel embedded in it, in the form of a feather like symbol.
"W-what is that!? How did this get on my head!?" Marta panicked due to the shock of seeing this unusual and concerning sight.
"Calm down Lady Marta! That's Lord Ratatosk's Core!" Tenebrae said, trying to calm her down and explain what happened to her.
"Wait? What? Ratatosk's Core... is on my forehead? But how? It looks nothing like it." Marta said as she rubbed the bumpy surface with her gloved hands.
"That's because Ratatosk is trying to recover his strength through your body's energy. In return, he has given you his blessing." Tenebrae explained to the confused girl.
"My energy? Blessing? What do you mean?" Marta said as she turned around. All of this was really confusing and worrying her right now.
"I understand that you are overwhelmed, but I can at least assure you that Lord Ratatosk is not taking away your life force. As for everything else, I will explain as soon as we leave this place. Do you think you can hold out until then?" Tenebrae continued, hoping this will help ease Marta's anxiety and get her to focus on escaping.
"Sure, I can do that as escaping is our top priority, but I want a full explanation on this later, alright?" Marta said in agreement while also holding Tenebrae for an explanation. While her head tingled, it wasn't hurting as much because her 'Fight or Flight' Response kicked in due to seeing the jewel on her forehead.
"I understand." Tenebrae simply said as he nodded in agreement. With that, the two began to make their way toward the town entrance, while avoiding the Vanguard soldiers, who are patrolling the area for Marta while they are also leading the civilians to safety. Eventually, Marta and Tenebrae saw the one way out of the city, with Vanguard Soldiers near the way out.
"Come on! Hurry! Move or Lloyd and the Church will kill you! MOVE!" A member of the Vanguard as he and four other soldiers kept encouraging the civilians to escape the burning town.
"Damn! There's soldiers near the city entrance! If we go that way, we'll get caught!" Marta noted bitterly as going out that way will cause trouble for them and everyone else around them, in addition to her and Tenebrae being captured. While trying to think of a another way to escape, Tenebrae had an idea form in his head.
"Lady Marta, I have an idea. Why not take a boat and sail out of Palmacosta?" Tenebrae suggested, earning a look from Marta.
"A boat?" Marta said in concern for multiple reasons. She didn't tell Tenebrae that she suffers from motion sickness, but that was the least of her concerns right now.
"Yes, if we take one of the boats here, we can escape more efficiently." Tenebrae explained.
"But those don't belong to us! We'd be stealing!" Marta argued back. She may have took Ratatosk's Core from the Vanguard, but that was different.
"I understand how you feel, but it's either that or we take the hard way of getting out of the city." Tenebrae counter argued as he stated the other possibility. After a moment of hesitation and realizing that Tenebrae made a good point, Marta sighed and gave in.
"Okay, I don't like it, but I'd rather not cause problems for the people escaping through the town limit. What do we do?" Marta reluctantly said as she asked Tenebrae what to do.
"First of all, we need to get to the docks. Follow me." Tenebrae said as he waved with his hand like tail to signal Marta to follow him. After speaking past more soldiers, they found a nice looking boat that didn't look like it was from Sylvarant.
"A Tethe'allan boat!?" Marta said in surprise, as a boat from the other country is here.
"I take it means someone from the Tethe'alla arrived here? Anyway, this appears to be the only boat here docked here, meaning that the owner either escaped through the city limit or perished in the chaos." Tenebrae theorized as he examined why the boat is still here. Marta at least hoped the Tethe'allan escaped instead of dying, regardless if he was a prejudiced jerk or not.
"We may as well take it. Like you said, we've got no other option." Marta said as she ran toward the boat with Tenebrae close behind her.
"Tenebrae, I'll untie the ropes while you try to get this thing running, okay?" Marta said as she told Tenebrae what the plan is. This earned a concerned look from the Centurion before regaining his composer.
"S-sure thing Lady Marta." Tenebrae said nervously as he headed for the front of the ship. As he arrived at the controls, he expressed concern at how advanced boats have become considering 4,000 years have passed since.
'Oh, why did I agree to do this?' Tenebrae thought nervously as he tried to figure out what does what. Meanwhile, Marta has finished untying the first rope holding the boat down and moved on to untie the last rope securing it.
'I hope the owner doesn't get mad over this...' Marta thought as she's trying to process everything that's happened so far. All because she felt sympathy toward someone she hadn't met yet, but at the same time, she doesn't regret it as a wave of warmth filled her being, giving her the feeling what she did was right in saving Tenebrae and Ratatosk. But what about the boy who saved her?
'I hope he's okay. I really wish I knew his name, so I could thank him.' Marta continued thinking as she prayed for her savior's safety as she finished untying the last rope. As she climbed onto the boat, she saw three familiar figures heading this way from three different directions. After taking a glance, she saw Richter in addition to Alice and Hawk coming this way. She quickly dropped to the hull to avoid being spotted. The footsteps stopped as she than heard the three Vanguard officers speak. Curious, she peeked her head out slightly without revealing herself to listen in.
"Richter! Hawkie! What's happening here!?" Alice, the sadistic captain of the Vanguard's Combat Unit, asked her fellow Vanguard officials about what was going on as the city is suddenly engulfed in flames.
"I don't know Lady Alice! Everything was normal one moment, the next, everything's on fire!" Hawk tried to explain to the girl he's under the command of.
"It's Lloyd Irving and the Church of Martel from what I can gather. I tried to find him, but it looks like he's long gone though." Richter explained as Hawk looked horrified while Alice was slightly unnerved.
