Tales of Symphonia: The Releasing Orb

Chapter 5 'A Destiny Foreseen'

"No! Stay away from me! I don't want to be another one of your sacrifices!" Colette stood in the corner of a cathedral. The room was grand, and beautifully decorated. Its structure was firm and bulky, and its stone ceiling set up high. Candles were lit neatly around a man at the head of the room, but he was merely blur. Above him on the stone wall there was a stain glass window, but shadow covered the holy portrait. However, in all the room's grandeur something didn't belong. A monster rose to its full height, and dragged itself towards the terrified angel. The man surrounded by the candels spoke, and it was a familiar icy tone.

"See what you are." He said lightly, but the monster reacted to his words in seconds. It threw itself onto Colette. She was cast aside on a pile of bodies, "Sacrifices. Good. You serve me well."

"NO!" The monster spoke, but the voice that came out was Lloyds. He could hear something rattling, and the noise started to lift him from his illusion and back in to reality. "No, I have to finish the dream," he thought to himself, and focused his mind in to the vision.

Pain shot through his body. He put his monstrous face into his ugly hands. A comforting warmth began to grow on his stomach and strech all about him. He looked down to see the Releasing Orb floating by his deformed middle. Only the ball was fully covered in orange Exspheres. It whispered something to him, but he could not make it out. More voices joined together until Lloyd was saying it with them.

"Use us... Use us..." His body twisted. The pigment of his skin returned to its normal color, and his limbs shrank back to their average length. He looked down at his hands. He was holding the Eternal sword in one and the Releasing Orb in the other. The orb fused itself with the sword. In reaction it glowed, and he raised the sword above his head. Movement could be felt from behind him. Familiar wings stretched across his back. The angel wings and the Eternal Sword lit up the room with their holy light. Colette had risen along with the others. They fell in line with the voices of the orb.

"Use us... Use us..." Lloyd could not see the man at the front of the room, but he could smell his fear. The chanting continued. Colette could be heard above the others as her words changed, "Use us. Use us to win. Use these to set us free. Use us." He flexed his arms to ready his strike, and within seconds the cathedral went white.

Lloyd awoke, but this time he did not feel scared or sick. This dream he was having, was it a representation of the present or the future? Or had he lost too many screws and was going crazy? These questions only intensified his confusion. What he did know was the beginning of his dream was just as the night before, but more detailed and in depth. He had actually felt the warmth when he saw the Releasing Orb, and felt the pain as a monster. He looked at his stomach and saw the orb lying on him.

"How did you get here?" He looked over at his bag where he kept the marble stone. The once closed bag was opened on a table across the room. His neck tingled and went hot. "What is going on?" He looked around for answers, and remembered that he had arrived at the renegade base with Colette. Where was she? It was then he finally noticed that he was in a different room than the one he fell asleep in. He was in a comfortable bed and was completely cleaned up. Being clean was both relieving and disturbing at the same time.

He got up to find his breakfast setting on the table. He put the orb away and began to eat. When he had finished he walked out the door to find a guard standing there, most likely waiting for him to wake up. The guard smiled at him funny and then asked him if he slept well. Apparently he had heard the odd rattling noise that almost woke Lloyd from his dream. Not to mention the chanting of 'use us' coming from Lloyd, because he most likely had talked in his sleep.

"Umm... I had a strange nightmare..." This was the best excuse he could come up with. It was the truth, but Lloyd didn't think that would stop the guard from being amused. Lloyd's blushing cheeks were not helping the situation.

"Right sir." He continued to smile in an annoying way, "Well, if you're ready I will take you to see Lord Yuan." Lloyd nodded, wishing the guard would hurry as he led him through the halls. "In here." Lloyd walked through the door and closed it behind him.

Yuan sat at a table, and Colette sat at the other side of him. Lloyd must have slept in late if Colette had woken up first.

"Good morning Lloyd! I just got through with telling Yuan what we saw the night before."

"Yes, she even mentioned something I am very curious about, the Releasing Orb? She said she saw react to your emotions."

"I didn't notice," Lloyd was still debating on whether he should speak about his dream or not.

"Lloyd?" Yuan stood and offered him a seat, "what's on your mind?"

Lloyd felt that Yuan was trustworthy enough, and he might even be able to decipher his dream. So he began the long story describing his dream from the orb to the decorative room. He finished by telling them that the orb was lying on his stomach when we awoke.

"Can you make anything of it?" Lloyd watched Yuan as he rubbed his chin in thought. His face expression showed that he was rolling the dream around in his head.

"Lloyd... you're not a monster... I don't think you're a monster! I don't think you would hurt me either!" Colette's voice was cracking as if she wanted to cry.

"That's not what it means." Yuan had finally come to a resolution, "There are many symbols in the dream. I only have theories about a few parts of it. Lloyd, you're a monster in your dream at first. I would assume that you took on that form because there are feelings inside you that you see as shameful. The monster is not a physical form, but rather what you see as your mental form."

"No, Lloyd could not think that!"

"Colette, if you can't take what Yuan is saying then it would be okay if you left." Even though Lloyd said it gently Colette still felt hurt from his words.

"Go on Yuan." She bit her lip and held back a sob.

"The word 'sacrifices' leads me to believe that you feel the dead people of your dream sacrificed themselves for you, or were hurt because of you. This explains the unpleasant feelings you have towards yourself, causing you take the mental for of a monster."

"So I turn into a monster, because of what I think of myself. And the causes of my bad feelings comes the people who have been hurt because of me... It's true that I have those feelings, but that doesn't explain the rest of it."

"I'm sorry Lloyd. I do not understand the rest of it. Maybe the answer is something only you can figure out. It might a part of your past, future, or it could be more symbolic things that I do not understand. One thing is certain, you have to continue your adventure with the Releasing Orb. I believe some of the answers lie within it, so you must continue.

"Then will you let us borrow some Rheairds?" Colette seemed to have gained a little more control over herself.

"I will. But I have a favor to ask in return."

"Name it and Colette and I will do our best to help you."

"It's only that you let me join you. As a leader of Symphonia and a new friend it would be wrong of me to sit out and let you two try to handle this situation on your own."

"That sounds fine with me." Lloyd was happy to gain a new member on the adventure. He did always agree with the saying 'the more the merrier.'

"Yeah, I'm so excited! Welcome to our group Yuan!" Colette was smiling and once again bouncing around from excitement.

"To Meltokio then?" Yuan was pleased to see he had been accepted, "I will have my men prepare the Rheairds. In the mean time, why don't you get your things together, and then head to the launch area. I need to get some things of mine together also.

"Alright. Come on Colette, let's go and grab our stuff."