Tales of Symphonia: The Releasing Orb

Chapter 12 'Familiar Faces'

Lloyd and the rest of his group approached the ranch to find someone they thought they knew standing there waiting. The top of Kastus's coat was open and instead of a seeing a shirt or even skin, there were around a dozen Exspheres attached to his chest. This explained the unnatural bulk of his upper body that Lloyd had noticed before.

"Kastus, what are you doing, and why do you have..." Lloyd looked at his chest in disgust, "those?"

"I knew I would not be able to hide my identity from you forever." That snake-like voice rang in Lloyd's ears as he recalled where he heard it before. "However, that stupid ruler interfered with my plans. It's a little earlier than I wanted, but I can improvise."

"!!!" Colette stepped back. She recognized the voice. "I felt something unsettling about you from the moment you spoke to me at your speech, but I ignored it and trusted you!"

"Yes, well you can't help it if you're stupid."

"Shut up! Don't talk to her like that! Who are you!?" Lloyd felt the tension building.

"Well make up your mind." Kastus smiled, and Kane let out a random yelp.

"Kane, what is it?" Yuan stared at him and noticed his Exspheres were shining. His eyes widened as he realized what was happening "No... don't listen!"

Kane was rubbing his Exspheres that had begun to burn. He looked up at Yuan. 'Come back to me'. He couldn't tell who was speaking. As he listened to it his eyes began to glaze over. He felt his body moving in ways he could not control. He heard another voice and this one he wanted to follow, 'Kane! Stop what you're doing! Listen to me, and ignore anything else you might hear'. He was trying so hard to gain control but the first voice was dragging him down. 'Your services belong to me. You are my soldier!' There was a black pit opening its wide mouth. He felt the darkness closing about him, and saw the terrible deeds he could not stop himself from doing. He ripped at the flesh of the innocent victim and held her tight. He felt the dark sensation in the back of his mind forcing his arm to push the blade into her neck. With the thought of his new found friends Kane conjured the last of his mental strength and sent it soaring to fight the intruders in his head.

"I won't listen!" Kane screamed and snapped back to reality. He was holding one of Lloyd's blades and had it pressed firmly against Colette's throat. He dropped it and looked down at his hands. His body was shaking as he looked up at Kastus, "You're too late. I have found my place. Right here, next to these people."

"Desians don't belong anywhere you fool. You must join me!" Kastus was speaking out loud to him now. Kane shook his head and stepped closer to Lloyd.

"You're wrong!" Lloyd took back his blade and pointed it at Kastus, "Kane and the rest of the Desians can be accepted just like anyone else!"

"You may have gotten to Kane," Kastus retorted, "but the rest of the weak minded fools won't follow you. What makes you think a world beyond control will accept the former enemies? Their weak minds are my toys." Desians formed a circle around them so there was no escape. Lloyd charged at Kastus but he was too slow. They were hit by some powerful alien magic and they went out cold.

"Dirty cheat..." Lloyd looked up at Kastus as he fell over and everything went black.

When Lloyd awoke he was in a cell with the rest of his companions. He was the last to wake. They were in a cold damp jail with torches for light. He shivered as he sat up from the stone floor. He looked around at each of his friends in turn. They all had a grave look on their faces. Colette looked like she had been crying, and Kane sat by himself in a corner.

"Are you alright?" Lloyd was looking straight at Kane. His voice seemed to startle the silence.

"I am now... I am so sorry." Lloyd shook his head and smiled at Kane. An understanding between the two had been settled as they looked at one another.

"Time to get out of here I guess." Lloyd walked to search for the lock, but none could be found on the bars. There wasn't even a door. "What the hell?"

"Lloyd," Yuan directed his attention to the top of the cell which was 6 feet above their heads. There was a large square door in the center of the ceiling, 'if you think you can break the lock... don't bother. We have already tried."

They sat in silence for a half an hour until Lloyd's boredom took over him. He began kicking the bars to let out some of his bottled anger, "WHY DO I..." kick, "ALWAYS GET PUT BEHIND BARS..." kick, "FOR DOING THE RIGHT THING, DAMMIT!" He continued to yell and make a fuss until Yuan interjected.

"LLOYD! Shut up! You are giving me a bigger headache! And your screaming isn't doing anything to help us!"

"Actually, his screaming made it easier to find you." There was a loud bang as the jail door opened. The four of them looked up to the top of the cell. They waited for the smoke to clear so they could see there rescuer.

"What? Wait, you have got to be kidding me..." Yuan was shaking his head as he looked up at the figure. The man jumped down and looked over the imprisioned group. Lloyd was speechless as he looked up at his father.

Once they all had gotten out of the cell Kratos directed the way out and they followed. They moved through various dark corridors. Kratos seemed to be following clanking noises could be heard in the distance. After running upwards for awhile they found themselves in familiar passageways of an old desian ranch. They stopped for a moment, and Lloyd had finally regained his voice. "How did you get... back here?"

"Would you like to stand around and talk about that until you get captured again, or would you prefer to get to safety?" Kratos hurried on through the halls.

"Okay fine. Then tell me how you got in here without being noticed." They turned the last corner and walked through a doorway.

"I didn't." They stood outside in the middle of a battle, and Lloyd saw who was making the clanking noises. The old angels of Cruxis were fighting against the Desians. They were acting as a diversion as Kratos rescued the prisoners. They were also dramatically losing because they were without Exspheres. "Retreat!" They obeyed Kratos's order and fled out the front gate. Lloyd and the rest followed. Once outside the ranch's gates Lloyd looked up into the sky and saw an overwhelming site. Derris Karlahn was floating just as it did before Kratos had left with it.

"I hope that doesn't cause a panic..." Lloyd ran to catch up with the others. The angels were flying to an entrance in the middle of Derris Karlahn. "Are we following them?"

"No. Yuan, why don't we head to your base for now for safety?" Yuan nodded at Kratos. They made there way to the Rheairds quickly to shake off any followers. Once again Colette and Lloyd shared a Rheaird so Kratos could have his own.

They arrived at the base, luckily without a tail behind them. They settled in Yuan's 'conference area'. It was late and everyone was exhausted, but the meeting could not wait. Yuan called out guards to keep watch on the area, and moved to sit at the head of one side of the table.

"Before Kratos starts his story I would like to go over what happened once we arrived at the base..." Yuan was about to review, most likely to help himself understand the situation. But before he could start a guard walked in. "What do you think you are doing! We are starting a conference, and you know not to enter here!

"I'm sorry Lord Yuan, but you have some more guests." The guard stepped aside to allow Raine and Genis to walk in. He closed the door behind them.

"Oh my goodness!" Colette stood up. This was the first time she spoke in awhile.

"GENIS, RAINE!" Lloyd was surprised to see them, as was everyone else. Everything was happening to fast for Lloyd and he could barely contain himself.