"Lloyd Irving!? But didn't he help save Sylvarant!? Why would he help the church burn down Palmacosta!?" Hawk questioned the whole thing as Lloyd is from Sylvarant himself and it just didn't add up. He hated the Church of Martel for looking down on the people of Sylvarant, but still.
"Who knows? Maybe he just got tired of being a goody little two shoes, probably to not be like the Chosen of Regeneration." Alice said. The title of Sylvarant's Chosen, Colette Brunel, made Marta's blood boil slightly, but she kept it under wraps for now as getting upset would not do her any good at this moment. Even when not facing her, Alice still had ways of hurting her, even if in this case, it wasn't intentional.
"Theorizing about this won't solve anything. Alice, where's Decus?" Richter said as as he knew guessing Lloyd's motives won't help in addition to noticing that Decus is strangely absent as even though he's the captain of the Vanguard's Espionage Unit, he's always with Alice as his love for her is NOT very subtle. As Marta heard this, she hoped that Decus was okay. Even though he's friends with the girl who always makes her life hard, Decus is at least a decent, if goofy man.
"I don't know... I noticed he wasn't at the meeting before Palmacosta suddenly stated bruning. He's normally on time... N-not that I care or anything!" Alice said before stating that she wasn't worried about him. Decus wasn't at the meeting? Marta couldn't help but wonder what made him miss the meeting.
"Aside that, we have another problem. Marta has made off with Ratatosk's Core and the Centurion I captured." Richter relayed this news to Hawk, who was surprised by this turn of events, and Alice, who slightly bent her crop in what appeared to be rage.
"Wait, what!? Lady Marta stole Ratatosk's Core and escaped with that monster!? Why!? I thought she supported her father, Commander Brute!" Hawk once again panicked, as he didn't understand why his commander's daughter would do this. Marta didn't blame him for thinking that. While they're not friends or close, she did at least respect him as a high ranking member and even felt bad for him when Alice defeated Hawk and left a scar on his back for position of Captain in the Combat Unit. Regardless, if he's on this whole Mana Cannon thing...
"Heh heh heh... Richter, did I hear that right? Did you just say that MartMart, that worthless brat, stole the core and centurion you work hard to capture?" Alice chuckled darkly and asked Richter in a cold and insulting tone. Being insulted like that upset Marta. What did she ever do to her to deserve this treatment from her? While Marta didn't like Alice abusing her subordinates, what drove Marta to hate Alice was the Captain's mistreatment and bullying of her. Regardless, she listened further.
'Come on Tenebrae, get this boat working!' Marta thought nervously as he's taking a long time to get this pile of timber and metal going. What if Richter and the others decide to check the boat?
"I believe I just told you what I said Alice. Besides, I wouldn't call her 'worthless' if she relied on her wits to get this far without being caught. Anyway, I received an order from Commander Brute to retrieve his daughter and make sure she is unharmed. That's why I came here after failing to locate Lloyd. I was also told to recover Ratatosk's Core and the Centurion that escaped." Richter said in a cold tone to Alice as he took his duties seriously. However, Marta noticed a hint of guilt on his face as if he had done something horrible just now. She couldn't tell what though, considering he's pretty distant from everyone and never spoke to anyone unless he found it necessary. This only caused further confusion to the girl. First he's trying to kill Ratatosk, now he wants to ensure her safety and the townspeople? Maybe Tenebrae misjudged him...
"Hmpf! Fine! But don't think she won't get off with just a scolding this time!" Alice said as she cracked her crop, intending to actually physically punish Marta. This sent a chill down Marta's spine, but then...
"ALICE! We are not to cause any form of injury to her, understood!?" Richter shouted at Alice, making the girl lose her hateful gaze and step back at bit at hearing him roar with rage. Marta and Hawk are genuinely surprised to hear this, yet are secretly happy that someone actually stood up to her.
"I get it! You're not happy with everything that's happening right now! But if we decide to just harm Marta, or even do anything worse to her, we'd be no better than the people who look down on us!" Richter said as Alice reluctantly backed down. Suddenly, Richter looked like he heard something, a voice it sounded like.
'Master Richter! On the boat!' A mysterious woman's voice echoed. Somehow Marta heard the voice too. Who was that? It looked like Alice and Hawk didn't hear it though. Wait, did the voice say on the boat!? Marta quickly hid back onto the deck to avoid Richter's gaze.
"Richter? What is it?" Alice said in a normal tone, as she's still frightened to use her 'childish' voice.
"Have you checked that boat over there yet?" Richter said as he pointed and look over at the boat, causing Alice and Hawk to look, before the two looked back at Richter with confused looks on their faces.
"Excuse me Chief, but you don't expect Lady Marta to be on a Tethe'allan boat, do you? For one, she doesn't know how to operate a boat and Commander Brute told me she gets motion sickness." Hawk explained as he tried to rationalize what Richter is suggesting.
"Let's say I have a good hunch about this." Richter said as he pushed his glasses up and began to walk over to where the boat is. Marta began to feel nervous and scared. What is she going to do? Will Tenebrae get the boat working in time? She could only pray that it happens now...
To Be Continued...
Oh boy, this was a doozy to write. Cliffhangers are suspenseful, aren't they? Anyway, I hope you liked the beginning of what's to come. This is based of a DLC Idea for a Remake/Remaster of Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World, which would be great to expand on what Marta was doing before meeting Emil again. The game has a LOT of lore and and story telling that was never shown in the games or the side novels (Successors of Hope and both volumes of Never Ending Thoughts, the latter of which aren't translated and I never got to read.).
Anyway, will Marta get out of this sticky situation? I'd say the answers obvious, but wait until next time to find out! See you later!
Update: Grammer and Spelling errors fixed.
Update 2: More Grammer and Spelling errors fixed.